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| This is a place to post photos, and to discuss, what is in your garden. This is the thread for July 2012. Since Summer has arrived, we will be focusing on blossoms, but all garden photos are welcome. If the thread starts getting too picture heavy, I will create a July Part II thread later in the month.
Here is the link for the July 2011 thread. For Previous Threads from 2012: To see all of the 2011 threads, please click on the December 2011 link. The first post will have links to all previous months. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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We were at a wedding all day yesterday so I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see that my Easter lily blossoms seemed to explode open yesterday. The red lily leaf beetle do not seem to touch these trumpet type lillies at all. I occasionally see beetles on my other lillies, but I don't think I've ever seen one on these. 
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| Lovely! I love all the whites against the brick with the white window trim. My lilies (I almost dug up in frustration when the red lily leaf beetles attacked them) have come back, thanks to everyone's suggestions. I'll have to take photos when it's cooler. Sadly, my roses have been decimated by brown beetles. Molie |
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| Those lilies look so cool (both 'Coool!' and cool-temperature-wise) on this hot July day. A pic not quite in my garden, but at least outside on my deck with my houseplants. One of my clivias (Golden Dragon) always blooms in July, despite my attempts in the fall to keep it cool and dry. It was a little earlier this year; it started blooming in late June, but none of that late winter flowering the references always talk about. An unexpected pleasure is the contribution of one of my Zepherine Drouhin roses which draped a stem with flowers right down beside the clivia. I had nothing to do with this besides originally putting the clivias in that corner before the roses bloomed. Roses are attention hoggers, it probably couldn't resist the photo op, and I couldn't resist the photo. The rose also adds wonderful fragrance to the combo.
Claire |
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| Claire, how long have you had the yellow Clivia and where did you get it? I've been craving one. A friend grew a yellow clivia from a seed that he snipped off a plant. It took about 6 years for anything of substance to show from that seed. Molie |
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| Molie: I bought it about 5 years ago (not sure when) in the 2.5 inch pot size from Logee's. They only have the 5 inch pot size listed now, on sale but still pricy. The 5 inch size is probably blooming size (ten or more leaves). I also have a Clivia 'Victorian Peach' I bought a few years ago that is now big enough to bloom but hasn't yet. Maybe in August (grumble, grumble). I think I'll give up on the strict regimen for late winter bloom - the Golden Dragon just waits until it goes out on the deck in late spring and immediately sets bud. Life is too short to spend fighting a clivia. July bloom is good too. Claire |
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- Posted by bill_ri_z6b (My Page) on Sun, Jul 1, 12 at 13:25
| Claire, The Clivia is beautiful, and the bonus rose in combination is a treat! Thanks for sharing. |
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| Forgot to mention - I also craved the yellow clivia for years, but the first ones to become available were something like $600 each (choke, choke). I saw the Golden Dragon in the 2.5 inch size on my one and only visit to Logee's in person, and I snapped it up and drove it home. I don't remember what it cost then, but probably under $20. They usually have the smaller ones reasonably cheap and you just have to wait a few years for bloom. Claire |
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| We went to Logee's yesterday but I didn't come home with a clivia; there were none that I could find, plus we got there late. And this morning it's raining slightly so instead of gardening, I'll post some July pictures. The other day I caught our resident muskrat eating ground ivy --- go Ratty! The lilies that I almost dug up when they were attacked by Red Lily Beetles are blooming The path to our garden shed --- the ground covers are lush this year! Scotch Moss and Blue Star Creeper Thymus 'Highland Cream' growing in the middle of Scotch Moss Love Leptinella 'Platt's Black' with its green tinges ---- Sagina subulata 'Aurea' looks huge next to it. From a distance Platt's Black looks like the earth, but a closer look shows it to be thick and lush. Hemerocallis 'Raspberry Winter' A freebie in a Maryott's order --- Hemerocallis 'Victorian Lace' Heliopsis helianthoides 'Prairie Sunset' --- gaged to protect what's left of it from Ratty Hydrangea 'Blue Donau' and Hemerocallis 'Malaysian Monarch' Hope your Fourth of July is wonderful --- and a bit drier than ours! |
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| molie - you have quite and extensive collection of ground covers. They look great. I've always thought that the first 2 weeks of July were best for the flower gardens. And my gardens are not dissapointing this year. I'm finally seeing my plants "filling" in - more views of flowers and less views of mulch! My echinaceas are starting to bloom. I bought 4 or 5 new echinaceas this past year. I bought this as Double Decker Echinacea. But they aren't doubles. Shasta Daisy Alaska never disspoints. A bee visiting gaillardia An ant visiting a lily Lavender The campanula is still blooming. The lilies make a nice addition to the row. I'm not sure if these are rudbeckia or brown eyed susans or what. I call them pretty. Winter sown giant cactus zinnia Tithonia. Someone posted about this plant on this forum - I remember the thread was about someone who wanted to sit in their pool and stare at a tall orange plant. I don't have a pool, but I still wanted the plant. |
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Thu, Jul 5, 12 at 10:06
| Pixie Lou, I also like the white lilies against the brick and the white swan echinacea. That is a nice tall lavender, what variety is it? Mollie, I've been trying a few ground covers too. This year seems to be a good year for them. Have you found the Blue Star Creeper creeps a little too much? That's quite a patch of lilies! Glad you didn't pull them. Too bad you had to cage your Heliopsis. I look forward to July too, when the Butterfly Bush starts blooming but first the lilies. This is a variety of tomato I tried for the first time last year. It is 'Bush Champion' It is supposed to only grow 2ft tall. I wanted something I could grow in my front bed because that is the only place I have full sun. But it had to fit in with perennials. It is a little over 2 ft now and although it is very visible from the walkway, you can't see it from the street....
Parsley getting ready to bloom with Echinacea and Perovskia
Pea pods needing to be picked, any good ideas for how to use them? We're already tired of them. (g) This lily is new to me this year, 'Orania' and it's fragrant ....
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| Pixie-Lou, I love the green centers on your White Swan Echinacea. I'm a real fan of whites in the garden but--- wow ---- that Tithonia is striking! I see so many plants on this forum that I'd buy IF we had more than a third of an acre. Of course, maybe it's a good thing we live on a small lot because if I spent any more money on plants, there'd be noting left for food. Prairie Moon, yes, Blue Creeper does creep for sure but it's easy to control by pulling out. Plus we have a paver/rock patio behind the garden shed and there are always bare places to tuck in my out-of-hand creepers ---- like Sweet Woodruff, which overtakes everything and travels through the lawn. Now that's a real pest! As for the caged Heliopsis ---- we did have TWO of them and they were gorgeous --- full, wide and lush with flowers for a long season. But they were eaten clear down to the ground. So when a tiny part of one plant started to regrow, we decided to take no chances. You'll have to report on Bush Champion and the crop that comes from it. I like the fact that it's placed among your perennials. Like that parsley that's setting blossoms among the penstemon and echinacea, your tomato was able to find a good home in your yard. The one thing that we've not attempted is a vegetable garden. Our river is such an easy access point for animals that like to dine and with the homes so close together, there's no way to fence in the yard. We have a high stone wall on one side but the deer just leap over it. So we've compensated by joining a Farm Share Program and get a basket of locally grown produce each week. Still, I'm envious. There's nothing like the taste of warm tomatoes right out of the garden. Molie |
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| Such nice photos everyone! Pixie Lou, I am quite jealous of your coneflowers and daisies. I have them (including the White Swan which I grew from seed) but I also have oriental beetles which really do a number on them. I have to say, this year the damage is not as bad, and I have been able to enjoy a few undamaged blooms, but overall it is discouraging. Such hardy and reliable plants, but the beetles just destroy them. PM2, how are you liking Orania? One of my favorites! This year is very strange - they are usually towering over my head, but this season they are at waist level and blooming earlier than usual. Still beautiful and fragrant though - and for some reason the red beetles have not discovered them yet! Speaking of which, Molie, so good you didn't yank those lilies! There may be some damage close up, but from where the photo was taken they look lovely! Dee |
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| What a nice thread this is. Love the garden 'tour'. PM2 - can you freeze some pea pods for a stir fry later? Just wondering. Lovely lily and I too am glad to know about Bush Champion tomatoes. I think I'm going to toss my plants. Something happened, maybe a soil bacteria, too much moisture, something made the leaves all curl. But next year all new soil and fewer plants. Controlling one's self at seed planting time is tough business! I was just outside and noticed the Platycodon grandiflorus (I think?) balloon flowers and thought, 'Boy, are you slow'. And inside one blossom,mimicry. The stamen looks like a blue bee. Jane (who will buy local tomatoes this year) |
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Thu, Jul 5, 12 at 17:27
| Molie, I can report a little already on the 'Bush Champion' tomato. I grew it last year. It produced a lot of round medium size tomatoes that had a very good taste. I was happy with the taste enough to grow it again. Last year the problem I had was that I didn't use a cage and they were all over the ground and I didn't get to them fast enough. This year they fit in one 2ft cage each plant and I just measured. The one out front in full sun is exactly 3ft tall. The one in the back in 6hrs of sun is 30 inches. I got them at Russell's as organic starts. After I bought them a staff member told me there are better compact tomatoes than 'Bush Champion' so I may try a different variety next year, but I am going to grow BC again. I grow the parsley to attract beneficial insects, but in the spring I do try to remember to use some in the kitchen. I am happy that they reseed by themselves once you get them established in a bed. We also joined a CSA this year that has organic produce. I am trying to keep up with it and use it all in a week. lol Dee, I'm sorry that you have Oriental Beetles. I usually have a few and a few Japanese beetles, but so far I've only seen three. I thought the problem with them is in the surrounding lawn/s? I love 'Orania'! So far I've only had CasaBlanca which I love too. I am glad to have these. I bought them from Brent & Becky's on their bulb sale. I put three in front and two in back in less sun. Those in back had more red lily beetle damage, because I didn't keep up with it. And it was much shorter. In the front they come up to my shoulder about 56 inches. The two in the back in 6hrs of sun, were only 36 inches tall. I love that they are tall, but also because they are so upright and sturdy. Jane, great idea to freeze them! I have plenty of room in the freezer too. Thanks! Doesn't it seem that tomatoes used to be a lot easier to grow? (g) I remember when I used to just plop the plant in the ground and they grew without a problem and produced tons of tomatoes I was giving away. Darn if the inside of that blossom doesn't look like a blue bee! You have an eye for interesting photos, Jane. :-)
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| PM2, I think you are thinking of the Asiatic beetles - the little coppery ones that burrow into the ground. The Oriental beetles are beige with brown markings and are just so destructive in my yard. Plus I go outside and when I come in I find them stuck in my hair and it is just gross. I detest these things! They seem to go mostly for the coneflowers and daisies, eating them in bud stage and crawling over them when they open as well, and make the blooms eaten, ratty, and even dirty-looking. They like daylilies too, but only seem to get to them after they open, and since they are open just for the day, the damage is not as great. Didn't mean to go on so much about them, but these things are one of my biggest gardening foes! Re: tomatoes. You know, sometimes I think the more we know, the harder it is to do something! I remember once taking care of a garden where the woman didn't know what hostas or violets or other common plants were (I don't mean the variety or cultivar, she literally did not know what kind of plants they were. Obviously, she had inherited this garden when she bought the house.) Well, she and her husband decided to put in a vegetable garden - mostly tomatoes and eggplants, and a few peppers - and pretty much completely ignored it. I never once saw them go in it (it was fenced) and it was completely overgrown with tall grass. I have never seen such wonderful tomatoes as grew in this garden! And I don't even think they really ate any of them! In the meantime, my tomatoes weren't nearly as productive, despite the attention I gave them. And how many times have I stopped my car to ask someone what that gorgeous rose/hosta/lily is, and what they do to keep it so big/healthy/lush and they can't answer either question! I just don't know sometimes.... Dee |
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| PM2, I'm still loving my peas, though I've been eating them almost daily for 2 weeks so far. We grow only edible podded peas, and mostly I eat them raw as a snack or packed in my lunch for work, but they also appear at supper, lightly steamed as one of the veggies in pasta salad or raw in a green salad, or sauteed with a bit of olive oil and tamari. As with strawberries and other short-season crops, I am always sad when the pea season ends, though DH isn't quite as enthusiastic (all the more for me!) I think I got Oriana from B&B during their spring sale also, but mine isn't blooming yet, so it's nice to get a preview. I really like just about all lilies as long as they aren't getting eaten by lily beetles. I think I will have to look into Tithonia; such a saturated orange! and letting my parsley go to seed . . . |
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Fri, Jul 6, 12 at 5:58
| Dee, I was talking about the beige beetles. I get those more than I do the Japanese beetles and I rarely see the coppery ones. That would drive me crazy especially to have them season after season. I just googled it, because I had heard that the cure for Japanese beetles was Milky Spore on the lawn and I wondered if it was the same for Oriental beetles and it seems it is. Have you ever considered doing the Milky Spore treatment? Re: tomatoes, my theory is that on virgin land that has not been gardened, a beginner can have great success for awhile. The bugs haven't found the garden yet, the soil has more fertility and less disease. I have a small veggie garden, and the spots that have enough sun for tomatoes are in short supply, so I have not been rotating as much as I would like. This year, I am having better luck. I haven't even fertilized and I have good healthy growth on the tomatoes so far. The difference is two fold. One they are growing in new locations. In the front it is only the second year using my perennial bed for a tomato plant. In the back I have a new vegetable bed in it's second year too. Reason number two in the front, is that it was a lasagna bed to start with and I used a cover crop over the winter where the tomato is growing. In the back, I am doing something different in the new bed. I am composting in place. I have been filling the bed with leaves and grass clippings and then burying vegetable scraps, egg shells, banana peels under the thick mulch all along the edges, to break down in place. The soil looks better than I've had in a long time in that bed. Dark, crumbly and full of earth worms. I hope it's not just a fluke and that I've stumbled onto a better way of managing my veggie beds. Oh, and one more thing. I had two Sungold tomato plants to start out this year. One went into this new bed in back and the other in another veggie bed that not only was not getting this treatment, but had a lot of bok choy and scallions growing in it. The tomato was inserted in the middle of the bed surrounded by all that growth and it developed diseased leaves in short order, to the point I ended up pulling it. The second Sungold went into the new bed, with nothing else growing near it and has been wonderful. I wondered not only about the difference in fertility, but also about air circulation. I think there was not enough air circulation around the Sungold that developed diseased leaves. Babs, I only grow the edible pods too. Sugar Snap Peas this year. They are delicious raw actually. And they are one of the easiest crops for me to grow. I can't remember having an insect problem and once the seeds are in the ground there is very little more to do. So I want to try new ways to use them. Great suggestions, thanks! I love lilies and would have a garden full of them if it were not for the Red Lily Beetle. One of the plants from the B&B bulbs has a virus, which I am planning to pull and toss after it finishes blooming. Also going to call B&B. Sorry for the extended discussion.....back to photos! :-) Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' new to my garden, first bloom about to open, I think it's so cute...
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| Yes, PM2, I gave a bit more thought to air circulation in my garden this year also. Like you, I have limited sun, and so things usually get packed in, flowers and veggies alike! This year I tried growing fewer tomato plants in the same space. Hoping for better production, so we'll see. I did try the milky spore, a few years back. It didn't seem as consistently recommended for Orientals as for Japanese beetles, but I was desperate so I gave it a try. Very expensive, as I have almost an acre, and what's worse, very tedious! Picture me out there with my big can of milky spore and a measuring spoon, pacing out three feet and dropping a spoonful of the stuff, over an acre-sized yard. Phew! But the funny/sad/frustrating thing is, I never had a Japanese beetle in my yard till the year AFTER I put down milky spore! Go figure! And, it didn't seem to do a thing for the Orientals. I may try putting it down again, as it didn't seem to "take". nhbabs, you will LOVE the tithonia! Such a brilliant color and so beautiful. Dee |
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| Here are the photos I took this morning. I was motivated by all the great comments on the thread about cameras. Sadly, my camera is not very fancy and my skills are simplistic. My oldest daughter says that all my crummy photographs are "probably due to old age, Molie. Get yourself a tripod!" The lily patch I almost dug up in disgust when the Red Lily Beetles attacked. You can see the damaged leaves.
Here is a link that might be useful: Univ. of Connecticut Extension
Here is a link that might be useful: Part II July 2012 Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
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