First Cantaloupe!

This is the second season I've grown cantaloupe. Last year, there were 2 tiny (baseball sized) fruit and the vines died.

This year, for whatever reason, the cantaloupe is doing really well! This fruit is decent sized (looks like what you would buy in the store) and there's at least 5 more maturing on the vine.

I picked this one today, and will leave it sit in the fridge for a few days before cutting it up. I hope it's ripe enough.

I believe the difference between last year and this year's success is either the amount of sunlight the vines got (much sunnier location this year). Or possibly the amount of room/air around the plant itself- last year it was more crowded by neighboring plants. This year, my tomatoes are doing horribly, so the vines have plenty of room to spread into where the tomatoes should have grown.

I never know what will succeed in the edible garden, so I believe in planting a variety. Something's bound to do well!

Weeds! (and Other Insights from The Gazebo)

Our friends Pam and Terry had us over for Dining in the Gazebo last weekend! It was a delicious vegetarian meal of salad, personal pizzas and key lime pie dessert. The Gazebo is very charming and set in a beautiful garden, overlooking a trickling pond. (Actually their entire house is charmed with a Victorian theme; check out Pam's blog here). Surrounded by all this charm, it was impossible not to enjoy great conversation and interesting insights and observations. The topics varied widely from cats to music, social media, cats in social media, work, The Bangles (check out Terry's music blog here), feline skeletal systems, gardening and weeds!

I'm usually pretty good about pulling weeds, but this summer I stopped trying sometime back in June! Pam has also thrown in the towel. We're blaming it on the heat. This summer in Zone 5, northern Illinois, has been very warm and muggy. Luckily, most of the perennials are so full and mature that there isn't much room for the weeds to creep in, but they have found their way into other places. Places like the rock/stone border, the vegetable and herb bed, and more. There are also trees starting in the garden, that need to be pulled before they get huge.

I try to control weeds by mulching every other year (it's greener than buying mulch each year) and then adding to the mulch with shredded leaves in fall. I confess to also using Preen in my non-edible beds. It's supposed to be a combo weed inhibitor and fertilizer. It does work, but you have to reapply, and I tend to only put it down once in spring, before the beds get really full. It would be difficult to put down now.

It was also an interesting insight that perennials, while seemingly easy because they come back each year, can actually be more work than say, a vegetable bed. My vegetable bed gets tilled under every spring, weeds and all, effectively "starting from scratch" while the perennial beds are left alone to do their thing. After I till it, I plant and sow seeds, then mulch it well. I am pretty good about pulling the few weeds that crop up, because I want my vegetables to do well. Perennials get larger each year, need to split and will also tend to get weedier because they're harder to work around.

How do you control your weeds?

Zinnias: Pretty and Attract Butterflies

I grow zinnias from seed because they are easy, pretty and seem to attract the Monarch butterflies. They aren't on many butterfly garden lists (some) and they are not a host plant that I know of, but the local Monarchs (and others) still stop by to enjoy them.

For a more information on butterfly gardening, check out my earlier post.

I tend to see a lot of butterflies in my garden already, because I do garden for them. I grow dill, butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, bee balm, zinnias, and more. Other than their host plants, the purple coneflower and zinnia seem to be the most visited!

Since they are annuals, you can collect the seeds at the end of each season to avoid having to buy them every year. They will reseed, but not as easily as other plants (like Cosmos).

Edible Plants: Borage

I bought Borage seeds a few years ago because it was an edible plant that could add color to a salad. The flowers are a bright electric blue and make a pretty garnish. The leaves are also edible. Both parts taste like cucumber.

What I didn't realize is that Borage is also used in companion planting. It is said to protect or nurse legumes, spinach, brassicas, and even strawberries. It is also said to be a good companion plant to tomatoes because it confuses the search image of the mother moths of tomato hornworms looking for a place to lay their eggs.

I haven't replanted Borage in a few seasons, but it continues to return to my garden each year in much the same pattern as what would be considered a weed... spreading by seed through wind, birds, the compost bin, etc. in the most unexpected places. It's not invasive, though, and so I let the random plants grow. The flowers are very beautiful, one of the few edible blue plants that exist. Folk lore says Borage is for courage.

Decorate Bottles for Garden Accents

Glass bottles and other found objects can make great garden accents with just a touch of craftiness. Shown here, I soaked the label off a wine bottle, and strung some beads around the neck to make a striking blue accent for the side of the pond. I used water- themed beads, like fish and shells, along with blue beads and contrasting clear/white/iridescent beads.

You could use matching beads, or just a random set of beads, depending on the color of the glass, and what will pop the best off it. There doesn't have to be a specific theme in mind for it to look good, but sometimes themes can be fun. Red bottles can be have hearts, or flames, brown bottles a cat or dog theme, green bottles can features leaves, trees, stones, etc. The ideas are only limited to your imagination!

If you're not into the task of stringing beads, you can buy pre-strung beads, or even beaded garland (popular around the holidays) to save time and effort. I have also seen plain bottles, buried half into the ground on an angle, that create a nice visual treat. Bottles work well in the early spring when nothing is full and green yet, or between bloom times, to offer color and art.

This would be a fun project for kids, too. Glass paint can be used to add simple swirls, words, names or other shapes to the outside of the bottle. Metallic glass paint (like silver or gold) looks good on dark glass, and the colored clear glass paints show up best on clear glass. Large flat (disk shaped) beads could be glued to the surface with hot glue in a random pattern.

If you don't cork or cap the bottle, it will fill with rain water. Not a big deal, but be sure to drain and store your bottle out of the elements for winter. I use fishing line to string the beads- that seems to last the longest. Consider showcasing your art in shady areas to avoid the sun's harsh rays, which tend to fade colors and dry up fishing line quicker.

Heirloom Peonies from My Dad

I blogged about the irises from my father that are a living memory in my garden, but he also was a huge fan of peonies. I have several of these plants from my parents' backyard. My favorite is the pink one, shown here. I always remember where it was in the yard, a quiet corner by the neighbor's fence, before my brother dug up all the gardens in favor of grass. This was one of the first ones to bloom each year.

All the plants I took back to my yard have survived, with varying success. I find the ones that have full sunlight really thrive, whereas the ones in partial sunlight do not bloom. That's about the only special requirement I have noticed. I do give them liquid fertilizer (such as Earth Juice organic fertilizer) from time to time.

The advice my dad gave me about the peonies was to only divide them in fall (he was particular about 9/22 as the date!), and to cut them down for winter (I believe he also took the stalks and made a bed cover over the plants for insulation). He also specified that when splitting them, to bury the root deeply, and to make sure the "eyes" pointed up.

My mom disliked the peonies because of their unusual tendency to attract ants. I was always told the ants "helped" open the blooms. Interestingly, the first 2 seasons I had these plants at my home, I did not see any ants on them, and they bloomed as normal. This is the 3rd year, and I finally saw ants on the blooms! They are not harmful to the plant, and in this FAQ they advise "Do not try to get rid of the ants on your peonies. This is a natural and temporary activity. It is believed that peonies produce small amounts of nectar and other ant attractants to encourage ants to help in opening the dense double flower buds found in many peonies. The ants may be found covering certain varieties and avoiding others, this is totally normal.

Once the buds have opened the ants will disappear - also normal."

I am guessing these peonies are at least 50 years old, if not more... amazing!

Heirloom Irises from my Dad

One of the best living memories I have of my dad is right in my garden... the irises he left behind. They are in bloom right now, and I enjoy them immensely.

He and his first wife were huge iris fans, and the variety that was in my mom's yard after he passed was the 'Frances Langford' iris. They even belonged to the Northern Illinois Iris Society, where much of his old literature was returned to, after his death in 2008.

This variety was named after an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades. She joined other performers on U.S.O. tours through Europe, North Africa, and the South Pacific, entertaining thousands of G.I.'s throughout the world during World War 2. Apparently, she also starred in a lost episode of The Honeymooners (my dad was a huge fan of that show, so it makes me smile to learn this).

'Frances Langford' is a beautiful purple variety with orange and yellow centers, they smell like grapes!

They do have some pretty picky requirements, though. Full sunlight (no shade at all) and I usually fertilize them in spring, before their bloom time. This year, I used Earth Juice organic fertilizer. They like well drained soil, won't stand soggy soil (no wet feet as some would say).

I also have another interesting variety that I got from my neighbor, though I don't know what they are called. The leaves are a nice varieagated type, and the blooms are a pale purple. They are not as large and showy as the 'Frances Langford' irises, but the interesting leaves make a great statement in the garden the rest of the season.




















The entire pond is made better looking by the placement of irises: