While I Was Away

Those who read my other blog know that I have been in New York City for the prior week. Those of you who garden realize that being away from your growing plants for a long time is a bit traumatic.  You try to plan your vacation trip around the growing season.  Or you either throw things to the hands of fate or you try to find someone to water and check on things and keep your fingers crossed . 

We did not have anyone to really check on things except the man who helps mow and trim on the weekends. But we "lucked out" in that a heavy rain came mid-week. My roses are bereft as there was no one to pick off the beetles and deadhead to encourage more blooms. My other flowers have almost completed blooming before the fall time. 

This time in my yard with the heat and humidity there are a few late lilies, the ever patient phlox and the rather weedy annual flower bed full of zinnias and sunflowers all overshadowed by a thousand coreopsis!   The crepe myrtles are still in bud.

The vegetables had grown large and watery...cucumbers and tomatoes. We will pick and eat them anyway. 

This year hubby planted a new variety of sweet blueberry and we had amended the soil to finally get a decent crop.  Granddaughter helped us pick a pint or so for pancakes the next morning.

I also noticed that the planters I had placed in large bins of water (with mosquito dunks) had managed to hold their health if indeed looking a bit haggard from wind and pelting rain. But there was one surprise...

This sunflower, that volunteered from the bird seed this past winter, I staked well and it is  now 10 feet tall!  Soon goldfinch will flash their golden beauty and start picking away at the seeds and chumming down on the golden petals.

My gardening will have to wait as the weather is now unbearable!