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Late Summer Gardens

Meredith

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It's been a while since we've seen everyone's gardens!

I spent today cleaning poor-performing tomatoes and eggplant out of a bed and planting cool fall veggies. Of course my dogs immediately start digging, so I used pots and sticks to "fence" the bed. I'm thinking it will hold up for two days :/ While working, I found a swallowtail caterpillar. There's no appropriate food for that type in our yard, so I bought him some parsley and fennel and built him a house. Next year I plan to plant dill, parsley, and milkweed for the butterflies.

1. Showy zinnias
2. Duplicate
3. Pecks of peppers
4. Rudbeckia
5. Feeble attempt to protect my garden from...
6. The diggers
7. Caterpillar "house"
8. Scarlet runners

What's happening in your garden?

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22 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

JAileen

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Your dogs are too cute!

The entire garden is kind of ratty looking. This was a big year, fruit wise. We have tons of apples. It was crazy planting five apple trees. We also had a ton of peaches. Our best peach tree lost a major branch. Next year we won't have any apples, and may not have any peaches, either.

The vegetable garden is still producing tomatoes and green beans. We have a tomato salad and marinated green beans nearly every night. Despite having two terriers, we have rabbits. We finally built removable chicken wire enclosures for the beans. We've been using them for several years. It also keeps out the dogs. The black one, Mr Skunky (not his real name), likes green beans a lot.

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UmmLila (Lisa)

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O, I have a hound too (pbgv) and i have long thought that a mini dachshund girl would be a great (though likely also naughty) companion. My garden is a mess because I started out strong and then got a repetitive stress injury to my forearm /elbow while weeding for my mom and had to do pretty much nothing since mid July by way of upkeep. I am down to zinnia, rudbeckia, spider flowers,impatiens, blackeyed susans and petunias as a result.

My mom, who is 79, has an acre that's about 70% daylilies. My latest drama with her: she hired a landscaper to do a major weeding at the end of August. Took them 4 and a half days and three people -- and they gave her a bill for $6,700! Who does that? And whose mother actually pays that? Still trying to sort that one out but it's hard to get people to regurgitate funds they have received !!!

Meredith

Veteran

JAileen: Your veggies look lush and delicious! And I am so envious of your fruit trees! My yard is not sunny enough to plant trees in the ground, but I've played with the idea of a container espalier in a sunny spot on the patio (example below). Thanks for sharing the photo of your fence. I will need to do something similar. Georgia is a little bean thief as well.

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Meredith

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Ummlila: That story about your mom is unbelievable. What a nightmare! Hopefully next summer you can spend more time in your own garden! And I think a little doxie would be so cute with a pbgv, but trouble for sure. They are so sweet and playful with each other but they do love to be naughty!

rachylou

Veteran

Lots of cherry tomatoes. Cucumbers and green beans aging on the vine. Didn't get a wild amount, but still a little more than I can eat. Lots of lemons. Lots of basil and sage. My mint, cilantro and dill are a little spindly. I failed to pinch when the time was right. My peonies came up but never bloomed...

rachylou

Veteran

Whoa! $6700!

Meredith

Veteran

Rachey: Sounds like you are still getting some delicious things out of your garden. What a shame about your peonies!

Chris987

Veteran

Love hearing gardening stories!

We're still getting tomatoes from DH's veg garden and some peppers. Leeks will be later. He is about to put in the seedlings for the late summer lettuce crop. The basil, mint, and rosemary in pots on the deck is doing well but I'm getting really tired of hand watering.

In the perennial beds, phlox and a couple of butterfly weeds are still valiantly trying to bloom despite the worst drought in decades. I need to plant more annuals next year so things don't look so bare this late in the year. I do plan to put in some mums soon. The forsythia, which is huge and very old, is so parched that leaves are withered and drooping, which I've never seen before....I'm afraid it might not survive until next spring.

On top of that we had a freak ice storm in April just after buds formed on our fruit trees, and there has been no fruit at all. We have apple, pear, and quince trees, most ornamental although we do eat the asian pears but not this year.

UmmLila I empathize.....I've gotten sore muscles etc from too much gardening int he past and so frustrating when it happens just when you need to do MORE work.

Ha...dogs as bean thieves.....LOL!

.

Runcarla

Veteran

Very dry and hot summer. Wonderful for people, but not so good for the gardens. The lawns were yellow until just recently. I gave up my big planting ideas for this summer since there was no way to water enough to establish new perenials. I did divide some hosta, and daylily without too much trauma.

Basil was amazing (in pot on deck) and besides regular consumption I've had to cut it down to keep it from bolting. Made 2 batches of pesto to freeze in ice cube trays for winter use.

I'm having fun experimenting with with orchids. The first one I got stopped blooming (after 3 months) and the stem shrivelled. I got a mauve one and kept an eye on the white one. Last month (after a 3 month rest) it started blooming again. The mauve is going to sleep though. I just picked up a 3rd (yellowish with some mauve.) the grocery store has them, and when they go on sale ($14. CA) I can't seem to resist!

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Barbara Diane

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Not a gardener, at least yet, but enjoying the photos and discussion.

Joy

Veteran

I have had orchids bloom again after a rest. Sometimes the leaves even dry up and fall off. They are such a bargain as the flowers last for months.
Runcarla, what is the plant in #7? We are new to out area and trying to learn what grows well and easily and seeing lots of this plant. Is it lavender?

Meredith

Veteran

Joy, the plant you're seeing in the Frint Range is Russian Sage. In a rush, but I'll chime in later with some things that grew well for us when we lived in Longmont.

Joy

Veteran

Our garden was aquired and looking tired this late in summer. Here are some shots of Nature's garden
Thank you, Meredith.

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Meredith

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Chris1987: what a shame about your fruit trees, but glad you are getting some veggies. My lettuces are just coming up. This is my first attempt at a fall garden, so fingers crossed!

Carla: Your garden looks beautiful despite the dry weather. I'm impressed by your orchids! I can never manage to keep house plants alive.

Meredith

Veteran

Joy: Those aspen are stunning! I miss those fall colors.

I did not notice too much of a difference gardening in CO vs KS. There might be a few plants that can't tolerate the cooler zone, but I think you'll find water needs to be your biggest consideration. Between my yard and the neighbors' things that grew well include: sage, salvia, rudbeckia, cone flower, Veronica, anise hyssop, hummingbird trumpet, phlox, soapwort, verbena, clematis, lavender, peony, dahlias, roses, coreopsis, day lilies. Oh, and cinquefoil is a shrub, but has very pretty yellow flowers all summer.

I highly recommend a trip to CO State's experimental gardens next August. It's a great way to see what's thriving. They also have a very informative website: http://www.flowertrials.colostate.edu/index.php

Berthoud has a smaller scale test garden focused on plants with low water needs: http://www.northernwater.org/W.....llery.aspx

High Country Gardens is also a source of ideas for regionally appropriate plants: http://www.highcountrygardens.com

Joy

Veteran

Meredith, you have given me hope and a wealth a ideas. We have shady areas where I'd like to put host as but don't see them being used at all. I need to find out what will grow under aspens

Meredith

Veteran

The hosta will grow, but they won't spread much. We had a few planted by the previous owner oddly in the sun and they still survived.

Joy

Veteran

I will have to give them a try. There are areas that get partial sun.
Do you have any ideas for a vine? There is a trellis near a high use walkway that is now supporting some sort of thorny berry bush...not a good spot for thorns with a toddler visiting and furry dog. I would like something to replace it as it is also visually shielding the outdoor spa. The area gets afternoon sun.

Joy

Veteran

A couple of photos of our garden today...Virginia creeper on the fence, tree color and sumac outside the kitchen window.
Bonus of Rocky Mountain National Park today.

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Meredith

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Joy, what a stunning backyard! Beautiful fall colors. I delayed responding to you last post about vines, because it's a tricky question. I can think of several that could work (honeysuckle, trellis roses, clematis) but they won't shield the view in the winter. A creeping euonymus might work but could be a pain to keep pruned. Same with English ivy. Here's an interesting article with some other suggestions: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/885#b

Joy

Veteran

Meredith, thank you so much for that link. I see some possibilities that sound good. Concord grapes are already reaching over the back fence from a neighbor's yard and the leaves are a bright yellow now. The second photo is the area in question. The existing vine is raspberry or blackberry and very stickery to be so close to a walkway.

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JAileen

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Joy, I didn't realize you had moved. What a beautiful view! If you're considering a grape vine and you have a dog, our vet told us grapes are toxic to dogs. We took out a huge grape arbor for that reason and also that it attracted raccoons, which are pretty vicious. We were afraid that they might injure our dogs. One of them cornered a raccoon under the deck.