Around The Yard | Mid-Late Summer

So inspiring... We bought our house in October and while clearing the backyard of horribly overgrown weeds and such, my husband found a growth that turned out to be a pumpkin plant as well as a cherry tomato plant. We have had three pumpkins since 4th of July and a good amount of cherry tomatoes. We planted grape tomatoes from seeds and like another reader said, we have had an explosion of them - giving them away in ziplock bags too because there are just way too many. It started slowly and then boom, it exploded! So hang in there with those grape tomatoes Ali!

Love the idea of a cut flower garden. Check out the Canby Dahlia Festival. I've lived in Canby my whole life practically and never been so I can't give an actual personal recommendation but I've heard great things. I'm hoping this year Mickey, Audrey and I can make it. :)

love how this post invited me to take a deep breath. thank you for sharing these glimpses into your garden. love the idea of a garden of cut flowers. AND those beets! fantastic!

Hi Ali, I think flowers are sweetness of everyday living! The room just livens up when fresh flowers are set in the home! I have been thinking of doing a window herb pots with basil, dill, rosemary just for fresh herbs to use for cooking. Living Phoenix presents some challenges with plants...but I would love to "go for it" with some sweet peas and african daisy....we will be headed toward our planting time once the heat of summer is over....looking forward to that! Great photos as usual but I have never seen a photo taken by you that was not excellent!
hugs
Sharon Dryjanski

Funny how different parts of the country/world get things at different times. My grape tomatoes are just about done for this year. Due to the extreme heat here in the Midwest, the plants gave out early this year. And the last batch were itty bitty....but still tasty. Another flower I love are calla lillies. The blooms last a very long time.

Fresh carrots are the best. I wish we did a garden this year. I did walk around and take photos but none were too pretty with the drought here in Texas. You can hear the ground crunch under your feet as you walk. My photos were of the cracks in the ground, and the brown grass.

Never thought about having a cut flower garden.

Thank you for posting such beautiful pictures. I am in Texas in the middle of a severe drought. I miss seeing such beautiful green things! I am going to keep your post handy for those days when brown just doesn't get it!
I adore peonies, have you ever grown any of them? The smell is divine!

That's funny....I've been doing flowers for ten years and am trying to add in more fruit and veg for the family. I put in a pear, peach , and pomegranate this year. Lots more tomatoes but have only been moderately successful. I put them right in amongst the flowers and I think there is too much competition from the well-established rose bushes.

I am so jealous of your dahlias! I've heard they are good up there...down in Socal they are work. I had a hard time keeping the squirrels out of them! :)

Looks great...thanks for sharing!

Absolutely go for the cut flower garden! When we lived in Vancouver, WA I planted a cut flower garden and it was my favorite thing in the world. I was able to have flowers for the house from April till October. Now we live in southern Utah desert and boy do I miss those flowers.

Oh, you're so lucky to have nice flowers this late in the summer. We're losing everything down here to a bad drought. Glad to see beautiful flowers are blooming in other places!!! :)

Beautiful Ali. Wondering what my garden is doing our absence.

Hi Ali, I to love to cut flowers and bring them in, the sweet peas and calendula (a bright orange flower) simply make me smile everytime I see and smell them. Have you considered companion planting. Some veg do really well with flowers next to them, it helps to keep pests at bay and it means you can have both veg and flowers!!

I long to bring my camera to your garden! Your photos are beautiful.

We're just getting over winter here in Australia but I'm definitely inspired by your idea of a cutting garden! We've only been here for a year, and with all the settling in, a moderately successful herb garden is all I've planted so far. Right now I'm excited to be busy planning my garden's expansion for this year and I for sure will be including some cutting flowers in the mix :)