I have written a few times about one of my favorite songs, "You Go To My Head". It has that magic line "like a summer with a thousand Julys". The weather, the flowers, the ease of life - there is no other month in my year which offers so much pleasure, so much pure joy.
Even in these times, July gave so much to brighten spirits. I could talk and talk but I'll just post some pictures of this past glorious month.
First up are the CSA flowers. I didn't sign up last year but this past Christmas Margaret gave me a present of the first six weeks of this season! What a joy they have been.
June 24
July 1
July 8
July 15
July 22
July 29
Such beauty! They take my breath away.
We watch Gardeners World on Britbox faithfully each week, and we have learned so much over the past couple years. The most important thing is about pollinators. We've had flowers for all the years we've lived here, but mostly they have been daylilies. There have been a few others - iris, sedum, aquilegia, hollyhocks, but for the main summer season we have been awash in daylilies. They are wonderful and are themselves good for the bees, but we wanted to be a little bit more helpful to the butterflies and bees. Several plants were talked about on the show, and I ordered a few of them. We dug up a whole bed of just daylilies, and moved them to another area of the garden, and planted several new-to-us plants. They have been a grand success. Everything has grown and they have brought in scores of pollinators.
Achillea millefolium or yarrow. The yellow is Coronation Gold and the red, Paprika.
Perennial hollyhocks. I hope they do indeed come back. They have thrived with just a bit of rust on the leaves.
We planted Walker's Low catmint a few years ago in honor of Campbell Walker, our grandson, but we got another plant and put them both together because it is a real favorite of the bees. It was loaded with pollinators the whole month. The pink flower next to it is my beloved mallow that I've written about over the years. It has been gone a couple years but popped up this spring in force! Mallow is another favorite of pollinators.
We have two Monarda plants which are just beginning to blossom. It is also known are bee balm. This is a zone 3 variety so I'm hopeful it will come back again next year.
And then there is the Echinacea! It has been a butterfly airport! The other day there were eight at a time.
I just took this little movie of the action.
The daylilies have been in their glory with color after color just exploding throughout the month of July. They'll be around for a few weeks yet, I hope.
One of my favorite views because it shows the coming, the here, and the spent daylily. My daughter just told her daughter it is like life itself.
This one is Indy Charmer in honor of Indy Thomas, our grandson!
Little Fred, bought in honor of a man we both loved.
I'll stop. You get the idea. There are daylilies all over the place, in every direction you look. And when Margaret and Matthew moved into their house down the road ten (!!) years ago, we dug up bunches of them and planted them down there so they, too, are surrounded by these beautiful flowers.
And then there is the veg garden. More glorious than last year, its first year. I've written about the calendula coming back.
I just went out and took some pictures so you could see it as it is right now!
The amazing, amazing tomatoes, bought locally and two were gifts. There is one nearer the house, too, and we've had four tomatoes from it. There is nothing in the world that tastes better to me!
Potatoes. They've been eaten a bit by the dreaded potato beetle, but I think the potatoes themselves will be great, and coming soon!
I bought some special red corn this year.
Cukes and peas are coming fast and furious!
A zucchini plant bought at the Farmers' Market.
Sorry everything looks so washed out in the photos. 1:36 pm with bright sun. You may notice the dryness. We've had to water more this summer, though we've been lucky to have some good rains in between.
The Farmers' Market has been the highlight of my weeks. I've bought vegetables and homemade ice cream and homemade pastries and Thai spring rolls. A veritable feast. This virus time has been a locally supportive time. Everybody is cheering everyone else on, and supporting all the farmers and cooks and artists. My instagram account is a happy place to visit every day, and the Market on Sunday mornings.
Ran into some old friends one day.
Pulling her mask down to pose for me!
We celebrated birthdays - Margaret's 38th and Indy's 5th in July.
We've seen Margaret's family the whole time. We are kind of like one family in two houses. And now it's so good to be seeing the boys again! They kept themselves quarantined for a few months, and then we all began to get together again. We are quite safe here, and we are all careful. I still am nervous about tourist season, but local businesses are really good about masks and distancing, and we don't travel very many miles. None of us know what the fall will bring but I'm thankful that we can all be together again.
Nan, your gardens are lovely. I've been impressed by all the day lilies I've been seeing. Yours are stunning. Our apartment building is well landscaped and there are an assortment of day lilies to admire. We wear masks when we go into places or pass close on the street. We walked out of a sandwich shop in Claremont because the prep staff had no masks and no gloves. Went to drive thru Taco Bell and wouldn't you know it clerk at window was unmasked. I thought it was a state law here! I need to post some photos of what we've been doing so far here in our 3rd week as NH citizens.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! My gosh it was a long post! haha.
DeleteNot a state law. A suggestion, but not mandatory. Individual businesses can put up signs saying no mask no entry. I don't go to any chains. I shop at our local Co-op and the Farmers' Market and that's it. The state does mandate masks in the state liquor stores.
I look forward to your pictures.
Lovely flowers and family photos. Sound like you had a very nice month.
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I really must write more often instead of such long postings.
DeleteThank you for sharing your garden I really enjoyed that! How the grand kids grow!
ReplyDeleteI am happy you enjoyed that very long post!
DeleteMuch faster than children. How does that work?!!
Lovely to see your garden and your family.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. It was so long I wasn't sure anyone could sit through it. ;<))))
DeleteYour garden is gorgeous. It is no wonder all the pollinators come to the table. So much color it is uplifting to see.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! It is rather wild and crowded just the way I like it. But not everyone does. My mother-in-law always had vast amounts of soil between each plant!!
DeleteBuggy and dry here. Like you, staying close to home. CSA flowers, kind neighbors and zooming with family are keeping us afloat. Sending hugs your way.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The Farmers' Market today was loaded with tourists. And I just read about a town in NH that is having to pay employees to clean up after tourists, as well as dealing with road rage. One person described it as sailors who have been at sea, burning off steam. Disgusting!
DeleteI love all the flowers in these photos! Both the CSA ones and those in your garden. I thought I was the only one who bought plants because they had the names of people in my family! I also planted the trees that were mentioned in Hungarian poetry because I wanted my kids to know them...How great that your family is getting together more now! Be well!
ReplyDeleteI love that about Hungarian poetry and plants. Just so dear.
DeleteWonderful photos, I especially love the hollyhocks. I have grown vegetables for the first ever time this year, which was foolish as I'm working full time still and having a bad time with anxiety. But I have a few broad beans and hopefully some runner beans starting. Also love your butterflies. I have a lot of buddleia in my garden which is a magnet for bees and butterflies and smells delicious, too.
ReplyDeleteMonty Don has talked about how being in the garden helps with our anxiety in these odd times. I hope it helps with yours. I
Deletewill look into buddleia. Thanks.
No, unfortunately not at all, as I have struggled (dark north-facing garden, only windowsill safe from the cats also north-facing, never sure when to plant them out, harvesting the four broad bean pods too early and wasting them, slugs eating everything even after I put copper tape round the pots, etc. etc.). Not restful at all, just horrible and stressful and I feel like a stupid failure as I know a lot of good gardeners who are just doing it and getting lovely things. I've basically spent about £60 and hours of time to get one pod of broad beans! But never mind, my mistake to try to learn something new while working hard on my job, having my husband work at home too making my routine go to pot, dealing with our young cats and all their issues, and all the covid-related stress. Sorry to go on!
DeleteNo sorries ever. I know just what you mean - sometimes we think doing onemorething, a special thing, will counteract all the chaos while instead it actually adds to it. Another year, when things are calmer and more settled the result could be completely different. This is such a strange time. I start and stop a lot of things. Outdoors is a big help to me but I'm not in a city. I just saw that episode on Gardeners World again about the plantings along the canal in Birmingham. Such wildlife coming in - a real little miracle. If I lived there, I'd walk as often as I could in that area. You are NOT a failure. There is very little that is "restful" just now. And your change in routine is a huge thing. Just when there is loads of stress around us is when we need a home routine more than ever. And I just bought a fantastic cat toy, and found one on Amazon UK! PetzTrendz Cats Toys Ball Interactive Scratcher Chaser Best Pet Scratch Toy Play Combined Catnip (Blue) Hope your kitties love it like Maisy and Gemma do!
DeleteI too had a complete failure with my first attempt at broad beans. They looked fine and full but they were all empty. I’d like to say I can learn something from this but I know I looked after them so it’s a mystery. Plenty of pollinators around them too.
DeleteOh, I hope Lyzzy Bee sees this. I have never seen them growing where we are. People grow green or yellow string beans.
DeleteHa - that is really helpful, Lucille, thank you - I have got beans in mine but sometimes there's a few tiny ones that never grew and two big ones. I'm up to 13 individual beans now but I do have about 12 runner beans that have started to grow.
DeleteRe the canals, I love them - we were asked to keep away from them as the towpaths are quite narrow, to protect people who live on boats and each other, but those signs have now come down and we're back running on the canals which is lovely, and indeed lots of foliage.
And I love that cat toy - we already have it!! in brown. The kitties adore it and in fact I need to find a replacement cardboard disk for it soon. How funny!
I am so very pleased you came back and saw her comment!!
DeleteInteresting about the canals. Of course, that makes perfect sense.
And you have the cat toy!!!!!
All of this is so lovely, Nan. Especially the yarrow and the plants around it. Did you plant seeds?
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you!
DeleteNo, we ordered plants that we planted in the fall.
Good, I never have succeeded with seeds. That is a good idea, planting in the fall, I will have to read more about that. Compared to your acreage I am a minuscule amount of ground to plant in, and the I have to figure out whether I will have enough sunlight for each plant.
DeleteI forgot to say, Nan, that I sent the link for this post to my husband and he loved it, and he is eager to get some echinacea since he saw yours. He is very excited about plants that attract butterflies.
DeleteI don't have growing lights anymore, and wouldn't be able to get seeds going. It costs more to buy plants, but I would rather have success than failure. And I know at least with White Flower Farm if your plant doesn't work they will replace it. If you have Britbox, Gardeners World features gardeners who garden in very, very small spaces. So inspiring. I really believe they have the secret over there - to plant close together. So often here, you see gardens with empty soil between plants. It may look "neat" but I really prefer profusion! It is a bit harder to weed - to get to places, but on the other hand there aren't as many weeds because the plants take up so much ground! You two will LOVE the echinacea.
DeleteLike the others who have commented here, I have enjoyed this post very much. And as I found it on a Sunday, I had time to read it, too :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos of all you hold dear - flowers, your home, your family.
I can't believe it is 10 years since Margaret moved into the house! The posts you did about when the house was being built were great, I remember them well.
Here in Germany, wearing masks is mandatory when shopping and on public transport and in some other situations. Children under six are exempt, as well as anyone who has a medical condition such as asthma that would make mask-wearing extra hard. (Of course, people with such conditions are expected to stay away from situations where they would need a mask in the first place.)
I love it that you have flowers by the name of family members and friends!
It seems like many places are spiking in cases, and it scares me. I wonder if everything opened up too soon. I may do a post on this.
DeleteI remember your interest in the new house, and it meant so much to me.
Nan, this was a wonderful post. Loved seeing all the pictures of your flowers and garden and family. Thanks for sharing it with us. We'll get through all this won't we? It may not be easy or soon, but it will pass at some point. Our lives here are good enough. I'd love to be able to go to my 'normal' pursuits - volunteering, in-person yoga class, in-person WW meeting, but I'm OK with how things are. We miss seeing our kids more, but we stay in touch and do see them now and then. Our girl has gotten in the habit again of calling us on her way to work, which allows about 30 minutes to chat. Sometimes she calls me on her way home from work, but that usually means it's been a tough shift. She used to do that in nursing school. I'm glad to be there for her in that way. Otherwise, we're blessed because extended family have been OK as well. Thank goodness for golf and reading. Ha! Take care and again, love seeing all the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kay. I love it that she calls when it has been a hard shift for her. I'm happy your family is all fine.
DeleteMy life is basically quite the same. I don't really go many places anyhow. I really must do a post about all this soon.
Thanks again.
It's all absolutely beautiful, Nan, and it makes it easy to see why you haven't posted more here than you have. You've been busy!
ReplyDeleteIt's a little hot down here in July, so for us, June is probably the best part of the summer even though summer doesn't officially start until June's almost over. This year we've had so much July rain that it's very steamy at times; not so good for humans, but the lawns, flowers, and trees are loving it. My grass has seldom been a more uniform green than it is this year. Julys and Augusts are usually really dry, so it's kind of a change.
COVID-19 is still a problem in Texas, but it at least has plateaued in the last few days. I suppose that's some kind of progress. But now that school is about to start back up (even though students will be limited to online learning for the first four weeks), I am enough of a pessimist to think cases will start rising again in October no matter what we do now.
It is so hard right now to even know what to think. I'm just praying the cases don't go up and up.
DeleteI love it that you have had rain! It must be marvelous for Texans to see that green!
I especially love the red day lilies! Mine did not last very long this year. I didn't know CSAs did flowers, I thought just random vegetables. What a great gift!
ReplyDeleteIf you look over at the R sidebar, and scroll down until you get to "Letter Topics" - quite a ways down!, and then scroll down a ways (it is alphabetical), you will come to Flower CSA. Those are the posts about our local one.
DeleteA lovely post. We have a few day lilies too, orange ones. Is the Fred, Mr Rogers? We enjoyed It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood even though we never saw the programme.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThe orange ones are beautiful. Our original ones!
No, not Mr R.
Lovely post. Something so exotic about lilies.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete