How is it already Mid-August??

The past few weeks, the temperature has gone down which helps with our weed control in the garden.  We're making sure the garden is up to standard for the fall horticulture identification course. The class tours the garden while learning about and identifying perennials. The other big project we've undertaken is rebuilding the deck.  The old one rotted through in some places and had nails sticking up all over.  It was time for a new one!

This month we went to University of Minnesota-Morris for their horticulture night.  In comparison, they have more annuals than perennials.  We have more trees and height features.  Our group took some pictures. enjoy!

 before we left...twins!

At Morris' children garden section

New Bloomers!

 Globe Flower

 Joe-Pye Weed

 Russian Sage with low Sedum

 Pink Turtlehead

 

 Coreopsis

 Goldenrod

 Blanket Flower..blooms all summer!

Attack of the Japanese Beetles

All month we've been dealing with the Japanese Beetles in the garden.  They've been specifically after our grape vines, roses, and herbs.  Our first approach is to spray Kaoline Clay.  This is not a chemical, but clay that coats the outer layer of the leaves.  It does not affect the plant at all, instead deferring the beetles from eating the leaf. Another way to get rid of them in a smaller garden requires only a bucket of soapy water.  If you go around and knock them into this bucket, they will not be able to survive.  Note that if it's only water without soap they will survive when you dump them out.

On the picture above, you can see a beetle in the left corner of the main leaf shown.

New Bloomers!

 Cardinal Flower (needs wet area to thrive)

 Phlox

 Canna lily surrounded by Snapdragons and Geraniums

 California Poppies

 Mums, blooming earlier than usual

 Me playing with my new panoramic setting on my camera!

Heatwaves of July

So far this month, our goal has been keeping ourselves cool and plants alive during these hot temperatures.  The edible garden seems to have finally established itself.  We put up fencing to keep rabbits from eating our vegetables to the ground as soon as we plant them.

New Bloomers!

Beebalm

 Coneflower

 Hydrangea

 Daylily

 Sunflower

 Monkshood

Ligularia (only yellow flower that grows in shade)

Current Projects:
We've been focusing on weeding.  All the rain has caused them to surface like crazy. Aside from that, we went to the roof of Alderman and took a picture overlooking the garden!

Another project that's in its beginning phases is a redesign of the area surrounding Alderman Hall. Morgan and I are very excited to work on this vision.  We will be looking at the front entrance of the building as well as a path that leads around the side of the building down to the garden.  The pictures below represent what the areas look like now.  Soon I will be posting our drawings and renderings of our ideas!

New Bloomers:
This week all of the daylilies have been blooming.  The butterfly bush and lilies have also begun and will produce many gorgeous flowers. More pictures to come of those! Finally, the Evening Primrose has a few large yellow flowers blooming. 

 Daylily

 Asiatic Lily

 Evening Primrose (Oenothera)

   Butterfly Bush

Spring has finally arrived! 2012

 Current Projects:

We've been working in the display garden since mid-May and have gotten much work accomplished since then. The first big project was getting each section re-mulched. It took a few days and many deliveries.  The pond pump needed to be fixed and now is running again.

After the addition of Morgan's new herb spiral last year, she worked on planting her creation.  Using herbs and annuals, the bed is filling in nicely.

Another new section is located on the north side of the garden at the end of the row of crab-apple trees. We removed overgrown sedges and replaced them with hostas, ferns, daylilies, and the perennial gayfeathers, all of which were previously crowded together.  Crowding causes plants to stay smaller in size than their potential because they aren't getting as many nutrients or as much space as necessary.  The result of removing and transplanting makes the new bed much more organized and spacious. 

New Bloomers!

I will be updating this section each week.  The pictures will show plants that just began flowering.  This week roses have taken off and are in full bloom.  Delphiniums, Yarrow, Clematis vines and our Prickly Pear Cactus have also been gorgeous with many new blossoms.  Enjoy the pictures!

 Prickly Pear Cactus

 Delphinium

 Yarrow

 Shrub Rose

Clematis vine

Thanks for reading and come visit the garden soon!

Nicole