August came so fast in 2024.
August..every year in a garden can be different.Some years some things do so well..others not.I follow Canadian Gardeners..2 have flower farms..and one I was disheartened for her.She started with such high hopes..and so much..did not come to flower farm fruition.
I also saw Fruition Seeds will stop selling seeds etc..The site is so full of info..Their decision doesn't really affect me as I am Canadian.But perhaps some of didn't know.
Take for instance Dahlias..I had tried in the past..both times..they bloomed so late.. right before frost so I got maybe 2 blooms.I tried saving the tubers..to no avail.
This year.Costco tempted me and the gardeners I follow that grow them well.
Yes I did buy from a big box store.
Yes very happy with the outcome.
Started indoors in pots.
Then put in ground..a designated area.
Every one produced flowers.I am hooked.Fingers crossed I can save the tubers.
Take for instance those FRENCH marigolds..In this small potager I was able to keep them going and thriving.
In one of my front beds..they were all eaten upon sprouting.
These bugs are almost unseen as they live underground. Asiatic Garden Beetles.. I think they are the second ones shown..I have all of them my town is pesticide free so we actually invite these things..Rose chafers are not pictured..I have them.
I bought my tomato plants at Costco..in this case not good..all mislabeled..That's supposed to be beefsteak tomatoes..looks more Roma to me..2 of the plants are determinate which means they do not grow at all they are little bushes.:(Full of blight..
Lessons learned..and again every yr so very different.
Our boys are so busy..Max leaving this week to be a boarder at CEGEP..
Lots of birthdays..M will be 49..Lucas 19..
In Sept this one will be 15..
Max was part of Team Canada and won silver for Team Qc.
Their summer was literally training for Team Canada..I applaud their determination and courage.Definitely not about the winning but I am happy for them when they do.
Oli worked for about 4 hours here.I have to say that intense sports training creates people with non complaining attitudes.Used to rigid rules and trainings and workouts.
Anyway..I am always worried about their football..the injuries etc..but what stamina and discipline..maturity.
Thanks for listening:)
Love Peter rabbit’s jacket in the garden. How nice to have helpful grandsons. Such a handsome young man. MS Nell
ReplyDeleteGreat kids..my Littles.Parents doing something so right.These boys are never disrespectful towards their parents..In a store yesterday a mom was really being quite verbally abusive with names towards her two Littles.. I never saw that towards my Littles..I think you learn what you are taught...Thank you:):):
DeleteMy mother used to grow the most beautiful dahlias. She would dig up the tubers ever fall. the blooms were huge. I can leave mine in the ground where I live & most winters they survive just fine. But I haven't had much of a garden for three yrs now. And we just moved. So I'm hoping to begin planting some perennials in the fall for next year.
ReplyDeleteMy one grandson is 6 yrs old so he isn't much help yet in the garden but I do hope one day he will be. We've moved into our granny house & he'll be living next door by the end of the yr. So hopefully as he grows bigger, he'll enjoy helping. There's nothing like being with the grandbabies no matter how big they grow.
Oh you are so fortunate having him next door soa at that age mine were across the street..Come this January it will be three yrs since they moved..I miss the impromptu doorbell ringing..all the babysitting..they are only 12 minutes away.But it's different.And they are older..Have fun in your new home..:)
DeleteIt doesn't seem possible that August is here--where is time going?? Ah Monique, it sounds as though you've been battling some pests in your gardens. It's hard to fight some of those invaders. It really is discouraging, because most gardeners work so hard to produce something beautiful, and when you get up in the morning and see ragged blooms or nothing but stalks, you feel like throwing up your hands. Try to hang in there. Your dahlias are simply gorgeous--a victory, for sure. And I'm a fan of the French marigolds. Such lovely color.
ReplyDeleteYour grandsons are doing so well! They will always be your pride and joy. They are splendid athletes, but it sounds as though they have big hearts, too. I loved reading that they help you in the garden. You and your family have created a wonderful foundation for them to grow from. They will do well.
It is disheartening..I follow a gardener who said now is the time to plan your garden.. everything that is doing poorly..buhbye..in the dog says of summer you see what can do well:) He is right.Id like to get rid of a lot and start over..But I won't lol.Too much work.Oli will be back..I may have him shovel prune many. hostas and things..It will look so bad but I will be happy next yr:)God willing.
DeleteHi Monique, your dahlias look lovely in the repurposed decanter. I like doing that also. Recently a friend had me over for lunch. Her table was so pretty and she had flowers bouquets in canned vegetable cans!
ReplyDeleteSummer is fleeting. As soon as my grandsons return from their other grandparents (I have missed them so much!) it will be preparations to go back to school. Collin who is 13 will go to Washington D.C. with his 8th grade class over Labor Day. Both my children did this back in the day.
You have lots of birthdays coming up. I have a big one..75. Grateful too celebrate this milestone. Take care.
I like doing that too:) I am having a celebration here this Sat.. Dahlias will be featured.Rain was in the forecast then not now but temps and humidex so high it will be indoors.We are close..I am 70.Although many things are not lovely with aging..it is a privilege.A GREAT milestone and you earned it:)Bon weekend!
DeleteYour dahlias are gorgeous and are the French Marigolds. Lovely to see a garden that is actually green this time of year. How special to have your grown little helping in the garden. This year is flying by. I was wondering why you have a follow it subscribe widget, when your actual newsletter email is from MailChimp.
ReplyDeleteFollow it strangely comes to certain people that mailchimp doesn't? Weird.I have 217 people through mailchimp..Lost so many.. and I have lost so many blogs that I used to follow..All Blogger related when they changed things.. Perhaps I should add MailChimp Widget..I'll have to look.Thank you oh so caring one:)
DeleteSo pretty PB
ReplyDeleteTY:)
DeleteYour littles are growing up so fast. Gardening is always a risk and an adventure. One never knows what will do well and what will not. This year I've had ONE zucchini - tons and tons of male flowers, but no female ones. Grrrr. Dahlias are wonderful and bloom and bloom until frost if they are deadheaded. Love the cafe-au-lait ones - Still waiting for that one to bloom here.
ReplyDeleteI hope to save the tubers.. and start indoors like this yr.It gave them the head start they needed I think..Because in the past mine either rotted or were just getting ready to bloom at frost:(This yr may have ben a happy fluke for me..They are my little brides:)In their veils:)One zucchini! I actually bought ittle containers to make my relish..I didn't grow any..maybe next yr with a tunnel..I hope your CAL blooms soon for you:)
ReplyDeleteYour dahlias are gorgeous, and I hope you can save the tubers and have beautiful blooms next year too. I bought dahlia tubers from a local dahlia farm and they are just about to open. I planted mine outside the same day that the farm did. The same tubers at the farm have been blooming for three weeks now. I contacted the farm and they said the dahlias need a fertilizer high in potassium so now I will fertilize once a week (should have done this sooner). Love that your little is now helping in the garden :-)
ReplyDeleteOh thanks for the tip..I didn't fertilize lol did everything else:)I bought some from a farm and they were bust:( How these Costco ones are so great no idea..I hope I can save also:)
DeleteYour blogs are always such a joy! gorgeous images, tempting recipes, and a delightful family. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much:):):
DeleteWhat a lovely post! Lovely pictures too :) Yes the summertime went fast but I like the Autumn, August and September...
ReplyDeleteHave a happy week now!
Lots of love from Titti
Thank you:) Oh just so much work here in Autumn..putting gardens to bed and all the leaves:( Have a great week!
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ReplyDeleteAugust came upon me like that first glorious splash of PINK up there---the sun through THE TREE was flashing little dapples on me, on the pale green walls, on all the PINKS of my bedroom---the bed was still, of course, but I swear I could feel it rocking like a gentle tide when all the tiny dips and waves in the water catch the sunrays and flash their happy way onward. And the sunset was a great panorama of that same burgeoning flower, with sky-blazing pinks and roses and the gold around the sun simply liquid and pouring down behind the neighbors' tall trees.
I'd muttered my silly "Rabbit-Rabbit" at midnight---a fun little tradition that she and her family have had forever---the first word you say when a new month dawns is Rabbit-Rabbit, and all will be well for the month. Silly but sweet, and we love that friend more than most. Then the days so few yet have been unusually useful---a trip to Aldi, proudly chauffeured by our latest driver---she who as SWEETPEA garnished LAWN TEA for years with her little expeditions and doings and saying for several years when she was with us three days a week from 7--5. Now she's her own person with a car and a license and already planning a atrip to Europe with her band next year. They have already played at the Philadelphia Thanksgiving parade and at The Race Parade here in INDY this past Memorial Day.
Then another day with a trip out for Cat Food, Clorox and Cranberry---the CranMango is one of my mainstays with a Cranberry Cooler (half and half juice and water, with a tiny sprink of Splenda and loads of good crushy ice. That day I met the loveliest lady in an AGGIES t-shirt, and asked what Aggies---knowing both the Mississippi State ones and the Texas A&M ones. Hers was North Carolina, where her daughter is getting her Master's---I DO love to hear from proud parents and congratulating them. We both walked away smiling, I think. Then when I couldn't reach that ONE last pack of Egg Rolls in the top shelf back of the freezer, I glanced around to see if a REACHER (one of my favorite literary characters by the way, and named by the author just for that talent) were possibly in view. I my aisle was a small young woman, easily three inches shorter than I, and practically (and maybe) her twin, in tight little jeans and fabulous hair, and they offered. One stepped her tiny complicated little shoe up onto the rim, with the other boosting her bum, and fait accompli, to congratulations and laughing and thanks all around. I never fail to tell you young folks how I appreciate all of you. So that was day 2.
Yesterday was put-aways and plannings and a quick lunch of quick-bought rotisserie chicken, with the stripping for a casserole with the rest. The shelves of our pantry are riches to me, and sometimes when I lug home twelve of this and nine of that---after all that time of ordering and hauling in off the porch, not getting everything or a different flavor or color, and the precautions right and left of touch and gloves and leaving the Amazon in the box for a week just to be safe---it's all simpler now, with a quiet contemplation and storing-up satisfaction that is like looking at my vast bookshelves or SMAUG napping on his gold.
The flowers of your garden kindle so many fond memories---my Mississippi Mammaw was a loyal correspondent with both PARK and BURPEE, with letters back and forth as regular and familiar as to all her sisters. She participated in a "Hunt For a White Marigold," for several years, and we'd gauge the colors by a little palette they'd send, hoping for the pale, and sometimes delightfully surprised. Some of those saved seeds are somewhere here in my house, from that time in the 60s, and looking at yours is a joyful remembrance of such a charming game which made her feel so needed and important.
I've got scalloped tomatoes a-simmer, about to put in the cornbread and dredge the pork cutlets for frying in my new pink Aldi skillet. And Bon Augustus to you all!!
Oh your tiny Reacher..:) Aggies I am not familiar with..Aldi however yes..and no need to snob out Aldi because of lack of prettiness indoors:) Great finds..Your pink skillet must be so cute!..I love pale marigolds..these are not the gaudy ones but not the pale either.I should start saying Rabbit Rabbit.:)I'd love a driver:) I drive but close to home..It's a small small world lol.Have a great month Rachel:)
DeleteYou put so much work into your gardens and it shows, despite the failures. Your gardens are beautiful. Your dahlias are gorgeous. I hope you are able to save the tubers over the winter. What fine grandsons you have. They are all great examples, a great testimony to the love and care given and good parenting. I think you are right about the discipline of sports as well. I think it produces fine young men in many cases. Racheld's dinner sounds lovely, scalloped tomatoes, cornbread and pork cutlets. I would love that combo! It sounds delicious. August has arrived here very hot and humid. I am longing for the cooler less humid air of autumn. No, me and sticky heat do not mix well. I am a cold blooded animal. I do not like heat all that much. Here's hoping that August is a good month for us all. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI am sure you appreciate Rachel's writing like I do..AS you are quite the author Marie.Its been awful here with humidity and heat.In fact so much so I did the birthday celebrations indoors Sat..and everyone was relieved:)Rabbit Rabbit:):):) We hope to have Oli tomorrow. want to shovel prune hostas.
DeleteJust when you think there is nothing left in the garden, then the dahlias and zinnias (and for me lisianthus) start their show. I had to replant a whole bed of snapdragons in July. Something causing spotted and lying leaves, just like a tomato blight! I was lucky my wonderful nursery in my home town still had a flat of lisanthus for half price so I replanted with them and they are doing great. Sometimes, no matter what we've learned Mother Nature has other plans. I'm so glad your veil covers saved your dahlias! I don't have 1 single ripe tomato yet, dahlias very slow to bloom. Too much rain, I think. I can't believe Max is leaving already! Good luck to him and God Bless all our Littles becoming Bigs. I love that painting of Lucas when he was little. Wish mine lived closer to help in the garden. ♥♥♥ Here's to a bountiful August!
ReplyDeleteWell my tomatoes have been super producing but now blight is everywhere in them..:( And not my fave tomatoes ..mislabeled crate of 4 at Costco.People pick and choose and change labels I think.Sat I was able to serve Chicken Milanaise for 8 adults..which is topped with arugula/tomato salad.It was stinking hot.We ate indoors..Boys..burgers.Susan I love that very amateur painting of Lucas toox I'll have lots of refreshing to do today in gardens..Oli shovel pruned at least 8 that were 4 ft in diameter..still more to go but they were soo hard to remove.He is a really nice boy.I know even J sayss he remembers very little of being 14..But I am hoping they do.We take breaks..I'll look at him and say..You are such a nice boy Oli..and he smiles.I want them to remember how much I love them.Lol Susan ..he called the hostas Hostages:) ..Hostiles..etc..Anyway..productive day but things look a mess of course.I envy your lisianthus:):)
DeleteBeautiful garden and the bunny statue is a nice touch....The little blue child's jacket on a stick is a big "Nope" looks like something the police might try to investigate.
ReplyDeleteThe statue is 25 at least yrs old.. a friend at the time gave it to me..Ears have been reglued.. spray painted many times..a relic of a friendship long gone.
DeleteAugust, and here we are. Time flies! I know you love and appreciate those grandsons. I could use a few strong arms here as well. I'm way ahead of your years, and digging is difficult for me. I'm grateful for helpers when they are available. I tale joy in viewing the photos you share of your garden. You know the Peter coat delights.
ReplyDeleteBecause you are such a lovely Peter Rabbit fan..lover of all things Beatrix.I only have one helper. as one has left to board..the other had a full time job..But now he is back in school and back in football..so its over...I dread my fall clean up at the moment..
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