Thought I'd check in and report on my garden...it just boggles my mind how these plants can survive and even thrive in this heat! Being relatively new to gardening, it's so thrilling to have some success! 1)Red and pink Celosias: seemingly can't get enough of the heat. Love the whole spear-shaped 'flowers'...so unique. And how the red ones have red leaves, and red stems. Soooo cool! 2)Dark pink Vincas with white 'eyes': The hotter it gets, the happier they seem. They're blooming like crazy and I love the intense, deep green leaves...real champs they are. They are bordered by Dusty Millers which also seem to be doing well...the little monsters: I had to trim them back because they were starting to take over my sidewalk! But despite being a bit unruly, their silver leaves make such a great contrast against bright colored flowering plants. 3)Madagascar Palm: seems quite happy; it has a gorgeous shape right now with perfect green leaves. Hard to believe it was just a mere prickly stump 6 months ago. My only fear is, he is growing and someday I'm going to have to figure out how to transplant him! Slow down little fella, slow down! 4)Purple Leaf Plum: looks good, but I kind of wonder if I need to paint its bark to protect it as the summer wears on? I haven't noticed other Plum trees with bark painted, but maybe that's just me. Anyhow, my mom says hers is producing fruit right now, but she lives up in Cottonwood so who knows? Maybe it's just as well that mine doesn't produce fruit? Shrubs: The African Boxwood shrubs are doing much better than I ever expected...and they've been verdant in both winter and summer. I highly recommend them (so far). I think it's because, being close to the house porch, they get a few hours of shade that suit them well. I've also got some Ilex V. (Stoke's Dwarf) that are healthy-looking, but haven't grown one lick since the 8 months I've had them! I guess when they call it 'dwarf' they weren't kidding. Oh well, less trimming to do. 6) Chinese Pistache tree: tips of some of the leaves on the lower part of the tree are brown and crispy. I think I might need to do a deep watering? 7) Sunflowers: some of you may recall I bought a cheap package several weeks ago and just threw them in the border area next to my sidewalk. Already 15 inches! So cute how, even though they don't have flowers yet, their bodies are turning to the sun. Wish I could provide picks, but my old non-digital Canon EOS has finally given up the ghost. I might just have to stop being such a luddite and go digital. You all have such beautiful photos...I wonder if any of you are using special lenses? (I've got a Tokina 50-200 zoom...nothing special but it's functional most of the time!).

Weeding and resiting the planned water garden. Mom Nature knows better than me! :-) Took the rainy time to go through many books that haven't been cracked in years. The 1996 copy of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden still holds true for newly establishing gardens and got a lot of good reminders/ hints. Trying to keep annuals started from seed hardened off without rotting. An old fitted sheet over a three tier stand seems to be working well. Greenhouse lurking all over Massachusetts and northern CT for temperennials I don't yet have. Some great stuff out there in the little "local hero, locally grown" stands. Cleaning containers in anticipation of planting these new babies and cuttings I took last fall. Took out all bird feeders. This was a tough decision but I want nature to take its course and the plantings will soon replace the human provided food. Not to mention that I have sunflowers and millet sprouting EVERYWHERE! Checked with a local Ornithologist to be sure none of my feathered friends would be harmed. Looking forward to this weekend when hopefully, there will be a lot more "in the garden" to report. Martie

Oops, sorry I've been a little preoccupied! Belated B-day wishes to Dr. Renee (25?). I hope that Eric took you out somewhere nice. You deserve it! Next year let's get together and have a big night out for the four of us. Our Anniversary is the 17th (today). We could celebrate both. See ya Saturday...and make Eric come this time!!!

I have clay soil full of rocks. My garden is way too big to use the lasagne method, so I have a tiller. It is rough going the first time around, getting through the sod, but then the grass rots nice, fluffing up the soil some, and I till in peat moss and compost, either mushroom compost, composted cow manure, or compost from kitchen scraps. A good thing about clay is that you probably will never have to add any minerals to it. Even though it is frowned upon because of possible soil loss, tilling under at the end of the season helps keep down the bugs a lot. I have to admit that I actually enjoy tilling too. I do use mulch in the small areas around the house that are planted with flowers and where tilling would be a PIA. It works well covering the grass with cardboard and then mulch with wood chips. The following year, the cardboard has rotted and you can dig holes for planting without a major battle. If I were rich, I'd do this with the entire garden--hell, the entire yard! Can't afford it, though. If you don't have a tiller and don't want one, folks are usually happy to come and till your garden for a reasonable amount in spring and fall. Just look in your local shopper paper for ads.