It's Summer!

The weather is beautiful outside! Sunny with a slight breeze. However, the forecast for the next several days calls for rain but that is a good thing. We need the water.

In this weeks gardening e-newsletter, there was an observation that made me pause for a moment and reflect. Janet made a comment that she couldn't understand why people were in such a hurry to get their planting done. She enjoys planting things all during the season. It's true that there are some things that need to get into the ground in Michigan especially vegetables like tomatoes. But that doesn't mean the all of the annuals and perennials need to be put in by June.

Nurseries in Michigan tend to sell out of their annuals by the end of June and even then they are starting to be pot bound. Any annuals that can be found after this time are often in larger pots and are expensive. Does this leave the passionate but frugal gardener in the position of starting annuals indoors at a later date?

There are many "chores" that Ken and I have been able to do the last few days since the weather has been pleasant. Ken weeded an area in the large back flower bed and put newspaper and cocoa mulch in it. The columbines are done flowering and are producing seeds but the Stella d'Oro daylillies are in full bloom. Even though I thinned out the daylilly garden last year, it has totally filled in again. This fall, I'm going to have to dig out and divide all of the plants in that bed. I'm going to keep a record of where the different types of daylillies are in the bed so that I can replant the ones that I like the best.

It's June!

The weather has been very pleasant the last few days--light showers at night and temperatures in the 70s. However, forecasters are saying that it will be in the high 80s and low 90s later in the week.

I was able to get a lot of things done in the garden in the early spring but then time and weather turned against me! I have finally started to get back out and finish some of the chores that I wasn't able to get to earlier.

The violas in the pots are still blooming but I don't think that they are going to survive the hot, humid weather that is coming. I bought four hanging baskets at Targets and transplanted wave petunias in them. The petunias were volunteers from last year and came up in the small bed between the garage and house. (This is the second year that this has happened.) I probably will switch the viola pots for the new ones this weekend.

Three of the tomatoes have flowers on them already--a Roma, a Sungold and a Sweet 100. Eight of the nine asparagus roots that we planted have come up and are looking very good. I finished harvesting all of the green lettuce mix but I have just started to pick the red lettuce. Also, I planted two more rows of onions two days ago for a total of 4 rows. I told Ken that he should be able to start harvesting onions for his 4th of July BBQs.

Yesterday, we planted four Gold Coast junipers in the front brick bed. We also put down a layer of papers and covered them with cocoa mulch. The newspapers and cocoa mulch has really helped to keep down the weeds. There is a marked difference between the beds that had this treatment and those that did not.