I’m 90% sure that I lost all of my plums to squirrels this year (there’s a 10% chance it was rats, but I’m choosing not to explore that option).  The apples are nearing perfection right now and my preference is that they don’t meet the same fate.  Because the apple trees are small and columnar and not near many other trees or fences, I figure that I might keep the squirrels at bay by surrounding the trees with a thorny barrier of bramble and rose clippings.  Today, I put piles of berry and rose branches all around the apple trunks.  Hopefully, that will be enough to save the apples for another week or two when I’ll pick them all.

It is tough to see the stickers in the above photo, but trust me, they are there!  And I got poked enough stacking them there–I think it might work!

The jewels I’m hoping to protect!

This has been a difficult summer for the garden.  We had the longest period of no rain in Seattle history–over 50 days.  And even the rain that ended that stretch was not garden-worthy.  No significant rain has still fallen through mid-September!  However, starting tomorrow at around 1:00 pm that is supposed to change–nearly 100% chance of rain for the next four days.  I really hope it happens.

The plants are definitely stressed out, despite our efforts to irrigate them regularly.  When the ground is this dry, the little amount of sprinkler watering we do just barely keeps the plants alive.  They still show signs of stress.  For example, powdery mildew came earlier and more heavily this year than most.

Despite the challenges, though, there are still signs of beauty in the greenhouse and garden.  Below are some of the things I found today.

The impatiens have impressed all summer long.  Leon and I are in agreement that I need to grow more of them next year for the back patio.  The conditions suit them perfectly and they require nothing but water to look this good for months–right up until frost.  I may move them into the greenhouse to try to winter them over, or maybe I’ll take some cuttings next weekend to winter over.

Closer photo showing flower form.  One of the most impressive features of impatiens plants is their self-cleaning ability.  While I’m forever pinching off dead geranium flowers, I never once had to attend these user-friendly plants.

Even closer…

And closer still.   You can see the light spots near the flower center that add even more light to the shady patio.

On the fence surrounding the back patio, this geranium is enjoying a second flush of brilliant bloom,

Cardinal fuchsia blooming despite all the heat and dryness.  Trying to keep patio pots watered is a full-time job!  I absolutely love the wall hanging here on the patio fence.

The best greenhouse show is provided by these streptocarpus plants and an angel wing begonia.  The “Cape Primroses” are late this year due to the rat that was eating the buds off the plants until it was

I overlooked this seedling geranium when I was potting them all on into patio pots.  It is a gorgeous soft salmon shad with white eyes.  I plan to label all of the geraniums so that I can match them up better next year.  This year, I’ve got some pretty awful clashing going on, offending even my very relaxed sense of color propriety.

This tradescantia flower is large for its type and very pretty.

I sprinkled hippeastrum seeds on some empty pots and this one sprouted in just a few weeks.

I found two flower stalks on Sinningia tubiflora in the greenhouse.  The plant needs some significant love–maybe this autumn I’ll repot it in some good soil in a much bigger pot.

I received a perennial daisy plant mix when I mail-ordered starts this spring.  This rudbeckia is one of them.  It is in a small pot and barely clinging to life, but it threw a cheerful flower.

Yellow ironweed blooming in near the old lilac.  This is Verbesina alternifolia.

Gorgeous cherry tomatoes in the veggie garden.  We didn’t get very many tomatoes–just enough to remind us how good real tomatoes taste!

Monster Echinops ritro in front of the greenhouse.  This impressive perennial didn’t seem phased at all by the lack of rain.

Garlic chives from brother Tim blooming in the driest bed of all, the raised bed under the Douglas fir.

Voodoo lily berries starting to color up.

Another view…

And another.

Asters blooming in the Doug fir bed.

Close-up of the dwarf aster flowers in the Doug fir bed.

Dogs enjoying what may be their last chance to be tied outside for awhile.

Rose hips from the wild rose grown from arboretum seed at the end of the driveway.  I sometimes want to pull this rose out, as it is a monstrous thug, but these hips remind me why I love it.

Lots of bright hips this year–should be very festive through the holidays.

Phlox still has some flowers.  They bloomed better this year than ever.

Another view…

Verbascum seedling that needs to get moved–it is growing in the lawn near the new cherry trees.

Seedling geranium blooming in a pot near the driveway.  These flowers are interesting in that they are stippled with darker pink in an attractive way.

David Austin rose blooming in the orchard bed.

Prime Ark blackberries in the orchard garden.  I’ve finally hit on consistent berry production by adding the Himalayan blackberry to the veggie beds.   The domesticated berries produce July and early August, then the wild Himalayan produces heavily in August and early September, then Prime Ark comes through with some giant berries later in September.  They taste amazing!

Some more giant Prime Ark berries–they are about six times as big as the average Himalayan berries.

The perennial peas in the orchard garden are starting to bloom again, happier now that the weather is a bit cooler.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides blooming in the orchard bed.  This unassuming perennial amazes me late every summer when these bluer than blue flowers show up.

Another view…

And here is the whole plant.

There are two different kinds of aster near the driveway–this taller, periwinkle blue one…

And this shorter lavender one.

The fragrant rose on the Jeff Tangen arbor has bloomed better this year than ever before.  It continues to throw buds and flowers and to waft its sweet scent throughout the front yard.

 

Love the colors of these roses.

One of the salvia seedlings in a patio pot in the driveway.

The pansies I bought in very early spring are still blooming.  I know the cooler fall weather will help them to look their best again.  I’m hoping they’ll winter over.  They have been excellent pot plants!

The clematis on the Jeff Tangen arbor has thrown a few late, very welcomed flowers.