Garden Update

(Click on any photo to view a larger image.)

A lonely pansy peeks out from among
the sedum. Self seeded from last year.

The weather has been pretty flaky here in Brooklyn, NY these past couple of weeks. May brought us unseasonably warm weather with a couple of days past the 80 degree range but not a lot of rain. June, on the other hand, has brought much needed rain with much cooler temperatures. This has caused much confusion among my plants and they have shown their displeasure in a number of ways. My Alexander Darby rose, which produced some beautiful buds, drooped miserably when the colder weather hit us so the resulting blooms were sad looking. The rain has been a boon for my crops as well as for my weeds. Weeding is my least favorite thing to do and the garden has become a little scruffy looking for lack of diligent weeding.

A white heath aster shows up in one of
my pots. Take a look to the left of the
flower...I caught a bee just about
to land on it

To add to that chore, last year's bountiful morning glories left hundreds of seeds in their wake, all of which appear to be sprouting simultaneously. Seriously, there are parts of the front garden that are blanketed in morning glory seedlings, all of which must be ripped up and thrown out before they begin their insidious twining around the fence.

Lovely lavender survived the winter
to bloom fragrantly this spring.

And my tomatoes! Oh dear, what a predicament that is. I think I must have thrown tomatoes into the compost at some point without removing the seeds. So, of course, when I used my compost for planting my containers, the result has been dozens and dozens of tomato plants sprouting in every conceivable nook and cranny where they were not deliberately planted. I really don't know where I'm going to put them all but I hate the thought of throwing them out.

A mysterious plant (weed?) showed up
in the garden. Planted by a bird perhaps.

In spite of my garden woes, it continues to surprise me in many ways with blooms and plants in unexpected places. I have more than a few plants that I didn't plant but just showed up spontaneously. Last year's sweet allysum reseeded itself and is blooming beautifully with tiny white flowers floating over fluffy masses of greenery. A lonely pansy showed up in the middle of my sedum and a white heath aster has bloomed its daisy-like head in between some other plants. Then there are these two plants with large leaves that appear as if they will bloom into the second coming of Audrey II (from Little Shop of Horrors). I don't know what they are or where they came from but they're getting so big so fast I'm concerned about my lavender plant which is immediately next to it. In about a week I should know if it's a winner or bound for the trash bin.

I'll keep you posted.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva