Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, July 15

This is probably a Stargazer lily. The deer didn't get the buds this year!

Lirio100

I love the look of that lily. It looks like it is meant to be growing where it is.

Here in the San Joaquin Valley, they're telling us to stay indoors in the afternoon if we can. Probably mostly because "the authorities" don't want to deal with people.

Can't help but think about what people did before air conditioning. Our forecast for today is 108 degrees, 111 for tomorrow. It will be hotter in the deserts.

And it looks like there are weather events in the Northeast, along with continued smoke.

Is anyone doing any gardening??? We're doing a little weed control. And watering.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

By-Tor got 40 pounds of apricots. Got any ideas for him? Some will be made into jam.

July means it's time to harvest the garlic - in the DelMarVa anyway. Pretty good crop of German hard-neck garlic for my 2nd garlic crop ever.

badgerwx

Garden History

Ornamental Hermits - Real Live Ones

The Honorable Charles Hamilton, an 18th-century British aristocrat and member of Parliament, was explicit in his advertisement. The ornamental hermit he was recruiting to live in the sprawling gardens at his Painshill estate in Cobham, England, must be silent, never speaking to the servants who brought him his daily meals. He must wear a goat's hair robe and never cut his hair, nails or beard. Shoes were out of the question. . .

Remington was one of a handful of men to cash in on--or, in his case, fail to cash in on--England's 18th-century ornamental hermit craze. The short-lived trend, which peaked between roughly 1727 and 1830, was one of the most memorable to come out of the era's shift from perfectly pruned, geometrically aligned gardens to wild, untamed ones in which "the irregularities and asymmetry of nature were charmingly inspirational," says Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, a landscape architect and the author of English Garden Eccentrics: Three Hundred Years of Extraordinary Groves, Burrowings, Mountains and Menageries.

Aristocrats outfitted their new landscape gardens with unexpected, whimsical elements like caves, mountains, aviaries and menageries. But the hermitage, a secluded retreat for a real or imagined hermit that could look like anything from a grotto to a treehouse, eclipsed them all. "By 1750, if you only put in one structure in your garden, it would have been a hermitage," says Edward S. Harwood, an art historian at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Video:

Indoor Gardening

I did not know that Venus fly traps had flowers; but it has caught several flies and now it's blooming! Nan in AZ

We're going to have to turn some attention to outdoor carnivorous plants again, too!

A Garden Recovery

Hello Katy! Every week I think "I should send something" and I forget, well didn't forget.

First off, about a month ago I mentioned that my sago palm had almost completely frozen, but it was coming back with amazing speed.

You noted that it was usually a slow growing plant - it is, so I decided to take
some pictures while it came back. Each of these is only about a week apart,
and you can see in the first one that only one palm leaf survived the freeze.
but when things warmed up - wow! -

Tom Servo

Yay! That is remarkable for a sago palm!

Gardens of The Horde

One sign of summer here is the disgusting heat and humidity, which at least ended my drought. When the dewpoints are around 70, it's unpleasant outside even in the early mornings. But a a more welcome sign of summer are the fabulous daylilies. I have around 50 kinds of all shapes, sizes and colors.

I especially like the 'spiders' that have the long, narrow petals - like Chesapeake Crab Legs and Spider Miracle. But I have plenty of other summer bloomers.

My coneflowers and hardy glads attract the bees and my salvias are popular with the hummingbirds. And my hardy hibiscus will start up soon.

badgerwx

A lovely display!

What a great garden!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, July 8

Any thoughts or questions? Be sure to check out the end of the thread . . .

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:23 PM

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