Rosemary – The Salem Garden

Happy Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day! October 2015

The fifteenth of the month has become my very favorite day because even if I don’t manage to publish a post myself, I enjoy visiting all of the other garden bloggers to see what’s blooming in their gardens.

Reading GBBD posts is always an uplifting way to spend an hour (or two)!

We haven’t had a frost yet here in Salem, so while the garden is starting to wind down, it’s still producing and blooming almost as much as it did in September.
The morning glories are glorious, even at ground level and paired with rosemary.

The mexican marigold is happy hanging out with the lovage.

Lovage is very similar to celery and I’m using it often these days in soups and stuffing.

I’m always posting photos of my volunteer snapdragons. I remember my mother using snapdragon in an arrangement for my first communion when I was seven years old, and I can never quite believe that it grows so easily in my garden. I’m hoping that the foxglove right behind it blooms in the spring.

Here it is up close with the macro setting…

I can never get enough of snapdragon or the macro setting.

Macro’d cilantro…
These yellow chrysanthemums survived last winter’s difficulty. The other chrysanthemums really did not.

The taller zinnias are supposed to be a giant variety, but their not too big. I planted them quite late in the season (maybe the first week in July or so) so it took them a long time to bloom, but here they are!

It is a very pretty bloom.
I’m still kind of partial to the Cut and Come Again variety of zinnia.

This single shoot of bellflower popped up on the opposite side of the fence among the pepper plants.

Sedum is one of my favorite fall plants. This small variety has very delicate flowers.
This white daisy-like chrysanthemum is being crowded out by other plants in the bed, but there’s a bit that’s still with us. I need to thin the iris, echinacea and black-eyed susan that surround it. If anyone from the area would like starts of any of those plants leave me a message in the comments and we’ll work it out.
And the knock-out roses are non stop. Yay for knockout roses, you just can’t hurt them!

Be sure to visit May Dreams Garden by clicking here to see what’s in bloom today in gardens all over the world!

Be well,

Love, Michele

Grandma’s Garden in Delaware

We were in Delaware a few weeks ago, visiting my mother-in-law.

There’s so much to do down there, beaches, shopping, great places to eat… one of my favorite things about our trip is always her beautiful garden!

The garden is breezy and fun, it’s always changing!

This year the larkspur was wonderful. We caught it after its peak but it was still beautiful!

There’s also dill and echinacea and other surprises…

Birdhouses…

and ornaments…

This is how rosemary grows in Delaware.

Remember my little rosemary plant from the other day? I was so proud of wintering over a one foot tall plant.

Maybe the little angel is helping.

Her dill has always reseeded and flourished, it took me forever to just let mine go.

I used to look at this dill and wonder how it happened.

Herbs grow on the deck too.

This guy keeps an eye on everything.

Here’s our view during morning coffee or after time at the beach.

It’s always hard to leave, but we’ll be back to enjoy it again soon!

What’s Happening in the Garden — July 14th

July is kind of a funny month in the garden. It’s in-between in terms of blooming and beauty but it’s so hard at work!

I love watching things grow and change at this time of year.

Our potatoes are flowering! I didn’t know that potato flowers were this pretty.

I have to apologize for the less than clear shot, my camera focus has a mind of its own and this is what it was doing for potatoes this morning.

The Black-eyed Susan are ready to pop!

This is Scarlet Runner Bean climbing on the trellis. It’s ornamental and so pretty.

If you live locally give me a shout if you’d like some seeds for next year.

We have peppers! There are lots of buds… I hope they make it! I’d better reign that cucumber vine in if I want that to happen.

The dill is ready for pickles.

Here come some Kentucky Pole beans that I planted as the peas were winding down.

I hope they make the little leap over to the fence/trellis and start climbing.

This Rosemary plant wintered over. We covered it with a bucket on the coldest days. I usually pot Rosemary up in November and bring it in. It makes it until the middle of January, then I forget to water it just once and it dies immediately. I had the great pleasure of hearing Adelma Simms speak about herb gardening at Caprilands many years ago. I still remember her saying “a dry rosemary is a dead rosemary”. I find that to be true almost every winter.

In the coop, the younger side of the chicken flock is still favoring the corner.

They do come forward to eat and drink and their all interacting a little bit more every day. It just takes time.

The tomatoes look happy!

Balloon flower is blooming… such a fun plant!

Kids really enjoy it.

The Liatris bulbs that I planted in June popped up.

They went in kind of late but I think we’ll see some blooms.

As I looked through these photos I saw one common denominator… can you guess what it was? Here’s a hint, there’s some weeding to do 🙂

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great weekend!

Michele