So now that the growing season is over, it seems appropriate to review it. What a roller coaster this year was! We started off so wet, and really stayed that way through mid-August. Much of the summer was warm (heck, we went over 90 close to 30 times, way over our average of about 14, and it was 69 just last week when the average was about 44), but the rain kept everything green. Then the taps went off. It's been so dry since mid-August. The only thing worse in my memory is 1988, when even in St. Paul we had water rationing. They said then that your grass would just go dormant and come back the next year... They were wrong. Our lawn never recovered. So this year we watered the grass. Not obsessively, but enough to keep it alive - we hope. We simply need to redo the back yard. Our patio construction during our very wet spring of 2011 compacted the yard in the path used by the heavy equipment (our whole yard is based on clay). It's so compacted nothing but creeping charlie and crabgrass grows there, and it's awful to walk on. We're seriously considering having the back yard leveled and resodded, as nothing else will make it halfway decent. We've never been ones for perfect lawns - too much work and too many chemicals - but what we have now is an eyesore. Clover's not bad, but crabgrass is nothing but ugly. One small visitor for the wedding this summer remarked that we had so many flowers, we even sprinkled them in the grass! (That was the clover - we didn't tell her it wasn't on purpose.)
The gardens fared better. For the most part, the perennials did very well indeed. The good rainy start and soaker hoses took care of that. I'm working really hard on keeping up with deadheading, and it certainly does make a difference. The lilies have multiplied, just as they're supposed to. I divided my one daisy into 3 and the mother plant is still too large! I lost a few of my native plants out front and am rather baffled by that. They started out fine and then just disappeared - almost overnight, even with weekly watering (that's the most they're supposed to get when it's dry - we want really deep roots). I've replaced them and hope they survive. I'll mulch them this fall, since I just put them in in either late September or early October. Not much time for root development. You can tell it's the third summer for this garden - it's really coming into its own. My harebells bloomed for the first time, and they really do bloom all summer long! Gotta love that kind of plant. Our hydrangeas got huge - never expected them to get so big so quickly. We put hostas under them to fill in the space, and will have to move them next year or even they might die from lack of light. They'll go on the east side of our shed, where I've got a lovely variety of other hostas that keep the weeds down so well and need so little care. Unfortunately, our terrific coral bell died. It was doing fine, we thought, and then it just died overnight. We can only figure we didn't water it enough. I think we'll replace it, but somewhere else, as it, too, was overwhelmed by the hydrangeas. Those sure were a good recommendation for the north side of the house. Their white flowers look great against the brick. And you just don't need to do anything to them!
I rarely use chemicals in my gardens, but make an exception for my roses. I was told the Nearly Wild shrub rose was essentially carefree. I think what really happened is that the nursery had an overstock and wanted to clear it out... They get black spot. Sawfly larvae destroy them. And they're vulnerable to Japanese beetles. I used to wait for trouble to show up, but not anymore. This year I started drenching them in April with a systemic fungicide and insecticide. Good thing I did. Although I wasn't looking to protect them from Japanese beetles, this stuff works against those. If I hadn't, there might not have been a leaf left on them. We used traps for the blasted bugs, and I can't tell you how many thousands we caught in just a few days. We went from the reusable bags to the one-time use bags as neither of our stomachs could handle emptying out the stinking mess! Next year we'll put the traps up earlier (our neighbors use them, too) and hope to prevent some of the damage to other plants.
On to the veggies. We tried self-watering containers this year. Really mixed results. The self-watering part never worked. Perhaps the plants we put in were just too small for the size containers we had, and the roots couldn't get down to the water? I thought it was supposed to wick up, but maybe you just need longer roots for that to work. But the peppers were the best we've ever had. I think the black containers heated the soil much more so than just regular earth and that did the trick. But our cherry tomato did nuthin'. And this was the same cultivar that got close to 7 feet tall last year! Back into the ground next summer, if we decide to plant one at all. We may put carrots in that container instead. We can never grow them in the ground because of our heavy clay, but we can mix sand into the container. We put in 2 new rhubarb plants in 2011, and pretty much left them alone this summer. I can happily report we're looking forward to a whole lot more rhubarb next year! I have a collection of recipes I'm anxious to try.
Last but far from least - the annuals. Boy, some were better than I've ever seen, a few were average, and some were downright lousy. My pots generally did very well, with one exception. I love basket grass! The roots on one of my million bells got a foot long - wow. I don't know if the salvia I planted on the west side of the house was a different cultivar, but it was huge - at least 2 1/2 feet tall. And once the morning glories got going, they took over. My snapdragons were a near total bust. Even though some survived the very mild winter, they almost didn't bloom. I know they don't like heat, but they didn't do much in the fall either - maybe the very dry weather? Next year I'll plant zinnias and snapdragons and cover all my bases! The California poppies came back (and I planted more). They're the kind of thing I let come up pretty much wherever they want to be - so pretty. I tried a new flower - Love-in-a-Mist - and won't ever get it again. It just plain died. I finally found a flower that does well on the east side of my Blue False Indigo - white Lisianthus. It glows in the shade there. Think I'll give up on the fuschia there, much as I like it. You can't see it enough to make the purchase worthwhile. And no more verbena. I keep reading how easy it is and what a prolific bloomer. Either I put it in the wrong place or don't have the right dirt or something, as it's never done much of anything for me.
And how did your garden grow? I'd love to hear!
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