Most mornings I “walk the garden,” with my cup of coffee. Today is gray and cloudy, and it rained last night so the garden is a bit squishy. But for me at least, my garden is always a bright spot. Here’s some of what it looked like this morning.

To be totally honest, the phrase “walk the garden” belongs to one of my gardening mentors. It’s a good practice to see what’s in bloom, what’s past its prime, and where the weeds, etc., may be creeping in. I like to check things out in the morning. It’s the best time to cut flowers, so I often walk with pruning snips and a bucket or two – one for stray weeds and one for fresh flowers.

First, a few favorite pots

The lavender, above, is in a pot on the patio. It spends a lot of time on the porch, where it smells heavenly. I’ll plant it in the herb garden at the end of summer, but I have not had a lot of luck with lavender wintering over here in Chicagoland. I think it’s just too cold.

This dahlia, below, is a show-off. I walked away from it — it was already pretty big — about three times at the gsrden center, before going back and putting it in my wagon. I know I would have been bugged all summer by passing it up. Happily, it has bloomed more and more all season!

A little herb garden

I’m not sure why I started growing herbs. It seemed like something gardeners do and I had the perfect spot behind the garage. I started with herbs I used in cooking. But, the more I cooked and the more I relied on my own fresh herbs, the more I enjoyed this part of the garden. Now I would be hard-pressed to give it up.

You can see my herb garden behind the dahlia. The perennial herbs, like thyme, sage and oregano, are doing great. But the dill, rosemary and cilantro are poking along. Our break-through cases of Covid kept us out of the garden until late May, so the annual herbs and border are anything but lush right now.

Here’s a close-up of the herbs. The basil gets better the more we cut it. The parsley in the lower left came up from last year and immediately went to seed. I’m told it will come up as new plants next year. I have not had that happen before.

Just the flowers, please

The friend who told me about “walking the garden” collected daylilies. One year we split an order of bulbs from White Flower Farm. Initially I was a little disappointed, because not all of them bloomed the first year, or even produced much greenery. However, once established they have thrived. They require almost no maintenance, except for dead-heading when the blooms are spent snd ultimately some clumps will need dividing. The daylilies seem perfectly sized for the bushes behind them and other perennials like coneflowers and daisies between them. They really do make the garden in the summer.

 

Last year I planted these blue alliums to contrast with some small, lavender daylilies on the corner of the garage. We removed an old, dying spruce from this spot and replaced it with a redbud tree. I thought the area needed a little more “presence.” The daylilies were good from the start, but the alliums seemed a little small. However, as is so often the case with perennials, they really came into their own this year!

I seem to have an accidental yellow theme on the south side of the house. It started with the daisies in May. Then the false sunflowers just shot up. (They’re very prolific bloomers — the more you cut, the more you get!) and now that the daisies have finished, the blackeyed susans have have literally taken over! This is really my cutting garden this year.

There are purple coneflowers buried in the false sunflowers, but they’re barely visible. Fortunately I have more elsewhere, and I think they like the alternative growing conditions better. Look how rich their color is!

And that’s what’s blooming here. We leave soon to meet our kids at the beach, which will be hot and sandy but fun.

Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon!