Picked a beet!

I picked a beet today! Given how neglected they've been, I'm surprised to even get one. The nasturtiums have really taken over the Vego bed, and they look so pretty I don't want to pull them to plant beets. I think next spring I will plant beets around the edges of the raised beds. I need to try to work in some compost this fall, so they are ready. 

I also picked one of the poblano peppers yesterday, for Rob to use in his stuffed potato meal. I ate a bit of it, and it tasted good. I have 5 or 6 that look good right now. I'd really like to make stuffed peppers with them.

I'm still needing to water. We've only gotten 1" of rain in August so far. I really under-watered the hydrangea, but I think I've corrected that now. We've also had some nights down to 50F, and the Purple tomato fruits are looking weirdly blotchy. It's going to warm up again this weekend, and I'm hoping more tomatoes will ripen. Over all we've had a really cool August. It's been delightful weather.

I moved the hostas from the north bed and placed them at the base of the clethra. I hope they'll be okay there --they will definitely get some afternoon sun. But I suppose if they start to burn, I can move them again. 

I received and planted the blue baptisia (false indigo), fairly close to the dragon's head. And the new pink clematis came back! I'm very happy about that. I'll need to protect both clematis from earwigs in the spring, and give them more fertilizer. Actually, I think I need to give everything more fertilizer.

Early August Tasks (Very Dry)

 No photos today, just a note for some things I was doing on this day.

While we had a lot of rain in June, and early July had enough, since the middle of July it's been very dry. There have been isolated storms, but they've missed us.

I've been using the soaker hoses where I have them, but there are always places I don't.

So today I watered the hosta and geranium that I transferred to the East bed. The hosta are doing well, but the geranium has been fairly eaten. But it's a hardy plant, so I'm hoping it will rebound now that the earwig population should decline. 

I watered the few beets that germinated, with the nasturtium in the Vego garden.

I also watered the hydrangea and sweet William under the black walnut. I transferred a heucherella there a month ago because it was being so eaten, but it's being eaten just as much in this new location. I sprinkled some of the Captain Jack's Slug & Bug killer around those plants. 

That stuff seems to be helping where I've used it, and hopefully it is cutting down on the population that will start breeding this fall.

The pot with blue salvia and white allysum next to the mudroom porch is just spectacular right now. I've been giving some Miracle Grow flower boost fertilizer to the pots, and they appear to be responding.

I also did some deadheading --the very pretty and loose pink alliums had finished, so I cut those back. I removed a few more spent daylily stems as well and I harvested a few more tomatoes.

Then I made up some Round-up to take care of the crop of young dandelions that were coming up all over in the mulch. I really need to get the bench area thoroughly mulched next spring.