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Garden Notes — Summer’s Last Gasp
Though fall has been getting steadily longer and milder over the past few years here in Western Massachusetts, and we still have at least a month of fine weather to go before winter closes in, this is always a bit of a melancholy time of year for me, as I watch my garden yield to the change of seasons. So, for a look back, I’m posting photos I took toward the end of August, when things were still in vibrant bloom and torrential rainstorms hadn’t squashed the late-blooming flowers flat. Click on the image to see a larger version, plus my comments.
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Pictures From My Garden
I can’t believe it’s August already. Here in Western Massachusetts, we’ve had unbelievable heat and dryness; last weekend’s rain was the first sustained rain we’ve gotten since (I’m pretty sure) June. I’ve been watering to compensate (relatively sparingly, trying to save on the water bill) but I can definitely see the impact of the lack of rain. The other big change: our neighbors removed the big black walnut tree that used to shade the back third of my garden. I had a love-hate relationship with that tree: it killed some of the perennials I tried (all parts of black walnuts contain juglone, a compound that’s toxic to many plants) and every fall dumped bucketloads of rotting walnuts on my yard; but it also gave me beautiful filtered shade, in which, naturally, I planted a shade garden. Now it’s gone, I get full sun in some areas and afternoon sun in…
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Pictures From My Garden
These photos were taken in late May–not a lot in bloom yet, but plenty of variety in foliage shape, texture, and color. In my part-shade garden, foliage is the backbone. This is a photo-stitch, so it’s not quite accurate, but it gives you an impression (click on the images for larger views): You’re standing at the right rear corner of the photo above, next to the garage, looking left: A view from the bench at the left rear corner of the back garden: Standing at the rear of the back garden, looking toward the right corner: One of the foundation beds at the front of the house: The bed by the driveway, to the right of the house (can you tell I love hostas?) A color combination I especially like, showing that you really don’t need flowers to make your garden pop:
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In the Garden Again
Today’s the first day of daylight savings time (yay!). It was also the first gardening day of the season for me. We had very little snow this winter, but a lot of windy weather, so there were many downed branches to pick up. I also cut down the ornamental grasses that I left standing over the winter for visual interest, and dealt with the damage that some tunneling creature created around my compost bin. I have a terrible feeling that whatever it was ate the lily bulbs I had in that area. We shall see. All my bulbs are poking their heads up, and my hellebores are showing their snouts. I’ve even got some crocuses ready to bloom in sheltered spots. I love this time of year; it’s so full of promise. I love the prospect of returning to the outdoors after a winter spent largely inside (a stress fracture…