Be sure to enjoy these summer days
Is it just my imagination or has this summer flown by? We need to remember to enjoy every minute of every day. Try to take some time to sit in the shade every morning or evening and just savor the birds singing, the sound of the breeze through the trees and the sight of things growing and blooming.
Trouble is, the quiet is so often broken by a neighbor firing up his lawnmower, weed eater, or worse yet, his chain saw. Too bad we can't all live on a lot the size of a square mile. The down side to that would be, more upkeep. You can't win.
I hope you have some Oriental lilies planted as they are so easy to grow and yet so rewarding. They are in bloom now with a scent that is just heavenly. I have some that only grow a couple of feet tall and others that top out at over six feet.
One of my favorite lilies is called Sheherazade. There is a story that goes along with that name and some of you may be familiar with it. If not, it goes like this.
A Persian king was angry that his wife had been unfaithful, so he married a new girl every day, then had her beheaded the next morning. He killed one thousand wives this way. Sheherazade had studied and read all she could and was very witty and entertaining. Against her father's wishes, she volunteered to marry the king.
That night she began a fascinating tale that thoroughly intrigued him. Halfway through she stopped and told him she would finish it the next night. That she did and at the same time, began a new tale. After telling him one thousand stories, Sheherazade told the king she had no more to tell him. By then he had fallen in love with her and had become a kinder and wiser man, so he spared her life and made her his queen.
Sorry, I got distracted. Now back to the garden. If your annuals, especially the petunias, have developed long scraggly stems, they need a good haircut. Take them back about halfway and give them a shot of fertilizer. They will come rebounding back in a week or so and bloom beautifully until Old Man Winter kills them off.
Blue flowered hydrangeas are such a treat to see. Trouble is, they won't stay that way in our area without a little help. They need acid soil and ours is just too alkaline to suit them. They need to have some fertilizer scratched in around them 2 or 3 times a year. Those made for azaleas and rhododendrons work great.
To help those tomatoes ripen, pick off any new blossoms and trim back some of the vine. Cutting back on the water will also convince them that they need to get ripe.
You'll know you're a redneck gardener if:
* You didn't fix the fence and the pigs got into the garden and ate that big pumpkin you'd planned to enter in the fair.
* You traded the family's cocker spaniel for a couple of nasty pit bulls.
* You had your little daughter's pet Easter duck for Thanksgiving dinner.
Sad to say, but that last one actually happened to me.
Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. Since then, she has always kept a garden of some sort, growing everything from fruits and vegetables to flowers and house plants. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls.