Six on Saturday – 29JUL2023 – Just Before the Rain

Chris Mousseau

I took a few quick snaps with my phone early this morning, before my long run and before the rain started (the sun is trying to make an appearance right now…we shall see…). Rain has been a regular occurrence this July – quite unusual and not unwelcome for the garden, although the local vineyards would have preferred the usual dry month. Grapevines have deep roots, and grape leaves are susceptible to various fungi and insect infestations if it’s too wet. Not to mention the grapes themselves grow too quickly with so much rain, without enough sugar content. For once; however, my rain barrels have remained quite full most days.

Traveling clockwise from the top left:

  • Purple leaved Eucomis, pineapple lily, starting to bloom; exact cultivar unknown – I’ve had the bulbs for about 20 years
  • Tithonia – Mexican sunflower – started from seed indoors in April and just starting to bloom
  • Zinnia – I direct sowed a whack of seed in late May, which usually works out fine, but this year earwigs have completely ravaged the planting; I only have three actual surviving plants, and their foliage is just to embarrassingly holey to picture
  • A lupin making an appearance, a few months after all the rest…better later than never!
  • My Dahlias are doing really well this year, much bushier and flowering earlier than ever before. I realize now that they’re planted too closely together, and I should have heeded a friend’s advice to snip off some of the side buds…here’s a new one in bloom
  • The first gladiola, from a bag of mixed bulbs I first planted last year then lifted and saved last fall. Such a perfect pink, and much softer than the brash shade seen in move theatres this summer!

Take a visit to Jim’s blog for garden Sixes from all over the world, and have a great weekend everyone!

39 Comments

  1. I have grown some Lupins from seed this year and still hope that they might flower! Good to know about the grapes, I am in my second year with 3 vines.

    1. I suspect this lupin did start this year, from seeds dropped from another plant last fall. Grapevine tend to like moisture in the spring, but really adore long hot dry summer months. Here, at least.

  2. Nice! I think we have the same zinnias and I love the dahlia. I have just succumbed to the cheap end of the season dahlia sale.

      1. Now I am taking the temperature in my fridge to see if I can store tubers there! I did this last year and left them in the house where the tubers dried out completely and were useless.

      7. When the tubers are completely dry, I store them in sand (dry sand in boxes). From October to March, they are in the darkness and the dryness of my attic. It’s the Fred method 😂

      8. Hmm, did you wash them? I got these in dry peat moss and am thinking I will just shake off the moss as I am not sure they will ever get dry in this humidity.

      11. Yes I did it to remove all my clay soil and dry them for a few days before covering them with sand. Remember to cut off any rotten or soft tubers of course.

  3. It never had occurred to me that grapes could suffer from too much water, just like tomatoes. I enjoyed seeing the Tithonia. I generally don’t favor orange flowers, but I’ve liked those since the first time I saw them. I agree about the gladiola, too. That’s a much more pleasing shade of pink than ‘that other one.’

    1. I discovered Tithonia two years ago, and grew them for the first time last year. On August they were covered in monarch butterflies, so they have become a ‘must have’ now!

  5. What a stunning plant the Eucomis is! So many detailed parts, like Passionflowers.

  7. Love the eucomis and sorry about the pests eating your zinnias! I was just to the library on my bike and the community gardens adjacent have many zinnias – so colorful! I must stop there one day and take pictures.
    -Elizabeth

    1. I might plant Zinnias in s new spot next year, or scrape off all the mulch this fall and let the freezing temps kill and pests/eggs…

  8. Beautiful blooms! I think you’re getting the rain that we usually get here in the Midwest. We’ve had a very dry summer until the past week or so. Thankfully, the plants are getting some needed precip and seem happier. I’m growing most of those plants, too, except for the Eucomis and the Lupines, which I have grown in the past. You have some colorful bloomers. Great photos!

    1. We’re too far north to get the storms New England has been hit with, but perhaps some of those clouds made it to the north shore of Lake Ontario. I’m definitely not complaining!

    1. Great running this weekend! Rained most of yesterday, bringing in a cold front and dropping the humidity.

      I let the Eucomis go dormant in their pots for the winter, easier to store, and bring the pots directly outdoors in mid May, when they send out new leaves and flower stalks.

  10. Love all six Chris. Especially the dahlia. I rarely manage to grow dahlias due to earwigs, so your earwigs were clearly too busy with the zinnias! Hope you get a bit of sunshine between the rain showers. We are just getting the rain after a very dry June and July so far, and the garden is loving it. 😃

  11. What lupin is that? It looks familiar, although I doubt it could be. I suspect that it is either a garden variety or a native, which would not be native here.

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