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<\/a><\/p>\nIt is tough to see the stickers in the above photo, but trust me, they are there! \u00a0And I got poked enough stacking them there\u2013I think it might work!<\/p>\n
The jewels I\u2019m hoping to protect!<\/p>\n This has been a difficult summer for the garden. \u00a0We had the longest period of no rain in Seattle history\u2013over 50 days. \u00a0And even the rain that ended that stretch was not garden-worthy. \u00a0No significant rain has still fallen through mid-September! \u00a0However, starting tomorrow at around 1:00 pm that is supposed to change\u2013nearly 100% chance of rain for the next four days. \u00a0I really hope it happens.<\/p>\n The plants are definitely stressed out, despite our efforts to irrigate them regularly. \u00a0When the ground is this dry, the little amount of sprinkler watering we do just barely keeps the plants alive. \u00a0They still show signs of stress. \u00a0For example, powdery mildew came earlier and more heavily this year than most.<\/p>\n Despite the challenges, though, there are still signs of beauty in the greenhouse and garden. \u00a0Below are some of the things I found today.<\/p>\n The impatiens have impressed all summer long. \u00a0Leon and I are in agreement that I need to grow more of them next year for the back patio. \u00a0The conditions suit them perfectly and they require nothing but water to look this good for months\u2013right up until frost. \u00a0I may move them into the greenhouse to try to winter them over, or maybe I\u2019ll take some cuttings next weekend to winter over.<\/p>\n Closer photo showing flower form. \u00a0One of the most impressive features of impatiens plants is their self-cleaning ability. \u00a0While I\u2019m forever pinching off dead geranium flowers, I never once had to attend these user-friendly plants.<\/p>\n Even closer\u2026<\/p>\n And closer still. \u00a0 You can see the light spots near the flower center that add even more light to the shady patio.<\/p>\n On the fence surrounding the back patio, this geranium is enjoying a second flush of brilliant bloom,<\/p>\n Cardinal fuchsia blooming despite all the heat and dryness. \u00a0Trying to keep patio pots watered is a full-time\u00a0job! \u00a0I absolutely love the wall hanging here on the patio fence.<\/p>\n The best greenhouse show is provided by these streptocarpus\u00a0plants and an angel wing begonia. \u00a0The \u201cCape Primroses\u201d are late this year due to the rat that was eating the buds off the plants until it was<\/p>\n I overlooked this seedling geranium when I was potting them all on into patio pots. \u00a0It is a gorgeous soft salmon shad with white eyes. \u00a0I plan to label all of the geraniums so that I can match them up better next year. \u00a0This year, I\u2019ve got some pretty awful clashing going on, offending even my very relaxed sense of color propriety.<\/p>\n This tradescantia flower is large for its type and very pretty.<\/p>\n I sprinkled hippeastrum seeds on some empty pots and this one sprouted in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n I found two flower stalks on Sinningia tubiflora\u00a0in the greenhouse. \u00a0The plant needs some significant love\u2013maybe this autumn I\u2019ll repot it in some good soil in a much bigger pot.<\/p>\n I received a perennial daisy plant mix when I mail-ordered starts this spring. \u00a0This rudbeckia is one of them. \u00a0It is in a small pot and barely clinging to life, but it threw a cheerful flower.<\/p>\n Yellow ironweed blooming in near the old lilac. \u00a0This is Verbesina alternifolia.<\/p>\n Gorgeous cherry tomatoes in the veggie garden. \u00a0We didn\u2019t get very many tomatoes\u2013just enough to remind us how good real tomatoes taste!<\/p>\n Monster Echinops ritro in front of the greenhouse. \u00a0This impressive perennial didn\u2019t seem phased at all by the lack of rain.<\/p>\n Garlic chives from brother Tim blooming in the driest bed of all, the raised bed under the Douglas fir.<\/p>\n Voodoo lily berries starting to color up.<\/p>\n Another view\u2026<\/p>\n And another.<\/p>\n Asters blooming in the Doug fir bed.<\/p>\n Close-up of the dwarf aster flowers in the Doug fir bed.<\/p>\n Dogs enjoying what may be their last chance to be tied outside for awhile.<\/p>\n Rose hips from the wild rose grown from arboretum seed at the end of the driveway. \u00a0I sometimes want to pull this rose out, as it is a monstrous thug, but these hips remind me why I love it.<\/p>\n Lots of bright hips this year\u2013should be very festive through the holidays.<\/p>\n Phlox still has some flowers. \u00a0They bloomed better this year than ever.<\/p>\n Another view\u2026<\/p>\n Verbascum seedling that needs to get moved\u2013it is growing in the lawn near the new cherry trees.<\/p>\n Seedling geranium blooming in a pot near the driveway. \u00a0These flowers are interesting in that they are stippled with darker pink in an attractive way.<\/p>\n David Austin rose blooming in the orchard bed.<\/p>\n Prime Ark blackberries in the orchard garden. \u00a0I\u2019ve finally hit on consistent berry production by adding the Himalayan blackberry to the veggie beds. \u00a0 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. \u00a0They taste amazing!<\/p>\n Some more giant Prime Ark berries\u2013they are about six times as big as the average Himalayan berries.<\/p>\n The perennial peas in the orchard garden are starting to bloom again, happier now that the weather is a bit cooler.<\/p>\n Ceratostigma plumbaginoides blooming in the orchard bed. \u00a0This unassuming perennial amazes me late every summer when these bluer than blue flowers show up.<\/p>\n Another view\u2026<\/p>\n And here is the whole plant.<\/p>\n There are two different kinds of aster near the driveway\u2013this taller, periwinkle blue one\u2026<\/p>\n And this shorter lavender one.<\/p>\n The fragrant rose on the Jeff Tangen arbor has bloomed better this year than ever before. \u00a0It continues to throw buds and flowers and to waft its sweet scent throughout the front yard.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Love the colors of these roses.<\/p>\n One of the salvia seedlings in a patio pot in the driveway.<\/p>\n The pansies I bought in very early spring are still blooming. \u00a0I know the cooler fall weather will help them to look their best again. \u00a0I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll winter over. \u00a0They have been excellent pot plants!<\/p>\n The clematis on the Jeff Tangen arbor has thrown a few late, very welcomed flowers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m 90% sure that I lost all of my plums to squirrels this year (there\u2019s a 10% chance it was rats, but I\u2019m choosing not to explore that option). \u00a0The apples are nearing perfection right now and my preference is that they don\u2019t meet the same fate. \u00a0Because the apple trees are small and columnar … Continue reading Squirrel Wars and Late Summer Blooms<\/span> 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