It’s midsummer in Southeastern Massachusetts, and it’s been the summer of humidity. Bad for gardeners. Great for the plants…and the weeds. I’m outnumbered and overwhelmed. It’s that point in the summer heat when I look around at the weeds taking over certain areas, and nature forces me to give in and rest.
I love this: "The garden is good for the control freak in us because we learn to roll with the losses and celebrate the small wins. The balance we seek is internal; the external balance in the garden comes from natural forces far greater than ourselves. We become participants, facilitators, guardians of nature." It's so true for me. The garden is a patient and unwavering teacher.
I love calendula! Unfortunately, so do the resident squirrels. I watched as one bellied up to a row of calendula and then start eating the plants down to their main stalks. I planted a couple of tomato plants nearby and made tiny metal cloches out of chicken wire... hopefully it will help. Your dahlias and hydrangea look beautiful.
So much wisdom. So much beauty. Lynn Cady wrote on similar lines this week and called it zucchinification, when the garden and the weeds and the zucchini’s start to write their own story.
I definitely have control issues because mid July among blazing heat and sometimes smoke is usually when I think it’s a good time to start my garden projects. This year, it’s a bubbler. One nice thing about the PNW is our relatively consistent cool dry mornings even in July.
Your flowers are gorgeous! We are in a constant battle with deer...stakes and twine form a hopefully deterring barrier, but could still be easily breached by a determined deer. The deer pruned our dahlias and bee balm...is there anything that they won’t sample? Being the optimist, I’m hoping that deer snipping the tops will produce more, albeit later blooms! As for weeding, it’s my daily therapy, the weeds are always there to get me out of my head and my incessant worries about my college age son who is spending his first summer away from home in the city. And yes, I too take heat breaks as an opportunity to rest, read, and make art, all necessary for self care. 💜💜
When the garden and the story get a mind of their own
I love this: "The garden is good for the control freak in us because we learn to roll with the losses and celebrate the small wins. The balance we seek is internal; the external balance in the garden comes from natural forces far greater than ourselves. We become participants, facilitators, guardians of nature." It's so true for me. The garden is a patient and unwavering teacher.
I grew up on the East Coast. I miss my family but not the humidity. I wasn’t trying to brag though, just justifying my insane July garden projects. 😂
I love calendula! Unfortunately, so do the resident squirrels. I watched as one bellied up to a row of calendula and then start eating the plants down to their main stalks. I planted a couple of tomato plants nearby and made tiny metal cloches out of chicken wire... hopefully it will help. Your dahlias and hydrangea look beautiful.
So much wisdom. So much beauty. Lynn Cady wrote on similar lines this week and called it zucchinification, when the garden and the weeds and the zucchini’s start to write their own story.
I definitely have control issues because mid July among blazing heat and sometimes smoke is usually when I think it’s a good time to start my garden projects. This year, it’s a bubbler. One nice thing about the PNW is our relatively consistent cool dry mornings even in July.
Gorgeous flowers!
Your flowers are gorgeous! We are in a constant battle with deer...stakes and twine form a hopefully deterring barrier, but could still be easily breached by a determined deer. The deer pruned our dahlias and bee balm...is there anything that they won’t sample? Being the optimist, I’m hoping that deer snipping the tops will produce more, albeit later blooms! As for weeding, it’s my daily therapy, the weeds are always there to get me out of my head and my incessant worries about my college age son who is spending his first summer away from home in the city. And yes, I too take heat breaks as an opportunity to rest, read, and make art, all necessary for self care. 💜💜