Today, I will be sharing a late Summer update on my back yard Cottage Garden, including all the things that went wrong this Season because of the awful record breaking heat and humidity we had this Summer.....
Personal Notes....
I have mentioned before that I really love shopping at Ocean State Job Lot and have bought quite a few things there like the rugs in our Living Room and Dining Room and the 2 new air conditioners that we bought this Season......
So when I saw this offer on Face book, I told Joe immediately about it!!!
This is how it works.......
This money bag has to be at least 70 years old as my parents would be 101 years old this year....
So he rolled up another $100 in change and bought one more $100 gift card and got another $40 one for free!
That is $80 in gift cards for FREE which I know we will have no trouble using!!!
Of course, Joe and Joey had to make their weekly trip to the store together to check things out and both of them thought I needed this for our back patio......
Joey picked out one with , not only the thermometer, but with a clock.......
And this was bought with another gift card that Joe got when he bought something for the garden, which I will be sharing in a minute.......
Since Joey eats here every day for Dinner, in appreciation of such on Fridays, he treats us to Take Out.....
This week's Entree' was this amazingly delicious Cheese Steak Pizza from a local Pizzeria, Serpico's ......
And yes, it is basically just 5 minutes down the road which is why i love living where we do because everything we need or want is so close......
It was delicious as always!!!!
Joe kept himself busy by organizing the Pantry Closet.......
Have I mentioned that nobody, and I mean nobody, can put anything in this pantry closet because Joe has to be the one who does it according to his liking.......
More power to you, I say!!!
"Be my guest and have at it".......
The Season is starting to wind down as far as locally grown produce is concerned so when the Amish Farmer that sets up stand at the convenience store right by our house every Friday, had tomatoes for canning........
Now it could even be cooler than that for my liking but I took advantage of those 3-4 days to attack the back yard and patio......
Because
of the horrific heat and humidity that we had all Summer, I was not
able to go outside too much without becoming physically ill so the back
yard and patio was profoundly neglected and needed a good cleaning.....
In looking back at past posts, I realized that I never really did an entire post showcasing our back yard Cottage Garden like I do every year......
So this post, more or less, will be showing the before and the after.......
Because of the record breaking heat this Summer, I will also be sharing all that went terribly wrong in my little Cottage Garden this Season!!!
I was able to cut them back and this is how it looks now.......
That mass of green plants are Asters, which are the deep purple ones and will bloom in September......
This is what kept happening for most of the Summer to my pots and planters.......
Since I have a neighbor who insists on putting out bags of peanuts for the squirrels, I waged a war against them all Summer........
And I lost the battle I am sad to say........
I planted lots of seeds in a lot of my pots and they were either dug out or eaten by the birds and squirrels so I grew very little plants from seeds.......
Note to self....don't do this next year!!!!
That planter of Impatiens was moved up to the patio because the squirrels kept trying to bury peanuts in it and for some reason, the closer to the patio, the more they left it alone.......
It does get a lot more sun here than in the back of the yard and did not do too badly but has done much better in past years in the back of the yard........
I also cleaned the Patio and moved some of the potted flowers out into the yard to fill in spaces where I cut back perennials.......
This pot with one Marigold planted in it......
Was moved out into the yard to provide a pop of color.......
Under the arbor.......
I planted one Petunia in the pot inside of the vintage coal bucket and several other grew from reseeding from last year's Petunias.......
They looked good about 2 weeks ago but now seems to be the time that Petunias lose their blooms so I cut them back and we will see what happens......
These Impatiens are doing okay so I switched places with.......
These planted in this vintage watering can that don't look so well........
We will see if the change of scenery improves them as they do not do well in Sun and heat......
I had several of these purple Loosestrife perennials popping up all over so I decided to transplant 3 of them .........
I planted on on each side of the arbor against the fence as they tend to grow very tall and I thought that , hopefully, next year, they will look nice here......
And 2 over here......
So many things went wrong here in the back of the yard.......
Seeds and flowers I planted were either devoured by some sort of insects and slugs which I never had an issue with before this year or eaten by squirrels.......
This is one of the few success stories when it came to me planting seeds......
I planted Marigold seeds that I got at Dollar Tree........
It turns out that I grew some sort of Monster Marigolds because these are 3 feet tall and have just started to get buds on them!!!
I was told on Face book that there are different types of Marigolds that grow this tall even though I have either never heard of them nor seen them around these parts!!!!
If there are blooms, I will save these seeds and try my hand at them again next Season!!
I first planted seeds in the yellow beverage tub that was once used for one of my Fairy Gardens.......
That did not work out so Joe bought me this very nice pot of Zinnias........
Unfortunately, they were eaten alive by some sort of insect and by the time I caved in and started to spray them with an insecticide, all was already lost!!!!
One of my success seed stories was I was able to grow these Shasta Daisy plants from seed!!!!!
So I transplanted them in here and since they are perennials, I will cut them back before the Winter and hopefully, they will come back in this tub next season and I can transplant them into the yard......
I mentioned before about Joe getting a gift card from Ocean State Job Lot.......
One of their "Crazy Deals" was this solar lit shovel for $i5 and get a $15 gift card for FREE!
That's what he used to by the terra cotta clock and thermometer for the patio which was only $9.99......
So I planted some Begonias in here and they are doing great and have survived pretty much unscathed this Summer......
I moved this pot with a white New Guinea Impatiens planted in to from the patio to the back of the yard......
I planted my bags with Impatiens and they started off looking good but as the heat of this Summer hit......
They lost their luster!!!
These started out over here.......
But I moved them into this wooden wheelbarrow and they bloomed a bit and now there are no signs of any new blooms.......
Note to self: No more Gerbera Daisies!!!!
The other side of the yard......
Again, I originally planted Marigold seeds in this vintage watering can, only to have the young sprouts devoured by some creature!!
So I planted a Begonia in here .....
I cut back the Columbines which grew here and were drying out...
So I placed more pots here to fill in the bare spots.......
I planted these in the pot that the ill fated Zinnias came in and plopped it down in a pot that I took from my neighbor's yard when she moved ( with her permission, of course)
Again, Begonias ROCK!!!!!!
Here is another one of those Monster Marigolds!!!!!
They sure took their time waiting to bud!!!!
This side of the yard looked like this in June......
And now........
I cut back this purple Loosestrife because it was as tall as my umbrella!!!!!!
Joe has bought a large Begonia that got much larger as the Summer went on!!!!!!
I moved it over to the center of the yard for a pop of color!!!
Again, Begonias ROCK!!!!!!
The pot in the "Ice Cream Parlor" chair started out with Petunias......
They did okay until about a week or so ago and even though they like the Sun, they got baked no matter how much I watered them.......
So I did transplant some Marigolds in here that I was able to grow in small containers from seed on the Patio where they remained safe from critters!!!
The sedum is blooming like they usually do this time of year.....
On this side of the yard.....
You can see this is where that huge Begonia was originally......
And that this petunia did well.......
Until about a week or so ago......
We will see what happens.....
This pot planted with pink New Guinea Impatiens did very well on the Patio.....
I moved it here in the place where I cut back a Columbine.....
This is the second year that I planted this Fountain, turned Bird bath, turned planter with Impatiens.....
They are in the Sun and this year, they did not do as well as last year but I will attribute that to the disgusting heat of this Summer......
This bird cage was planted in July and has done okay.....
At this point, I am glad it survived!!!!!
Like I said, the pot with New Guinea Impatiens did well but slugs went to town on the petunias that were planted in this pot.......
I transplanted a few Marigolds into this pot......
Those are light purple Asters that will soon be blooming on the edge of the Patio......
I hope you enjoyed seeing my back yard Cottage Garden and reading about all my failures this Summer.....
I am working on my Garden Journal and recording what worked and what failed miserably and will use that , along with this post, as a guide for buying and planting flowers for next year.....
Which, hopefully, will not be as Hot and Humid and Rain Free as this Summer was.......
One last disaster before I close this post......
Joe bought this nice Sunflower plant......
Again, Stupid Me, put the pot in the back of the yard and was being eaten by some insect.....
Until the other day, I saw a squirrel, standing up in the pot, having it as his lunch!!!~!
I chased him away, calling him a few choice names but he apparently came back and absconded with whatever Sunflower Blooms were on this poor plants and no sight of them is yet to be had!!!!!
Note to Self: Buy a Bee Bee Gun!!!!
Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!
Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!
If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......
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Wow! What a garden!!! Simply beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteYour comment "...the disgusting heat of this summer." made me short ice tea through my nose. ..I just burst out laughing at that!!! Ba ha ha ha ha haaaa! Thanks for the laugh!!
xoxo
Nina
Nina,
ReplyDeleteThanks again for stopping by!! I am glad that I made you laugh but I truly hated this Summer as it was our hottest July on record in this area and is now our 2nd hottest Summer on record as of yet!!! I hate the heat and do not do well physically in it so it looks like I am going to have to move North if we continue to have "disgusting" Summers like this one was!! LOL!
Hugs,
Deb
Hun....I feel ya about the heat! I hate, hate, HATE it as well. Like you I have illnesses that make the heat and sun intolerable...during the entire Texas summer I am totally indoors...and for us the heat can go from May to November....yuck, yuck, YUCK!!!! So I agree with ya on the "...disgusting heat of summer", but I would also add "detestable and despised" to disgusting. ..lol!!!
Deletexoxo,
Nina
Nina,
DeleteI like the addition of " detestable and despised"!!! LOL!! I see you are in Texas..I hope you are not in the path of Laura???If so, Sending prayers for you and your family's safety!!
Hugs,
Deb
Stunning flowers!How colorful!Your garden is charming and inspiring.Hugs and blessings!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - what a time you are having with those squirrels! Is there something you can get at a garden center to help keep them away? I know we used to buy dried blood to keep animals out of our flower beds. Not sure what will work with the squirrels though - especially since your neighbor continues to entice them over. I am very impressed with all the color you still have in your garden.
ReplyDeleteThis year we only went with three large hanging baskets and a fourth that I had my husband "plant" in the basket of my decorative bicycle. I also bought a huge tomato plant in a bucket when I went to an Amish nursery in late May. It already had a few green tomatoes and loads of yellow blossoms. It has kept the two of us in just enough tomatoes for salads and sandwiches for July and August. We only have a few tiny ones these days.
Those pesky squirrels are such a nuisance. As I was scrolling down admiring your lovely flowers and reading your words, I could not keep that cheese steak pizza out of my head. I have never heard of one but would I love to have one. Looks so delicious!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post, love and the fabulous pictures and stories. Funny how there is always one type of shortage or another. Coins who would of ever thought there would be a shortage.
ReplyDeleteHugs Diane
I really enjoy reading your posts. I'm a neighbor of sorts.......residing in Bucks County, PA. Your back yard garden is simply magical. Thanks for sharing....and also going us the tip about Big Lots.
ReplyDeleteJean,
DeleteThanks so much for visiting and for your kind words!! Yes, i am just about a 2 hour drive north of you!! I hope you are having a great week!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!
Hugs,
Deb
My goodness, I too would have taken advantage of that amazing offer getting $40 dollars for free, impressive. What a great garden so much to look at and admire you are an inspiration for making a space so cosy.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, your garden looks so beautiful. What a fun and lovely area to sit, drink some coffee and enjoy the day. Lol when it is not as hot. It sounds like you have had quite an adventure battling the squirrels and insects with your plants. I live out in the woods, and we have all kinds of critters here. I bought some of the Dollar Tree marigolds too and my marigolds are massive. I love them. I am going to collect the seeds too and buy more next year. I have always had great success from Dollar Tree bulbs, but this is the 1st time I bought my seeds there and was so happy I did. Have a blessed week.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Melisa
What a fun place to spend your summer evenings.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
This is my first view of your outdoor world! Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed strolling around your garden with you. I wish I had your green thumb!!
ReplyDeleteAhhh, the trials and tribulations of a gardener...and the fun and excitement of discovery and success. Thanks for brightening my day!
ReplyDeleteSandra @ Dinner at Eight
I loved seeing your yard and the Ocean Job Lots treasures. We travel occasionally to one an hour away and make a day trip out of it. They now take paper coupons which I haven't used yet but that will be even more savings when I do it. The only "rule" of theirs I hate is you can't pay for stuff that has a crazy deal attached with a crazy deal card. I spent $140 last time I went and couldn't use the card I had. Next time, I will break up my purchases into several transactions! They'll find that I can be a PIA! I told the manager and he blew me off; I was not pleased. I get a lot of groceries, cleaning supplies, etc. there and have gotten some good deals on clothing and end of season stuff, too. Did you ever try moth balls in your planters to deter the squirrels. Squirrels, moles, etc. are not supposed to like the smell. And put saucers of beer (buried so they can get in easier) out for the slugs. They drown in the beer and die happy! When I do it, it almost always RAINS! Wastes another PBR--the cheapest beer I usually find! Loosestrife is very invasive. In Maine we have it growing in a lot of ditches; I love it but my yard is too dry for it. I have had columbine reseed itself; and it grows from seed easily, too. I, too, love begonias and impatiens as my yard is shady.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
DeleteYes, I do know that you can not use a crazy card deal gift card to buy another crazy card deal. There is enough other things in the store that we can find to use those cards on though! Our stores is 5 minutes down the road from us so we are lucky in that. I planted the loosestrife against the fence so when it grows it will sort of provide more privacy along with some color too after the primrose dies off and has to be cut back..Those squirrels are so daring that I doubt if moth balls would work. My Dad used them n the garden to ward off groundhogs but they never worked... LOL! I hopw you are having a great weekend!!
Hugs,
Deb
Just lovely and i SO love your new clock/thermometer! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ's.
ReplyDeleteYour cottage garden is pretty, Debbie! I am fighting garden pests here in Texas, too! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
ReplyDeleteI think your garden looks amazing! I'm super jealous of your green thumbs. And I know exactly what you mean on the squirrel war. We have about 11 oak trees in our yard and my husband hates the squirrels. Mostly becuase they chew up the trim around the house and get into the attic so I can't much blame him. Thanks for sharing over on Farmhouse Friday Link Party! Oh, and I loved seeing your hubs rolling his coins. Nice return on investment!
ReplyDeleteDebbie,
ReplyDeleteYour garden is so beautiful. You must have really enjoyed it all summer. Congratulations, you are being featured at Thursday Favorite Things. I hope to see you there. https://www.eclecticredbarn.com/2020/09/thursday-favorite-things.html
Hugs,
Bev