It’s still summer in the garden. If you’d like to follow along with us as we garden in the heat, click here. To watch us on YouTube, click here. If you hear me yawning, yes, I was tired. I don’t know why.
Yes! There is a contract on my house! Keep your fingers crossed that it closes on time and everything is easy.
Also, my client who was bitten by the prairie rattlesnake is okay. She is out of the hospital and doing fine. Hi Darla!
Carol built the new hanging golden pothos from Lego.
What’s wrong with my tomatoes? Here’s a hint, watch for the tomato hornworms, and this time of year, tomatoes are tired and get foliar diseases. .
Our insect of the week, Black Saddlebags Dragonfly, is shown above. Cute little thing isn’t it?
Our favorite summer garden annuals. We are branching out from perennials and native plants obsessions because sometimes a good tropical or annual is just what you need for a summer garden. I would argue it always is, along with the perennials and natives.
Here’s a partial list of some we talked about.
African blue basil
Zinnias and sunflowers
Verbena bonariensis and Verbena ‘Bampton’
Celosia
Gomphrena, either Truffula Pink, or you can grow the QIS series from seed.
Stachytarpheta ‘Nectarwand Red’ (porterweed) which is one of my favorite butterfly nectar plants. Hummingbirds also like it.
Salvias, especially the Skyscraper series and Wendy’s wish
Perwinkles aka Annual Vinca
What would you add to our list?
Carol came up with some timely vegetable garden reminders for August. In my case, I’m buying vegetables at the farmers’ market. I also have a CSA flower subscription from Ladybug Lane because I can’t grow as many things here as I did at my previous home.
Do you have suggestions for what to do in the vegetable garden in August?
In the Land of the Blue Poppies: The Collected Plant-Hunting Writings of Frank Kingdon Ward (2003) (Amazon, Bookshop) (It was Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward who invented the Wardian case in the early 19th century, not Frank Kingdon Ward. They may be related.)
Hydrangea Pruning: What Stays, What Goes and When by Lorraine Ballato (Amazon). If your hydrangeas are confusing you, this is the book for you.
Carol read and listened to several books last week including The Churchill Sisters by Dr. Rachel Tretheway. (Bookshop, Amazon). She also plans to listen to the audiobook The Kennedys and the Windsors: The Story of Two Dynasties, One Born, One Made by Caroline Hallemann (Bookshop, Amazon) But until she gets it from her library, she’s listening to Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench (Amazon, Bookshop). (Listen to Judi Dench recite Shakespear on Instagram)
Then there is Adele Dawson, another Lost Lady of Garden Writing.
And via Dear Hugo by Molly Claverly (Amazon, Bookshop), she found out about sloes, the fruit of blackthorn. More info from Woodland Trust in the UK.
One other book recommendation: The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds. (Amazon, Bookshop) The story takes place in 1920s Provence in France.
I bought three Bulgarian specialties from Malincho.com. I bought Lutenitsa, spiced salt and rose jam. I loved it all.
The Tulsa Botanic Garden, which is northwest of downtown Tulsa. It’s a young garden, but so worth your time. I love it and have visited many times.
As always, we appreciate all of you for listening to our podcast and for reading this newsletter! If you’d like to support us, check out our affiliate links here. Book links are also affiliate links.
And, if you have suggestions for topics for us to discuss, send us an email or leave a comment.
With a shared love of gardening…
Carol and Dee
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.