Late Summer Midwest Garden

Midwest GREEN gardening is Nature's crapshoot! 

This year we, like much of the country, Chicagoland suffered beastly heat, humidity, 

then drought, then drowning, then rinse and repeat. 

Yesterday I cleaned up clippings and chopping from a week ago, because this is the first real break in the weather we have had to finish that task.

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This morning, I took advantage of the early light and ran around the garden taking pictures during 

35 mph wind gusts. It is the Windy City after all. 

Leaves were flying everywhere. 

Our stressed trees, are revolting and losing leaves before any color appears. 

The bees, don't seem to know Fall is on it's way. 

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Small flags still decorate our planters. 

Soon to be replaced by pumpkins and gourds.

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I cleaned the shell pond yesterday, dead leaves already floating in there this morning. Our backyard is shade except for the main garden. Some plants did well, others are sparse, leggy, bug eaten and straggly.

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But, the pot next to it, lush and full filled with Springerii and Ruby Coleus.

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Our Lemon Grass pots went crazy---perfect mosquito protection during the summer. 

Impatiens still blooming, the colors so vibrant.

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Leaves everywhere from our Silver Maple, many are spotted?'

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My vintage lady lurking in the tropical growth of houseplants gone wild on our deck stairs.

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Caladiums, still lush and big, they loved the heat as long as they were watered.

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The DIY trough pond with the bare trellis behind, I pulled all the Morning Glories a few weeks ago, so they wouldn't seed. I'm training a new climbing rose and hoping for blooms next year.

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Dahlias were huge with Purple Asters in the background.

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I took maybe 10 pics of the Asters--all out of focus due to the wind. Here is a near ground pic of our Goldenrod (great for butterflies and bees) and the purple Asters.We try to plant drought resistant perennials and permanent greenery for a GREEN garden for minimal watering.

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In the main garden, Ruby Chard grows tall in the morning sun. 

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Zinnias were brilliant this year shown in these unaltered colors.

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Ruffly Giant Marigolds are getting straggly, but still blooming.We plant flowers in the center of the vegetable garden to encourage bees to pollinate our plants.

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This Zinnia appeared to have cross pollinated with a Cone flower of some sort. 

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We have some Morning Glory issues, they are gorgeous:WARNING, be careful where you plant them. One package has swallowed all the garden trellises and invaded our neighbors' yards.

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Ruby Chard and Yellow Chard ready for picking. The tomatoes are done, and so are the peppers, I think. We will have more broccoli and chard. I picked the last Buttercup Squash (4) and all the others were buggy or rotting. No Pumpkins this year, sigh. All rotted or boiled from the heat.

We had lots of rotted produce. Too hot, wet and moldy this month and last.

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The decorative fence shelf on the  fence. This is a shelf my dad made in the 1990's that I painted to match my pottery. We sold many pieces of furniture he made and I painted. 

I have several pieces on our porch which I haven't shared yet.

I named the design pattern after "Giverny" after Claude Monet's Garden.

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Quickly the sun was blinding---on the east side of the house. One geranium still going strong.

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Along the east fence, Marigolds, Sunflowers and invasive Morning Glories...perfect with the Dragonflies. 

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More Morning Glories, so pretty, but I can't wait to pull them before they seed.

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On the fence, the OLD iron bedwith a NEW orange wall planter filled with fuchsia Impatiens. 

I'm surprised this survived the whole season. It's now imbedded with falling leaves.

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The front pond, where I had hoped to catch a picture of our REAL frogs, mostly only one now..., I hope he didn't eat the other two because he is really big.

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Pond is a bit low, with the wind...it just blows out from the spouting fish. 

I will refill when the wind cooperates.

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Yes, those are Iris blooming in late September in Chicago. I also had a white one, which broke in the storm the other night before it bloomed. 

Darn! I wish they all would bloom again, as Iris are my favorites.

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Such a pretty deep lavender next to the Lemon Barberry bush. 

This one has at least 4 more blooms on the way, can't wait.

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An upside shot of the pond. Still no froggy, and I have been out four times 

looking for him since this morning.

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 Coleus and Impatiens are happy now after the hot summer. The pond is in shade from the shadows cast by the garage. The angle of the sun dips low quickly this time of year.

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The sky, with the winds feathering the clouds. 

Our neighbors' hundred-foot American Elm danced in the wind.

  

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At 2PM the front yard was in shade with the sun's low angle. 

My pink Dahlia grew over four-foot high.

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My OLD blue watering can, the squirrels probably have buried the walnuts in there and thrown my plants to the side again, sigh! The NEW planting bed has done well this year. Only one Hosta seemed terribly unhappy under the Cinnamon Maple Tree.

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In the Maple are birdfeeders and this birdhouse I have adored. Mr. Gnome had a walnut inside, that must have been a squirrel gymnastic trick. 

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Backside of the new front bed, Zinnias and a Giant Hosta were gorgeous all season.

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Our Planter on the front walk, getting thin, a Pumpkin will look great in here, soon.

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We grow all our Marigolds and Zinnias from seed. This really helps the cost 

of keeping blooms in the yard for the whole season. With the cost of the kitchen, I may forego mum plants this year. Only one came up from last year,  so it seems a waste. 

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West side, Giant Sedum drooping from the weight of the flower fronds.

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Under the trellis, over grown pots, now missing their yellow focus flowers and the trailing geraniums scattering in overgrowth.

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Our front pot of Coleus on the driveway under the Hawthorn which was deep shade until...

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...two weeks ago, now very bare and very unhappy? 

Maybe, too hot this year for a Hawthorn, or not enough water?

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Yes, a Midwest Fall is on it's way in Chicagoland.

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How was your summer garden? All my Dragonflies, want to know, LOL. 

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

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Sandi

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Our Pond under the Kitchen Window

Our Pond under the Kitchen Window

The windows are open in the kitchen as much as the weather allows, 

and we just love the soft 

sound of the water. 

It's peaceful, serene and background 

for all the chirping 

birds.

This year we added a Spathiphyllum, 

Water Iris, and Papyrus as pond plants, which are so-far-so-good.

Our fisher people are a little concrete girl and boy…holding old cane poles,

 the fountain is a fish of course.

The rocks surrounding the pond and making the bench are from my sister-in-law's in Door County, Wisconsin. I was a cheesehead, ya know.

Black-eyed Susans and an exuberant Phlox are the main flowers right now. 

My pots have Coleus and a Hibiscus in bright orange. 

The planters to the right hold the usual Petunias, Geraniums and Marigolds, 

and Lime Potato Vine, protected by a frog on his own lilypad.

The Del Oro Gold Lilies pooped out with the hot weather.

Behind the planter wall, is a rustic frog lurking in the Canterbury Bells

which apparently needs a spritz of paint …to show.

Hope you enjoyed our pond.

LINKING TO:

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Thanks for stopping by and visiting!

Sandi

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Mid-Summer gardening in the Upper Midwest- MID SUMMER?

Hollyhocks starting to bloom along our fence.

These are so old fashioned and carefree, I just love when they start spiraling to the sky and blush into gorgeous blooms. The bees love them and the blossoms hold for quite awhile. Better yet, they reseed themselves, (I do help-by spreading the last of the seeds in the area.

After a MISERABLE cold spring and a record wet cool June, summer has finally decided to peek out from behind the clouds and visit us in Northern Illinois. 

And today---we are on our FOURTH consecutive day of sunshine, another record for 2015, LOL.  

Here is our back pond(non-pond) this summer, as our granddaughter likes to play--way too much--in water. So it is tipped over for the year. The pond is normally a nice size water trough, rigged up to a 1880 rusty pump found in the bottom of the well in the old fish store. (more fish store stories later)

The trellis behind, is just starting to fill with the purple blooms of morning glories. I have been doing my weeding early in the day, 6 AM actually, so I can visit them and say "Good Morning". 

Above, the mass of greenery to the lower right is the marjoram plant I have cut back twice this spring.

The purple Liatris are just starting to fill out and a basil in front has huge leaves, in fact anything green is overgrown to say the least, while flowers are small and late. 

Except for the Tiger Lilies 

which exploded this week in the front yard, like left-over fireworks. 

The Edible Garden

has not faired well either. Here is one of our new railing planters with herbs: basil, spicy globe basil and thyme. However they were slow to drain and quickly became waterlogged with our record precipitation, hence the wilt yellow leaves.

Quick Fix now---more holes drilled in the bottom. 

We splurged and purchased lettuce plants in May. (cold weather crop and all that) 

Today, this is the last of our six kinds of lettuce.

 We got three good pickings. Most drowned and rotted with the cool weather or the slugs and slime bugs took over.

This was the last picking yesterday as I pulled out the rotting stems. So sad to see our salads 

go. This was the first year we got celery cabbage heads --One and a quarter  out of six plants, the rest slug food. I will try and start some more by seed, if I can't find plants.

WHAT IS DOING WELL! 

The happiest plants and I'm not sure why--are the Asian Eggplants we planted from seed. They are dragging on the ground with beautiful small, sweet, purple goodness, as many as five to a plant. Anyway we have had them stir-fried, in eggplant lasagne, and just grilled. They keep well and everyone eats them here.

The zucchini are just starting, but no pickles, beans or yellow squash, yet. Tomatoes are struggling-the plants are full of leaves (some spotting yellow-again water issues)-but have only small hard fruit. The last few days of breezes and sunshine have helped.  But, we are now twenty-four days past our normal first big red tomato. We have had 3 puny ones, this week, which really don't count. 

THE BIG GREENHOUSE end of APRIL

It has been a weird year! We start our seeds in February and moved them out to a small greenhouse end of March, then to the large greenhouse (shown above after the move). All the plants are huge by the  May and get planted as early as possible. Some poor shivering cabbage and broccoli babies even suffered snow. 

I blogged about surprises in the gardening. 

Anyone who saves seeds or starts oodles of seeds, knows what label screw-ups are. I planted

Zinnas *I thought* around the base of the flagpole. I had a sneaky suspicion as the leaves grew larger that it might be something else.

So really large YELLOW ZINNIAS-- snicker,  at the bottom of the flagpole.

Like I said, it has been a weird year.

Now, as I write this the Cicadas are singing their first song of the year, fading in and out like an old crank Victrola…yes it is summer, finally.

May the Sun Shine, on your world for you Everyday!

Thanks for stopping by 

Sandi

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle