The region survived a tornado and hail on Father's Day, some record heat for a couple of days, and more rain than average. The perennial beds love this year's weather. The vegetable gardens are a little behind schedule. But we are ever optimistic that all will catch up with the sunny week currently forecast. Hail slightly damaged our early garden, but most of the peonies were still in the bud stage and the hail bounced off. We were lucky.
Photos include:
Gold yarrow (Achillea) contrasted with dark smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria) at dusk.
Pink Malva (Malvaceae: mallow) and baby's breath (Gypsophila) make a dainty mound anchored with day lilies (Hemerocallis).
Delphiniums (Ranunculaceae) are my favorite blues. Pacific Giants were started from seed years ago.
Patio Pots of herbs include rosemary, 2 basils, 2 parsleys, Greek oregano, and nasturtium grown for the blossoms which will go in our salads.
Two large containers with zucchini and Japanese (long variety) cucumber.
Two flat containers for early lettuce (they are just about spent). Black Simpson and Arugula.
We have good luck with patio containers for our very favorites---it is possible to protect them from sudden storms, etc., In addition to vegetables we have several containers of geraniums which were overwintered in the basement (see post February 16, 2010). They are very hardy , fast growing, and heavy blooming in this zone.
If you have a deck or patio, try a few containers. They will reward you. Plants can be started from seed, or purchased from your local nursery. It's easier to protect patio containers from cold weather--they are next to the house. We can't reliably plant in the back yard vegetable plot until Memorial Day. The patio "garden" gets a head start.
Because of the short, yet hot, summer season here, we have established our flower beds and borders with perennials and native plants. They are so forgiving in an unpredictable climate. With the exception of the patio containers, we do not put out any annuals except the geraniums--we're just getting too lazy! Annuals are an expense and very time consuming for just 3 months of summer.
We are cutting a second round of Swiss chard, and zucchinis are blossoming. Can't wait for a few on the grill.
Keep gardening!
KGC
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