July 2023 in the Garden: Savoring My Botanical Sanctuary (and Fighting Resistance)

When I sat down to write today’s post, I felt completely unprepared. And for the first time in a really long time, I was tempted to skip blogging this week.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been great at taking garden photos.

Lately I think I’d rather just be IN the garden than photograph it. Looking for caterpillars. Stalking tomatoes. Chattering to sweet chickadees.

It continues to be dry and watering my garden takes up a lot of my time, too. I don’t mind. It’s soothing. I need it as much as my garden does.

More than anything else, it’s the feeling of being in my garden that I want to convey in these blog posts. My garden means a lot to me. It gives me so much. Physical sustenance. Creative inspiration. My garden is my sanctuary. It calms my spirit and brings me joy.

I’m not sure any photo can ever truly capture those feelings. Or the taste of the breeze in my hair and feel of sun on my face. Photos, words, even a video can’t recreate the feeling of my garden.

But I’m always working within those limitations. I haven’t let it stop me before.

I’m not sure why I’m even sharing this with you. Maybe just to encourage you to show up even when it feels difficult. To keep creating even when you fall short of what you imagine. And of course, to savor those things which bring you joy.

So I’m not skipping this week. I’m showing up. Sharing my garden as best I can.

This first photo was taken in almost the same spot as the first photo in last month’s garden blog post.

It’s fun to see how much has changed in one month’s time.

The round fire pit bed is planted with sweet peas, snapdragons and bachelor buttons. I’m thoroughly enjoying all these flowers!

The sweet peas smell delicious. I cut handfuls about every other day. The bouquets sit on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. I love catching the scent of the flowers whenever I’m in the kitchen.

When I moved into my first house and was finally able to garden in my own backyard, I delighted in cutting flowers for nearly every room throughout the gardening season. Since then, some years I’m good at cutting flowers and other years I’m not. Sometimes I want to leave flowers for the bees and birds or so I can see them in the garden. Sometimes I just don’t make time for it.

This year I’m making sure to cut flowers. Many plants thrive when you cut their flowers. Sweet peas will stop blooming if you don’t. I’m growing enough flowers for the bird and bees and for me, too.

The sweet peas are a mix of Fragrantissima and Prince of Orange.

The snapdragons are Potomac Early Sunrise Mix (you can see more of the variety of colors in the bouquet in my studio post from last week). I’m loving them all.

As I predicted last month, June’s garden does look sparse compared to July’s.

All the beds are overflowing now.

And because it’s July, the poppies steal the show, just like they always do.

They’re Lauren’s Grape, planted years ago, self-seeding ever since. They’re almost finished blooming now and soon I’ll pull out most of the plants, leaving only a few to set seeds.

Something else bringing me joy in the garden is observing it from different vantage points. Having gardened in this space for ten summers, I’ve cultivated many different areas. Paths. Patios. Raised beds. Containers. Each year I add a little bit more.

Just about all you can see in my newest bed are the eggplants. I’m growing quite a few plants this year. All are Millionaire. Delicious! Especially roasted (we love the skin).

I enjoy seeing plants from one bed juxtaposed beside plants of another. Like the borage and red dahlia beside the eggplants. This dahlia, one of the Bishop’s Children mix I started from seed, was the first to bloom this year.

July is a month when I’m still waiting for some things (like my tomatoes and many of my dahlias) and others are starting to look a bit weary.

Often my clematis look a bit sad in July. The low humidity of our dry weather has kept them from succumbing to wilt this year.

I’ve been fertilizing them with comfrey tea this year, too. And they seem to like it.

The dark purple flowered plant in the middle is Jackmanii. My mom dug it out of her garden when they were having work done on their house. I can’t believe how it’s taken off.

It just keeps blooming.

I have favorite plants I grow every year but I also enjoy trying new things. One plant that’s new for me this year is this Black Knight Scabiosa.

I was inspired to try growing it from seed after I painted a commission of a wedding bouquet last fall that included it. I’m glad I did.

Corn is new for me this year, too. It’s Blue Jade, an heirloom dwarf variety that can also be grown in containers.

I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was when I saw the first sign of the tassels. And then the squiggly silk above the little ears. Although the kernels will eventually turn blue, I’ve read they taste best when still white. I’m eager to try it.

The taste of fresh sweet corn, a perfectly ripe tomato or just picked peach can’t be truly be captured in photos or words. And this post might not fully capture my garden, but it’s what I’ve got.

I’ve made a video tour of the garden, too:

Thanks so much for being here.

What’s been bringing you joy in YOUR garden?