Fall 2009

end of summer

As the equinox draws nearer this week, the last of the summer flowers are floundering in their soaked beds.

This has certainly been the season for slugs, fungus of all types, powdery mildew and the like. The autumn mums, however, have somehow avoided much of the fuss and are well on their way to happy this week...lending some freshness to an otherwise tired idea. Another bright spot amid the muck--the hydrangea--have, since August this year, been turning subtle shades of green and maroon that I find rather comforting.


Rear bed, hydrangea in upper left.


Creeping Jenny constitute the only bright spots in the rear beds.

And the marigolds and sweet alyssum are still shining long after the midsummer lettuce patch was cleared away to make room for a fall sowing.
The last of the junior phlox fight powdery mildew beside spent lavender and just blooming pink mums.
In the edible category, cucumbers continue to pour in, despite some foliar powdery mildew.

And late blight finally arrived in the vegetable patch this month, starting on the cherry hybrids and moving to all three tomato plants very quickly. Since the season is drawing to a close, I decided to try to save some of the fruit, which seems to be tougher at resisting the spots than the leaves. As luck would have it, I'd already harvested a few dozen pints of cherry hybrids, so I wasn't too sad to pull and dispose of the entire plant. I cut out all of the cankers and infected leaves and stems on the brandywine and striped german, but left them on their stakes. This worked, for the most part, and we've been continuing to enjoy heirloom tomato basil salads and bruschetta for the last few weeks. Here you can see that the central stalk is all that is left of these two plants. These are nearly 9 ft tall and house at least a dozen more tomatoes, waiting for the plate, if they can hang in there. Last year I was swimming in green tomatoes in early October. Ah, well.


Nasturtium taking off as the weather cools off.
Beets ready to eat.

lettuce seedlings in

Yesterday I tucked a row of lettuce seedlings I'd started indoors into the spinach bed. They look a little droopy but I'm hoping they'll perk up in this cool weather. I edged the bed with marigolds that I also started from seed and sprinkled some sweet alyssum seeds around them. And I direct sewed a row of mixed greens around the pea trellis.
Also today, the wisteria blooms are continuing to unfurl.
And the peas are struggling to recover after the 90 degree stretch last week scorched many of their growing ends. A few seem to have begun to grow faster, but the rest are sort of lagging. I wonder if they don't get the right kind of sun in this spot, or if they are just slow growers.

While nearly all of the first tulips fell apart in the rainstorm last night, a few late bloomers keep a little color going amid the green.

spinach, peas and seeds

While tomatoes, beets, marigolds, lettuce, cucumber and morning glories were sprouting under lights this month, the peas and spinach that I had direct sewed with my mom's help in March were emerging.

April 23rd

Peas took nearly two weeks to show any signs of life, but by early April they were starting to look like they'd make it. Only 1/3 of the seeds I sewed germinated--next time I will try to inoculate them beforehand. Around April 10th I sewed a few more in the bare patches.

April 6th.

partially constructed bamboo lattice, April 6th.

April 19th

April 19th

The Spinach seedlings emerged in step with the peas, and by April 19 they, too, were taking off.