July challenges

Here's a fun fact: yesterday, England celebrated National Meadow Day. It always falls on the first Saturday of July. Meadows are important (they attract pollinators, they improve the soil), though we don't talk about them much here, in the Midwest. You'll see a lot of reference, instead, to prairie restoration. Meadows thus fall by the wayside. What's the difference between the two? Well, technically prairies have more warm weather grasses and meadows have more spring cool season grasses, but that is really a very artificial distinction because many grasslands have a little of each. 

I've worked on building up meadows in two spots at the farmette, but as usual, each year I run out of steam -- or, truthfully, out of waking hours to do the job right. Still, it's been rewarding to see flowers come up in both!

(peach tree meadow)

(new orchard meadow)

Which brings me to the subject of farmette flowers. People often ask me - why grow day lilies? They're so fleeting! A day for each bloom and then it's gone. And I always say -- yes, but what a day it is! 

Of course, that's not the full answer. One plant, if healthy, will produce multiple blooms. One, maybe even two week's worth. And if you fill the beds with day lily plants, the effect can be grand. Though I have to admit, I'm not 100% behind lilies. They're important, but I actually like them much better if they're mixed with other perennials. The question is -- which other perennials? This is a challenge, because not many plants look good next to day lilies. Their leaves take up so much space that you cant easily create a dense bed full of blooms if you're going to put in day lilies. This is why I rarely see them in herbaceous perennial borders in, say, England or Scotland. The flower per soil space ratio is on the low side. And once done with a blooming period, they just take up space.

On the subject of short blooming period -- well, most perennials have a pretty short blooming period. That's your challenge: fill your border with flowers that will ensure a continuous bloom. 

Yet, there is always a "best period" for most borders and though I haven't asked, I'm sure most serious perennial growers will whisper to you what that period is. For me, it's mid July.

Oh, you mean now??

Here's the rub: it is so buggy this year, that as I keep repeating to Ed, the joy is there, but it's being pummeled from all sides by the pernicious mosquitoes. In the early morning, as I plunge into a field to snip spent lilies, swarms of these guys rise in the air, ready to attack, to annoy, to disturb the peace. (We of course had even more rain this morning, and there's no wind to speak of so they are at their worst!)

And so this year I'm being challenged from two fronts: the bugs and of course Covid. Yesterday (Day 3) was indeed the worst. This morning, the fever's gone and only the cold remains. (But what a cold!) Energy levels aren't soaring yet but they're a hell of a lot better than yesterday's lows. So, I'm gettin' there. But, of course, I'm sure I'm still contagious (I'll start retesting tomorrow, though I'm less eager to do this frequently because these days you have to pay out of pocket for tests, which, perhaps, explains why most don't bother). But the point here is that even the few people that usually pass this way and who can appreciate the flowers have to be cancelled out because Nina's contagious. The young family is back from their road-trip vacation. Can they come for dinner today? No, Nina's contagious. Friends we invited for lunch this week -- will they be here? Not if Nina's contagious.

So, a fleeting garden, horrible bugs, and Covid. I said to Ed this morning at breakfast -- I'm ready to give up.

I didn't mean it, of course, but still, this year's July has presented interesting challenges.

Let's get back to the start of the day though, because this really is the start of the best week out there in the flower fields.

(opening the farmhouse door these days is such a pleasure!)

(blooms, on all sides...)

Again, a challenge to photograph, what with all the bugs, the sneezing, the wetness out there, but I persevere!

So much strong color, so much delicious density!

The Big Bed is finally coming into its best days...

It's so wide, that you have to look at it separately, from both sides...

Okay, let's walk back to the farmhouse.

It's a while before I'm finally all bugged out and ready for breakfast. Ed joins me again and it is wonderful to have him here.

I tell him about Meadow Day and he proposes we take a walk to examine my two meadows, because he, too, finds them delightful! And while we are by the Peach Orchard meadow, we may as well walk over to the veggie patch. I pull some radishes and pick some lettuce leaves, we admire his tomatoes, and the lavender, always the lavender!

Next meadow, in the New Orchard -- also looking good! While there, we check on the new blueberry bushes. Also good!

As are the pear trees. Looks like this year will be the year of the pears!

He helps me stake the hollyhocks and we plan to do some serious mowing later in the day (when things dry off a bit) and it's at moments like this that I remember why I do it. Why I plant and grow things. Why, despite the challenges, it's all worth it. It's for him, for me, for those who pass this way, if and when they do, for everything that's good about planting and watching things grow, by your hand, with your effort. 

The rest of the afternoon belongs to... couch time.

 

 

with love...