GARDENING GENIUSES

my neighbor said this rainy summer has made all of us look like gardening geniuses! here's the south side of our house, from foreground to back: broom, harry lauder walking stick with sweet autumn clematis on top, and crape myrtle. behind the house is a big tulip tree.the potager, looking surprisingly good for late august because of the rain...
poodle all cozy on a cool, rainy day...

OSPREY: I'M READY FOR MY CLOSE UP

for my birthday today, hubs got me a zoom lens! and the osprey next-door ready was ready to pose for me. my what big talons you have!
time to go fishing...
the osprey is a reliable fisher, bringing home 2 fish a day from the hudson a mile away...
which is my better side, this...
or this?

APRES LE DELUGE

another 4 inches of rain leads to photos of wet flowers... monarch visits wet tithonia torch...echninacea 'sundown' blazes against pavers in the potager...
bee enjoys dripping sunflower 'mammoth'...
rotting dombeya leaf reminds me of disappearing effect in the "time traveler's wife"
osprey successful after morning of fishing... looks like he hasn't dug in yet...
rose 'heritage' reblooms in the wet...
japanese anemone back is more beautiful than the front...
passiflora 'pura vida' is my favorite... passionflowers really like tons of water...
beets picked this morning from the potager...
morning glory 'heavenly blue' iridesces in the overcast morning...

BRUGMANSIA 'PINK BEAUTY'

'pink beauty' has just loved the rainy summer, rewarding me with over 30 blooms! for such a tiny tree, that's quite an accomplishment. tuesday evening:
wednesday evening:
also tuesday, showing how little this tree is... about 4 ft tall...
and, i apologize for this photo... i do not have a working telephoto lens... but we have an osprey living in a nearby tulip tree, and fishing in the hudson. here it is eating a fish tonight, or the remains of the fish...

HOT

it hit near 90F today, the hottest day we've had in a while. the animals were sacked out in the kitchen and dining rooms, where we have ceiling fans...they perk right up if you call them... well, somewhat...

TRELLIS OF MY DREAMS

my hubs promised to make me a proper cedar trellis to replace the rustic trellis i made from twigs, which has been the center of the potager all summer. here's my recent sketch...8" cedar balls are quite expensive, so i've been trying to think of an alternative. any ideas?

this weekend i removed the ailing cucumbers and zuchinni, along with some poorly producing beans. i planted more carrots, lettuce and sugar snap peas. after...
before...
here's the crape myrtle through the sunroom window. it's over 20 feet tall! are they supposed to get this big?
blight, shmight. i got one big tomato!!!! this is neve's azorean, which seems a bit resistant to late blight. and there are more coming!

WARNING: GROSS POST

doesn't this plant look healthy? it's not! it's infested with vine borers... after reading more about these pests, i've decided not to keep them as pets. so, this weekend i went on a search and destroy mission. next year, if i grow zucchini, i'll start midseason seedlings to replace the sick ones... in the meantime...here's a healthy stem...
here i plunge my knife into an unhealthy stem to reveal the sections of a vine borer, at left...
can you say "ew?" there are three vine borers in this, the main stem of the plant pictured at the head of the post. i carefully collected this stem and bagged it for the trash. i searched the soil for pupae, but did not find any.
though this stem looks really ugly, i did not find borers in it. i searched around the dirt for pupae, and, finding none, covered the stem with dirt. i will carefully watch this plant, which is still producing, for new vine borer holes.
i also investigated the winter squash, and fortunately did not find vine borers. next year i'll grow butternut squash, which is apparently immune.

SOLAR EFFECTS

we've had some spectacular, dry, 80+ degree days in early august and the flowers love it. the mammoth sunflowers keep the bees busy...intricate flower parts glow in morning sun...
center whorl sparkles with dew this morning...
finally caught the sun-drunk tiger swallowtail butterfly feasting at the butterfly bush bar with the macro...
liriope emerges from morning haze...
passiflora pose with crape myrtle in the background...
potager with various mildewed cuke and zuch vines... the sunflower at the top of the post is seen nodding in the lower left corner of the potager...
inner workings of sneeze weed...
faded echinacea backlit by morning sun...
hydrangea limelight is huge - my neighbor is behind it mowing! i planted it 4 years ago, i think...
morning glories celebrating in the potager.

BATTLING THE DRAGON (topiary)

my best shot of the weekend... japanese anemone...this weekend i finally stopped procrastinating and battled the dragon yew topiary... here it is all done:
here it is about half-way done, when the rain forced me to take a break...
below is the "before" shot... can you see why i procrastinated? in case you are interested in the story behind this yew hedge... we were going to take it out, when it was only 4 ft tall, then i suddenly had a vision that i could make it into a dragon! 7 years later, the head is finally high enough to look ok (about 10 ft from the level upon which the bench sits.) i'm still playing with the number of spines and the tail. the deer have eaten the poor monster's legs. i'm hoping it will look really good with snow on it this winter...
my crape myrtle is really tall now... i think i'll really whack it back this fall...

i realized i haven't posted many views of the garden... entrance to the potager...

south garden, showing the square garden in the middle...

the square garden...

south garden path against the house...

the day lily at left is the only one the deer have not eaten. i think it's bermuda queen, and if i had to pick one to survive the deer, this would be it!