At times I felt like this summer would never end…the heat was often unbearable, the smoke kept many of us indoors, and the drought has left many plants struggling or under performing. My garden did not look its best this summer…it may be time to make some adjustments considering the current extreme weather conditions that haven’t been such a factor in the past.
The beginning of the summer brought a lovely display of tulips and just as they were fading the alliums dazzled. It affirms that the effort of planting bulbs in the fall is so worth it.
I planted different varieties of purple alliums within the triangle patterns of the boxwood hedges. This provided blooms over a longer period of time and the different heights and flower sizes added interest.
I consider the tulip and allium garden beds a “hit” this season and have ordered over a hundred more tulips and dozens of alliums to plant up in the next month. More is always better…right!
The pictures below were taken on the same day…May 18. The trees had started blossoming in the days before. Suddenly a cold front blew in and I suspect many of the blossoms froze, therefore, did not produce as much fruit as we’ve enjoyed in years past. I’m sure the extreme drought conditions also had some effect.
The roses, my favourite, were a “hit and miss”. Early in the season and now with the cooler temperatures, the roses have performed better. During the height of the season there were many a day when there wasn’t a rose in sight…Charlie may have been responsible for this… This is a real disappointment for me as I really put a lot of effort into the planting and caring of the roses.
The hydrangea are always are reliable “hit”. One of the (expensive) experiments I tried in the garden this summer was to plant standard hydrangeas in baseless pots. So far they look beautiful and with plenty of late season watering and protection I’m hopeful they will survive our winter. The many hydrangea shrub varieties planted both in the my front and back gardens are looking beautiful…especially now at the end of the season when they start changing colour.
I’ve accepted the fact that container gardening is not my forte! Possibly the pots did not get enough watering and I don’t fertilize…have I just solved the problem??? Also the wind blew constantly, drying out the containers and wind whipping the flowers. This year I planted wave petunias in the front, geraniums in the back and a combination of herbs and trailing annuals along the back of the house and garage.
The combination of flowers and herbs didn’t compliment each other as I had hoped. I also realize we will never eat all the herbs, tomatoes and salad greens that I planted. I’ve already cleaned out most of the containers…I know it’s early, but they have just fizzled out. Next year I will try planting a cutting garden in the containers instead.
Clipping hedges is labour intense (putting it mildly!) and usually happens on a really hot day, but I’ll happily continue to do so as they provide the form and backbone of my garden. The cotoneaster hedge can always be counted on and with some TLC the boxwood hedges look better and better every year.
I know that many of you have gardened with difficult weather conditions this season too. How did your garden grow this summer?
xox Judy