Getting Caught Up

Today's Daylily

Plants and flowers are blooming and then fading so quickly, I'm having a hard time enjoying their brief appearances. Yesterday I looked out toward a planting area I had weeded a day earlier and saw a new orange bloom: a gorgeous daylily (hemerocallis). Today, there were two of them.

Pink Peonies

White Peony

It was only a couple weeks ago that I was anticipating the 21 peony bushes blooming. Then I missed seeing most of them. The days of 90°- plus weather and no rain wilted them when I wasn't looking. The Siberian iris disappeared as quickly.

Mulch Madness

The 3 remaining cubic yards of mulch 

Mulch nicer path

Next Saturday, June 25 from 10 AM to 2 PM, our garden will be part of a garden tour. So, I've been working against a deadline to spread the 10 cubic yards of mulch we had delivered. First, I've had to weed. Then I've put down an experimental new weed mat -- the New York Times. Our new subscription was quickly piling up and I figured turning it into weed mat would be a good way to recycle all that newsprint.

Mulch nicer entrance

Foxgloves, dianthus and roses

The garden tour is supposed to emphasize green growing practices so I mentioned that I make my own compost. That prompted a local Girl Scout to seek my expert advice. She and her mother visited on Thursday to interview me and take movies of me stirring my compost pile and showing off all the worms. I saw her display today at the Farmer's Market and she taught be things I didn't know. For instance, you don't use protein because it slows down the process.

Berry Good News

For the last week, I've picked about a dozen rasperries a day from our raspberry jungle. There are other berries and brambles that are showing up as well. Some, I'll have to wait to see what they become. All I know is that they're pretty tough survivors to pop up among all the weeds and still yield some fruit.

Raspberries

Blueberries!

Surprise bramble

And as a special added bonus, Mulberry trees are dropping fruit all over the neighborhood. The ones in the picture below fell from our next door neighbor's tree. Unfortunately it would take a 6-foot ladder to reach a branch and pick some. I'm reminded of the Mulberry trees I used to snatch fruit from in Boulder. So now, when I find reachable branches on other trees, I remember fondly the tree at the entrance to the open space trail behind our old house. Though, I have to admit New Jersey Mulberries are juicier and tastier. Humidity is good for something.

Mulberries