July 2022 in the Garden (with a Video Tour and Before and After Photos)

It’s truly amazing how much changes in the garden in just one month. (Go back to June to see what I mean).

The purple poppies are blooming all over my garden and everything has filled in.

Last July I created a video tour of the garden and I wanted to share one this July, too. I hope it will help you get a better sense of the layout of the garden.

Looking back at last July’s video I see how I’ve reigned in my garden a bit more this year. I pulled out some of the strawberries planted in the holes of the cinderblocks and trimmed the others. I also didn’t let the poppies take over quite as much as last year.

I’m sad that this year’s peas aren’t doing as well as last year’s (and so is Clara).

Every year is different and I like being able to change things up, even in small ways.

Thinking back to the old shed and how things looked when we first moved in, I searched out some photos:

before

It was a blank slate, mostly just grass.

To give you an idea of how much has changed, I shot three photos from approximately the same vantage points:

after

We moved here in the late fall of 2013, so this is the 8th summer of gardening this space.

We now have 2 cinderblock raised beds (in different sizes; one is L-shaped), 6 wooden raised beds of varying shapes and sizes and 1 round metal raised bed (made from a found fire ring — you can read about that here and also see the beds a bit more clearly in that post, too).

We also have two patios — the reclaimed base of the shed and one we built from paving stones. I’ve replaced grass with bark paths and a path made of cement blocks and gravel. It still feels like too much grass to me and I’m scheming how to change that.

Last summer we were going to put in a low deck along the back of the house, replacing one of the windows with sliding doors, but had contractor issues. Now we’re not sure what we want to do.

Even in uncertainty and even unfinished (is any garden ever “finished”?), this is my happy place.

More and more flowers are opening each day.

I’m loving the color combinations. Some planned, some happy accidents.

My snapdragons are from the Potomac Summer Berry Blend.

Even in a limited-palette mix of seeds, you never know what you’ll get.

And speaking of berries, in addition to the cherries I mentioned last week, I’ve been eating raspberries.

This is the second summer for Raspberry Shortcake and the first time I have fruit.

In addition to the raised beds and in-ground beds, I like to grow plants in containers to make best use of the sun. (Though I’ll admit that I often grow sun-loving plants in spots that are a bit too shady). One of my favorite container plants this year is the Patio Baby Eggplant.

The plants are so pretty, bushy and sturdy and filled with eggplants. We ate the first of them this week. Below you can see the size range of my harvest.

I think I picked a little more than half a dozen. We grilled them and they were delicious. With how prolific the plants are, I know we’ll be eating a lot of eggplant in the coming months (last year my mom roasted and froze eggplant and I’ll probably try that, too). Do you have any favorite eggplant recipes?

I’ve been eating more Cherry Falls cherry tomatoes this week.

This is my second year growing them and this time they’re in larger containers and doing really well. I love that they’re prolific and early.

I can’t wait till my other tomatoes ripen. I keep checking on them every day and encouraging them along. Even unripe the tomatoes are so beautiful.

The four varieties on the spirals, clockwise from top left: Indigo Pear Drops, Lucky Tiger, Purple Zebra and Green Zebra. I’ve grown Green Zebra before, but the others are all new to me. I’m happy with how the tomato spirals are working this year, probably because I’ve been obsessive about pruning.

In the fire-ring-turned-raised-bed, I’m growing Beaverlodge Slicer (new to me) and in the bed along the fence (seen in the video), I’m growing Sungold (an old favorite). My stomach is growling just thinking about them all!

I’m also eagerly awaiting my peaches. I summer-pruned my peach tree last week and now the fruit is much more visible. I’m hoping with the extra sun and air they’ll ripen soon.

So far my cucumbers are looking good.

Most years I get a few good cucumbers and then the plants succumb to disease thanks to the cucumber beetles. We’ll see how they do this year. Both varieties I’m growing are disease resistant: Picolino and Silver Slicer.

The Japanese beetles have arrived in the garden. They’re all over the neighborhood. I see them on our walks on plants in trees and even on the sidewalk. In my garden I pull what I can off my plants, throwing them in a container of soapy water, but I can never get them all. Even if I could remove every one from within my garden, they’d just fly over the fence from elsewhere in the neighborhood.

I’m grateful I was able to enjoy some beautiful roses before the beetles arrived.

The Poet’s Wife David Austin rose

I’m only growing four roses this year (compared to the 15 I had two years ago) and I’m planning on taking out one more. Fighting the Japanese beetles is just too much.

I miss having so many roses, but I’m happy to have plenty of other flowers in the garden.

Including lots of nasturtiums (those are Tip Top Apricot). Oh, and the plants with the chartreuse leaves growing in the crack and also with the red snapdragons up above (and lots of other places in the garden) are a variety of Talinum. I think, Jewels of Opar. I grew a few plants last year, bought locally, and they self-seeded. I’ve been transplanting them throughout the garden. They’ll bloom with tiny pink flowers followed by red berries. I adore plants that self-seed and these are especially fun.

There’s so much more. Even my small space is packed full. Of beauty. Of sustainance. Of inspiration. And, of course, of JOY.

What have you been enjoying in YOUR garden this month?

p.s. I have a lot going on next week, so I’ll be taking next week off from my blog. I’ll see you in two weeks!