Garden

I've been wanting to upload pictures from this year's garden for some time now. This year I had a few firsts. The Blue Iris above was one that I had planted the previous year but had to wait a full year for a bloom. It was worth waiting for. This was one of the many blooms Daniela and I got to see in the spring.
















The lupine was another perennial where we had to wait. For once something I started from seed turned out quite nice.















My tomatoes were a great success. Although I only used a small handful of organic fertilizer in late winter it appeared the biggest difference from last summer was from dumping my kitchen scraps in the raised bed and mixing in dehydrated manure and hummus into the soil in the spring. As a result, each handful of soil from the raised bed contained 2-3 earthworms which is very beneficial.





















This year it looks like I'll finally get a decent harvest from the pear tree. For the past two years squirrels have stolen my pears from my young tree before I could pick them. So far so good.















I did add a bed this year where I placed perennials such as purple coneflower, gayfeather and butterfly bush. The black currant bushes worked out really well this summer and gave me a good harvest despite its small size. I may try to add gooseberries or red currants this fall. To take up space in the young bed I also planted Scarlett runner bean vines and watermelon. Both had a great year and I'm waiting to pick my harvest any day now.
















We can usually see at least two monarch butterflies swarming around the bush each day.
















Another look of the new perennial bed with the arbor in the background. I took this photo from my neighbor's back porch. The pink hibiscus were purchased at a closeout sale for $1.00. Not a bad bargain.
















It was quite wet this summer so I had to battle a lot of diseases and mold. One of the things that suffered was my grapevine which developed a disease called black rot. This disease makes rust spots on the leaves and turns the fruit into stones.





















Therefore, I had to apply a rather aggressive fungicide. I don't like spreading chemicals about the yard but black rot can kill your entire harvest if left untreated. It did seem to have worked although I have been advised not to consume a large quantity of grapes because of the treatments I applied. So the bad news is no jam this year. Good news is in the long run it was the right thing to do to preserve my vines. I still have the wonderful smell the Concords produce each September and Daniela and I sit on the arbor whenever we get the chance.
















Overall it was a very good growing year. I'll try to add a few more pics of the yard as the fall approaches.