Hey, hey, my friends! My nectarines are ripe now! Been sampling some over the past several days, and it now looks like harvest time has come! Come and get ‘em! We don’t can them, so we really do like to share with friends. We’ll eat a big bowl full, make a cobbler or something, and that’s about it. I’m inviting friends to come over on Thursday evening this week to pick your own. Let me know if you’re coming.
Also, I just wanted to show how enormous those Hibiscus moscheutos flowers really are. Here’s a photo with my hand in it to give some perspective:
Early Saturday morning, before dawn, our Lacebark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) suffered a major break from some heavy wind. We’ve had wind like this many times, but there was a weak crotch where two major scaffold branches were growing in too deep of a V-shape. When branches grow with narrow crotch angles, they end up with “included bark” which means a line of bark is sandwiched betwen the branches as they grow thicker and thicker. This line prevents the two branches from being knitted together, and it creates a major weakness that someday can turn into this kind of break. It’s heartbreaking to have this happen to a tree we’ve loved so much. It will survive, but I’m not sure if the remaining branch is strong enough where the break is to continue supporting all the growth on that side of the tree. We might end up with another break and another major section of the tree missing.
On a brighter note, check out these beautiful Hibiscus moscheutos blooms. These plants are in large pots on my deck, and they make a great accent there.
My nectarines are almost ripe! I actually picked one yesterday and ate it today, but it was still just a bit green. They should all be ripe in a week or so. Tasted good, even though it wasn’t completely ripe! I’ll also throw in a shot of our second veggie garden on the side of our basement walkout. Those zucchini plants sure are getting huge! And finally, here’s a closeup of some Caryopteris shrub blooms. It’s nice having some things that bloom late in the season like these. They add new life to the garden at the end of summer.
This is one of my Hibscus moscheutos plants in large pots on my deck. The first two blooms opened up today. I love the purity of the white contrasted with the deep, rich red in the center and blended with the soft lemon color of the stamen. Such beauty!
All the Hibiscus shrubs have burst into bloom this week. I love the one above — I think it’s Hibiscus syriacus ‘Aphrodite.’ I also have some double-flowered ones — they’re quite frilly and don’t really look like Hibscuses at all. Oh, and one more of the Aphrodite shrub, too:
And I finally got my ‘Pink Simplicity’ rose hedge blooming well this week. I’ve written before about how some rose experts advised me to give them much more water and fertilize often with a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Well, I neglected to give them the extra care this spring, and so the tiny flower buds mostly fell off in June. Just like in the past. So, about three-and-a-half weeks ago, I trimmed the hedge down a few feet with a power trimmer (thanks neighbor!), and then all this new growth came up and produced flowerbuds. I’ll have to remember that timing of about 3 1/2 weeks if my daughters ever have a wedding reception in our backyard! Hopefully, we could trim them like that again and expect a full bloom 3-4 weeks later!
Here are some other shots from this evening, including my cute son, McKay, some Granny Smith apples that are developing well, and assorted flowers:
Hey, I should mention that middle photo in the last row is an annual called Angelonia (whenever I say the name, I start singing in my mind a blues song called “Angelina” by Keb’ Mo’ — I know, the name is slightly different, but it still happens!). I haven’t grown Angelonia before, but I got the seeds from Park’s last winter and tried it out. I like it so far. I think they’ll get quite a bit bigger by the end of the season.