How the Garden Went On Without Us

cardoon-closeup

It’s been one of those summers when we just haven’t done as much gardening as we’d like. One thing or another kept us from it. Things like me getting a rotator cuff strain from pulling out an exceptionally tough weed. That took a lot of ice and ibuprofen to get right. Or sinusitis that just left me exhausted and sore from all the coughing. So Bill ended up doing most of it and he didn’t have time for more than watering and a bit of compost control. Then there were the craft shows to do, and get ready for, more hours at jobs, well the list went on and on and on….

And in the meantime, the garden just kept on without us. Today I ventured out with my camera to see how it’s doing. And you know, it’s looking ok, well, kinda weedy and wild, but OK. And tall.

Our lovely cardoon is towering and blooming.

cardoon

But  the Fennel is just as high. I’m 5 foot 4 inches and I’m looking up.  I had to bend the stalk down a bit just to take the header photo of that gorgeous cardoon bloom.

fennel

Here they are together, all as tall as a elephant’s eye. And what is that plant with the blue flowers on the right, that is as tall as the cardoon?

fennel-cardoon-lettuce

Well, here’s a close up. Can you guess? Would you believe it’s Romaine lettuce in flower? Now that didn’t happen from our neglect of the garden. We let the lettuce grow tall and flower every year. It blooms all summer and the bees just love it. No one ever believes it could actually be Romaine lettuce.

romaine-closeup

The grapes vines on the arbour are a bit wild and could probably benefit from a bit of pruning, but I like that look.

grapes

The squash plant is growing and looking happy. Please don’t ask what kind it is. We bought the plant at the Moss Street Market, and all I remember is that it’s an heirloom variety. I’m sure the tags are somewhere in the garden. But I’m also sure we’ll enjoy it later, no matter what its name. Just love those spiral tendrils.

squash-growing

Just caught the Gooseneck Loosestrife at its best today.

gooseneck-loosestrife

But the beautiful blue Hydrangea is almost done.

hydrangea

I leave you with this Honeysuckle bloom on our new vine. Poor thing spent ages in the pot until Bill managed to find a bit of time one afternoon to create a place for it and it rewarded us with some lovely blooms.

honeysuckle-vine

Hopefully, now that things are quieting down a bit, we’ll be able to spend a few hours catching up with the gardening again. Although I must admit, it seems to have done all right with out us.

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