Cucumber Tomato Sandwiches, finally! :-)

Paste tomatoes still greenâ¦.

Spaghetti Squash - I think...

Enough blooming to spare a few for the tableâ¦.

Cucumber tomato sandwiches sound great, PM2! I usually put them in salads, but I happen to have some cucumbers and tomatoes from the local farmer's market, so I may try the sandwich.

We had some heavy rain yesterday and some plants got beaten down (Is this really August? The temperature has struggled to get above 65 degrees the last few days).

Lilies and phlox are major attractions now, with a few late daylilies opening.

The old-fashioned Tiger Lily (Lilium lancifolium AKA tigrinum) has opened. I collected some of the little bulbils from the stem and was about to toss them in with other lilies when I remembered that Tiger Lilies can carry viruses that destroy newer lilies. I think I'll move this Tiger Lily this fall, farther away from my other lilies.

The lilies I want to protect are L. 'Arabesque' right next to my porch steps

L. 'La Claridad', sitting in a nest of ornamental grass which is beginning to look nice and lush.

and 'Casa Blanca', under a pokeberry with developing fruits.

Pokeberry blossom/fruit

Another Phlox paniculata has opened in the Phlox Protection Zone. I think this is 'David's Lavender', but it could also be 'Franz Schubert'. I lost track during the rescue operation when I moved a cart full of woodchuck-chomped phlox stems.

Late daylilies just starting up include 'Autumn Minaret' next to 'Carefree Beauty' rose.

and 'Frans Hals' next to a red gazing ball.

The rugosa rose 'Blanc Double de Coubert' occasionally opens blooms although rain can really mess them up. I took this pic yesterday before the latest rain expecting trouble.

Claire

Gorgeous colors in your garden, Claire! I especially like that 'La Claridad' Lily. Very pretty. I moved some Casa Blanca Lilies and I'm happy to see them blooming now, but they're puny this year. Hoping they will do better next year.

And yes, it has been an odd growing season this year. Normally by the middle of August, I expect the weather to start cooling off considerably at least in the evenings, but it feels like summer is winding down already.

My Mom's favorite sandwich, Mayo, cuke, tomato, salt, that's it. Delicious!

This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Sun, Aug 3, 14 at 17:28

I love the Arabesque lilies, Claire. I planted one of these way back in the early 70s only to have it not come back the following year. Maybe someday I will try again but I will remember to keep it far away from my tiger lilies if I do. (Interesting about that - I never knew tiger lilies could carry illnesses to other lilies.)

Also creating your phlox protection zone was definitely worth the effort! How beautiful all those colorful phlox varieties are! I adore phlox! It must have been devastating when the woodchuck decided to dine on yours.

I never thought I would welcome parasitic wasps to my garden, but if they are responsible for the salvation of my tiger lilies, then I am eternally grateful to the authorities in neighboring states who released them. I'm sure this must account for the resurgence of my tiger lilies. This is the healthiest they have looked in years! two stems and all covered in black seeds with many buds waiting to open.

Prairiemoon, I'm envious of your homegrown produce! I love nothing more than cucumber sandwiches or tuna salad sandwiches with sliced cucumbers and lots of dill! Also eggs scrambled with tomatoes and cheddar cheese! I'm thinking next year will be the year I will grow cucumbers once again. (After seeing my tomatoes fall victim to slow blight I'm preferring to buy my tomatoes - I deal badly with failed crops!)

This year I got a late start and didn't grow the things from seed that I usually do. My perennial beds are between blooms right now. The phlox are just beginning to bloom. Right now I'm enjoying these wintered over geraniums. I think I like the all red lineup on my decrepit cement block wall against the backdrop of the red barn.

Spedigrees, look at the clean foliage on those Tiger lilies, wow, they look great!

Wish you lived close enough to send some cukes your way. :-) I havenâÂÂt attempted growing cukes in quite a few years, because of squash bugs, and I had no issues with that at all this year. Probably just lucky with a bumper crop and next year, the squash bugs will be backâ¦lol.

Your geraniums are looking very good!

Lotsa Lilies! and Pokeweed, er I mean Pokeberry, Oh my.

Here's a few from Central Mass.

Rudbeckia ( I wish I could remember the variety)

Hydrangea Limelight

Siberia in full bloom. I had to hold the camera over my head for this shot.

Buddleia "Miss Ruby" compact, (about 4-5') and sterile so it won't seed around.

Lilium 'Muscadet' I think this one is an Orienpet.

Steve

Wow, such beautiful images from everyone, Thank you.

Hops vine taking over an unoccupied bluebird box

Your garden is looking fresh and colorful for August, Steve. :-)

Homegrown, thatâÂÂs a pretty picture of that Hops vine on your bluebird box! What is the white flowers around it?

prairiemoon, there's just the hops vine and corn growing in the background (vegetable garden).

Ohhhâ¦..lol. That is so funny! Nice crop of corn you have growing there, and very decorative! :-)

speds, your shed - and your wall - are charming!

:)
Dee

Not too much going on in the gardens right now. My phlox are just starting to get going. This two-toned pink variety is always a forerunner.

A cherry cheeks daylily, photographed late in the day, was missing a single petal, but still charming, and a double daylily.

My bee balm flowers are past their prime and losing petals, but still humming with bees, both bumble bees and honey bees.

This time of year I especially enjoy the wild areas on my property and the myriad of pollinators that the blooms attract.

I have a few young wild and domestic apple trees and a couple lilacs planted on the slope in the background of the top photo, but keep this hill mostly open to native wildflowers, mostly milkweed and goldenrod. The unmowed areas in the foreground are home to black eyed susans, daisies, St. John's wort, vervain, yarrow, and Queen Anne's lace, among others. I cull the "undesirables" from these areas. ("Undesirable" is a subjective term since all serve a niche in nature, but when one has experienced a poison parsnip takeover, or combed burrs out of dog or horse hair, one develops definite preferences!) The foreground areas are planted in seedling trees, not visible under the tall weeds. When they mature, I will extend the unmowed areas to accommodate the space where wildflowers can thrive.

The lower photos are of an area in the front of the house, bordering the brook, currently abloom with Joe pyeweed and attracting a tiger swallowtail, among other pollinators.

Not photographed are the patches of jewelweed, also alongside the brook, visited by hummingbirds that always seem to be too fast for me to capture.

Very lovely, Spedigrees. Leaving unmowed sections provides great habitat for pollinators and for butterflies. Thanks for the pics.

Steve

This post was edited by steve_mass on Sun, Aug 10, 14 at 18:14

Vegetable gardens have beauty too, so I'm leaning that way tonight. HereâÂÂs the 1st section of garden (tomatoes, beets, radishes, chard, spinach, lettuce, green beans, brocolli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, peppers, herbs, sunflowers, and pumpkins in the back).

Tomato Alley..I have cut back from 4 fences to 2 - but just love those maters - lol

Here's part of the 2nd veg garden (nicknamed the 'far garden"), corn almost ready to harvest and old hay rake in the background. Also growing here: cukes, summer and winter squash, ground cherries.

Dill and sunflowers

Susan

Susan, that Tomato Alley is sure a different way to do it. I like it! And they look healthy too. Look at all that Dill! Do you use a lot of it? Like the red sunflowers too, which variety is that?

You are really lucky to have such a big, sunny, attractive space for your vegetable garden!

We spent the most time on our vegetable garden this year, and last weekend, I was just enjoying it so much! Cucumbers are a bumper crop this year and string beans would be secondâ¦.

This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 21:20

Cucumbersâ¦.

Tomatoes are just so so this year and slow to ripen...

Wish I had planted more of theseâ¦.

Cilantro gone to flower was delicious in guacamole and now is covered with bees and other pollinators...

Such a beautiful weekendâ¦.and the only pot in the garden that looks decentâ¦.

Anyone else growing a vegetable garden this year?

Prairiemoon, thank you. We started growing tomatoes on wire fencing about 3 yrs ago. Works much better than cages and stakes for us since we have quite a few plants.

We use dill in cooking and pickling, but I have way more plants than we need just for the bees and beneficial insects...and the fragrance. The sunflowers are from mixed seed packets, but I think the red may be "chianti". Love sunflowers and so do the birds!

Your veggies look great, and that cilantro is lacy and beautiful!

Susan

Nice veggies, PM2 and Susan! Susan, how the heck do you keep that garden so weed-free without mulch?! It's a beautiful garden - I wish had had a) so much space and b) so much SUNNY space, lol, for a veggie garden. Mine is much smaller, not nearly as visually pleasing, and nowhere near as productive.

My friend used to let the dill reseed all over her garden. It was lovely. I used to sell bouquets, and one of my favorites was a single stem of the chartreuse dill, a single stem of tiger lilies, and one or maybe two blooms of a very dark purple hydrangea. It was one of my favorite bouquets of the whole season.

PM2, now THAT'S what I call a tomato stake, lol!

:)
Dee

Dee, there's a lot of weeding early on, but after a while the alley stays relatively clear just from walking on it so much. There is some pine needle mulch under the tomatoes. There are defintely weeds throughout the entire garden and we keep after them as time permits. Near end of season it will look pretty ratty!

Dill in a bouquet w those contrasting colors sounds beautiful. I should do something like that.

Susan

Thanks,Susan. I have a little Dill growing in with the veggies and so far IâÂÂm just
enjoying watching how many beneficials are checking it out. I havenâÂÂt tried using it in cooking yet. What do you add it to and do you just use the leaves?

We also switched from stakes and cages to cattle panel fencing this year. It is so much better, I wish I had done it a long time ago,

Dee, that is part of our Cattle Panel Fencing we used this year. HereâÂÂs a photo of the bed with the fencing in it. It definitely is very sturdy! Our tomatoes have just not been very vigorous this year though and tomatoes have been slow to appear and to ripen.

Prairiemoon - your cattle panels are great. Our fencing is not that tall, but then neither am I, so it works.

We use dill leaves on vegetables like zucchini, in dips, w fish. Use the whole dill heads in pickles. Looks pretty in the canning jars. Would grow it anyhow for looks and smell.

Susan

Thanks Susan, I'll try those dill ideas. I haven't tried pickles yet but that does sound pretty. I would also grow them just for their looks and all the beneficial insects. I like Dee's idea of using them in arrangements, too. I hadn't thought of that.

I don't think I'm actually going to need the height of the cattle panel which is about 7ft tall, for the tomatoes, but I plan to rotate and sometimes use them for cucumbers and pole beans. Those two crops are at the top of the panels this year. I have brought the step stool out to pick them from the top. [g]

Claire, I'm happy to see pictures of your pokes. People are sometimes shocked that I let a couple of them grow in the yard, but I think they're kind of neat, and they're native, so what the heck.

Susan, I love your sunflowers.

Spedigrees, your "past their prime" monardas look pretty good to me. It's been a good year for Monarda fistulosa for me, but my didymas have been lackluster -- the plants just don't seem vigorous.

I need to get out and take some pictures of the squash and Jerusalem artichokes, but it's raining cats and dogs today.

Echinaceas and rudbeckias:

Asclepias incarnata (a few days ago -- it's opened up a bit since then):

Eryngium yuccifolium:

Hibiscus moscheutos just opened this morning. The biggest blossom is more than 8 inches across:

Just wanted to comment on your spectacular vegetable gardens, Susan and Prairiemoon. I can't imagine how much work is involved in caring for those two large gardens, Susan, but it has certainly paid off, in beauty as well as a bountiful harvest!

I made trellises of mesh wire too this summer, for my climbing mini roses.

I ordered seeds for pickling cucumbers, with hopes of putting up some sweet pickles next summer. It is impossible to find any whole small sweet pickles in the stores here that do not contain HFCS, and the farmers' markets seem to only carry bread & butter pickles. Perhaps I should be also growing dill for the pickle endeavor...

I love your red sunflowers, Susan. I had some, but they must have cross-pollinated with my yellow sunflowers because that is all my saved seeds produce now.

Spedigrees, thank you. Sometimes we wonder why we keep the gardens so big. We eat the produce fresh, can it, freeze it, but still end up giving away a lot of it! But that's fun too. Those seed catalogs we get in the winter are so appealing!

I had to cut down a bunch of the sunflowers because they were flattened in the rain and wind on Wednesday. Still have a lot though.

You're yard is big and so beautiful and I love all of the charming little areas you have created. Always enjoy your posts.

Susan

The grasses in the field behind the house are beginning to get their autumn colors. The taller one to the left and in front of the spruce is little blue stem, but I don't know the identity of the one that creates the low reddish haze of seed heads.

These phlox came from a local plant swap, and while they aren't my favorite, DH really likes them and they do add color to a part of the garden that has only the tall airy lavender Thalictrum/meadow rue blooming right now.

A shrubby Hypericum/St. John's wort (thanks, T2D!)

This Coreopsis 'Golden Gain' has been bloom for at least a month, even though it is only a second year plant.

I think pokeberry is actually a beautiful and unusual plant, but in one garden, on the edge of a woodland, where it was rampant I now am pretty ruthless about keeping it out. If it didn't reseed so vigorously I would leave a plant or two, but it is just too vigorous a spreader to leave even one plant of it in this particular location. I do always feel bad when I find one and cut it down though, I have to admit.

Dee

Thanks, Spedigrees. :-)

Gee, talking about seeds for next year, yikes! It does feel like Fall and summer has gone by so fast this year. I like the sounds of your mini roses. I have always wanted to try some. Have you posted photos of them on another thread?

Babs, love photos of your field. I miss that expanse of landscape where I live, so I always enjoy seeing yours!

Hints of fall in all of the gardens shown so far! It's been a cool summer and I keep expecting a heat wave to suddenly appear. At this rate the houseplants will soon be back in the house, kicking and screaming.

The lilies are mostly gone, but phlox and daylilies bloom on.

Phlox 'David's Lavender' with a smaller Phlox 'David' in the background. I rescued the 'David' a year or two later than the 'Lavender' so it's behind.

H. 'Autumn Minaret' growing behind a holly that has a few red berries.

H. 'Frans Hals'

The sedums are beginning to show some pink.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

And the hardy begonia is just starting to bloom.
Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette'

Fruiting is starting.
Wild cherry (Prunus serotina)

Cotoneaster

Volunteer flowering crabapples

Wild arrowwood viburnums (Viburnum dentatum)

And Viburnum 'Summer Snowflake' is still blooming with fruit on it as well. I was concentrating on photographing the viburnum when the turkeys marched by - winged photobombers?

The pokeberries aren't ripe yet. I have one big one I can see out of my kitchen window, and I let others grow near the birdfeeders - free birdfood. These I usually pull out after the fruit is gone, but there's always more the next year. The big one I've had for years and I'm still learning how to prune it to control the flopping.

Claire

This post was edited by claire on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 16:24

The growing conditions have been a bit wet and cool for some things this season, but the cow corn that makes up a good chunk of my view from the house is unbelievable. Farmers and truck give a sense of scale. The wildlife appreciates it - beavers have a drag shoot down to the river, deer have left hoof prints and the bears left scat.

That is an impressive cornfield, NHBabs! It's absolutely massive! The wildlife will miss it once it's harvested, although I suppose the turkeys will be picking at grains of corn left behind on the ground.

Prairiemoon, I'm not sure if I ever posted photos of my mini roses. Here are some photos of them from past years (not great; I don't have any good pictures). I've come to think of these roses as tri or quad-annuals since 3 or 4 years is about as long as they last here, despite past efforts to cover them in winter or mulch them with hay. They might be perennial in slightly more temperate zones. The nice thing about them is that they bloom continuously all summer when they have enough sun.

This past year when I went online to buy replacements for those that did not survive, I received climbing versions. I really prefer the short little bush versions I've had in the past. (Wouldn't you know, now my local Hannaford's has the nice little bush mini roses in stock once again!?)

I may end up moving the mini roses to a sunnier spot. The garden where they are at present has become shaded from a forsythia bush that I stupidly planted there (too big to transplant now and I won't cut it down) as well as from the afternoon shadow of a growing quaking aspen in the back yard. I did hack away at the willows which opened up the area somewhat, but I think that I may just go with the flow and convert the area to wildflowers that are more suited to shade.

This post was edited by spedigrees on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 12:27

Right now phlox and some of the late daylilies are blooming. The purple phlox in the foreground (right) are surrounded by the monarda of the same color that hitched a ride in with them as an original single stalk. Despite being engulfed by once stowaway bee balm, the purple phlox also has spread, although not as prolifically.

Nice shot, Sped! I like seeing the whole set of beds together.

August provides some colorful food!

A few from the tomato harvest

Good eats plus eye appeal!

Susan

Thanks Steve. Ha, yes, I slid plastic plates under some of the pumpkins and squash to keep them off the ground.

Your photos are great (as usual). I've been planning to add Huldine clematis to my garden, but that red is gorgeous. I have pennisetum, but I haven't seen those pretty colors before...and wow to the hibiscus!

Susan

I like the red heads of the pennisetum too Steve! They look so soft, I feel the urge to pet them! Ha ha! I also love the Russian sage. Very pretty.

Fabulous harvest, Homegrown! I especially like the Red Kuri Squash. I believe I've bought one or more of these interesting vegetables as fall porch decoration in years past. It looks like it would taste great as well.

Claire, my sedums are starting to bloom too.
Lots of berries in your yard!

Babs, wish I had some of that corn for dinner. :-)

Spedigrees, sorry, I just noticed you posted the rose photos. The red rose in photo#2 is a really good size and love the color. YouâÂÂd never know it was miniature. IâÂÂm surprised they grow for 3-4yrs there.

Your idea for wildflowers for shade, sounds like a great idea. Sometimes if you canâÂÂt fight itâ¦. :-)

Homegrown, nice crop of tomatoes. Heirlooms for the most part? Do you have a favorite?

Love your red kuri squash. Such a pretty color. What does that taste like?

Steve, I really like that Dream Maker Hosta!

nhbabs: That corn field is amazing. You could lose a few trucks and farmers in there.

I'm enjoying the fall harvest pics throughout.

Steve: That hosta 'Dream Maker' is a beauty and I read that it's a sport of Blue Angel, one of my favorites.

My Royal Standard hostas are blooming now by the porch - an old standby, for good reason.

And the bees love them.

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides is always understated but it's a lovely blue and the leaves will turn pretty colors later.

Two of my late daylilies have been blooming all August but seem to be slowing down a bit. I planted Autumn Minaret (and Challenger) behind some smaller hollies and didn't expect them to infiltrate the hollies.

Autumn Minaret

Frans Hals

My latest daylily is just starting to bloom. I'd lost it as some American hollies grew up around it and when I dug it out last fall I wasn't even sure what it was. I'm glad I found it and planted it next to Autumn Minaret.

H. 'Challenger'

The first of the asters, White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus), is beginning to bloom, here next to some sedums.

Aster divaricatus

My grasses are beginning to bloom, mostly panicums now.
Panicum 'Rotstrahlbusch' in front of a miscanthus

And Panicum 'Cloud Nine'

Rose 'Carefree Delight' is perking up. It could use a little more sun and it doesn't really get going until late summer.

Claire

On this muggy day it is much nicer to be in your gardens instead of mine! Love all the photos. My planters are looking ratty but I know it's because I haven't kept up with fertilizing. There are annuals planted every year by Blackwater Nursery folks at the junction of Rt 3/4 in Boscawen and it all looks gorgeous.

603, the yellow squash and red kuri look beautiful!
nhbabs, that field must be well fertilized. I think that's the tallest corn I've ever seen.

I have noticed the small birds seem to be flocking in our yard and going after seeds. I want to cut off the pink tall phlox in the circle bed because it's not supposed to be there, only white, so I don't want any pink seedlings. Of course, now that I'm thinking about it ... maybe the white phlox will have pink seedlings because the pink pollinated it. Rats, didn't think of that before. The pink phlox I planted is about 50 yards away.

Usually I have some red peppers by now, at least the Italian kind but nada so far although pepper production has been great. I think cool nights have been a problem. The ones doing best are in the high tunnel with the sides rolled up. With just the plastic roof and back wall (front has a double door that is left open all season) it gets over 100 on a sunny day. Never got any green beans planted except for the ones that didn't germinated (seed too old or maybe not enough water) but the yellow wax were great. Plenty of beets and carrots to pull. Yanked out a cluster of shallots. Planted Moose's Tubers storage potato sampler this year and had a very nice meal of Peter Wilcox/Blue Gold. I did fingerlings last year but only grew one variety this year. A red skinned variety did very well in the high tunnel for some extra early potatoes but I just did two 3' rows.

Need more veggie space next year so have added length to a couple of beds, just another three feet using the lasagna method of piling up grass cuttings, old pea vines, kitchen scraps, etc. We don't use a rototiller.

Put three mums in planters this week. Alas, fall is coming.