Today I slept later than I planned and went outside about 9:30 in the morning. It was already hot and I knew the plants needed water. I recently planted a new hydrangea which was looking wilted. I’ve been watering it, but it just hasn’t perked up. Today I realized that the dirt had washed away from the roots, so they were exposed to the heat. I added more dirt and watered thoroughly. We’ll see if this helps. Dear Husband is preparing more paths for me. He is particular about the measurements, so he felt the need to move an established bed, just a few inches, he said. But, some of the wood is rotted and fell apart in the moving, and some plants were destroyed in the moving of dirt. Nevertheless, I am grateful for his work. By myself, I would have used fewer stones for the path and added more filler.
Last year we bought enough quick concrete to make the whole path, but the weather got cold too soon. We thought we had protected the bags, but they got wet anyway, and all that concrete is ruined, that is to say, hardened in the bags. We hope to lay the concrete tomorrow, if it isn’t raining. Today, in spite of the heat, DH is laying the sand and leveling the ground. I hope he doesn’t wilt in the heat.
Holding the hose and wetting the ground, I picked and ate green beans from one bed and snow peas from another. Last week we had cool weather which persuaded those peas to keep on. They are producing way later than usual. I also have lots of cilantro, now gone to seed, dill, basil and parsley. The blueberries are producing a handful of berries, but they are not sweet. We have to work on building their soil. They are tiny bushes. The raspberries seem to be done. I might make one more rhubarb pie, but then let those plants alone.
I received a fall planting catalog today, but I won’t be ordering, because we are leaving again. Still it’s fun to learn more about bulbs. It reminded me of the lecture last week in which a writer said that we, like the bulbs, need seasons of dormancy in order to produce some flowers in season. The dormant period is a time of growing, the catalog people stressed, and so did the writer.
Enjoy what sun you can, eat your vegetables, preferably while standing in the garden, and write on!