Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana)
A Great Source of Gardening Wisdom: The Local Farmers’ Markets in Chatham and Summit, New Jersey
One of my favorite things about the June-November time period is the joy of shopping at our local farmers’ markets. During these six months, I stop buying all fruits and vegetables from the grocery store. While the environmental and health benefits of buying locally and organically are sufficient reasons to shop at the farmers’ markets, my number one reason is that the food tastes better. Further, shopping at the farmers’ markets supports our local farmers, who–if you get to know them personally–will share with you some of their hard earned gardening wisdom. Chatham is open on Saturday mornings and Summit is open on Sunday mornings. For more details, see below:
Chatham Farmers’ Market (Chatham)
Summit Farmers’ Market (Summit)
Pictures of Some of This Year’s Sunflowers
Links to Some Great European Gardening Blogs
One of the really fun things about garden blogs is that you can peak into others’ gardens all around the world. This list in no way is exhaustive, but just some of the European gardening blogs that I have discovered and enjoyed. If you have suggestions of others, let me know.
A Garden Diary (Budapest)
Bliss (Netherlands)
Carrots and Kids (UK)
Down on the Allotment (UK)
Ewa in the Garden (Poland)
Garden Dreams (Sweden)
Garden Hopping (UK)
Jardin Miranda (France)
Lady Greenthumb’s Garden (Croatia)
Roses and Stuff (Sweden)
Roses in Gardens (Denmark)
The Constant Gardener (UK)
Victoria’s Backyard (UK)
Pictures of Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Caterpillars on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and Chrysalis on the Deck
The children love counting the dozens of Monarch Butterfly caterpillars growing and crawling all over the Butterfly Weed.
The chrysalis of the Monarch Butterfly is something beautiful to behold. A photograph cannot capture the shiny translucence of it, which is truly breathtaking.
Follow-up: the Monarch Butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.
Heirloom Lilies for Fall Planting
As a follow-up to my prior post about some of my favorite lilies this year, Anne Raver at The New York Times also had some heirloom suggestions for fall planting. Like me, she highlighted Excelsior as one of her favorites:
“Up in my own garden, a few heirloom lilies have thrived on plenty of compost, sun and the protection offered by stone walls: Black Beauty, a tall hybrid Turk’s-cap with dark raspberry flowers; Citronella, a shorter lemon-yellow, freckled Turk’s-cap; Excelsior, a fragrant white trumpet speckled with red; and White Henryi, a trumpet lily with swept-back ivory petals and an apricot throat. But the voles and mice have eaten a lot of the bulbs — rodents love lilies as much as tulips — so it’s time to order more for fall planting.”
Heirloom Pairing for Heirloom Roses: Picture of a Pretty Pink Perennial Sweet Pea in the Cutting Garden
As a follow-up to my June 5, 2008 post on Roses Blooming, here is a picture of the perennial sweet pea that I noted. It has pretty little flowers that bloom for me from late July to late August, but no fragrance. I purchased it from Perennial Pleasures Nursery which specializes in heirloom plants. In my Cutting Garden, it grows in full sun, but can also grow in part shade. It is a natural pairing for roses given that–as part of the legume family–it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It requires no maintenance. After the frost, simply cut it to the ground. You can compost the cuttings or simply bury them in your beds.
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day August 2008 – My Collection of Fragrant Phlox
In anticipation of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day on May Dreams Gardens tomorrow, here are some of the phlox that have been blooming throughout my garden over the last few weeks. Most are heirloom, some are new, and almost all of them are fragrant.
Two New Summer Favorites: Double Tiger Lily and Excelsior Lily
My two favorite new lilies this year were the double tiger lily and the Excelsior lily both from Old House Gardens.
The double tiger lily bloomed over a four week period in part shade. The flowers are definitely interesting and far more attractive than the catalog picture is able to capture.
Since tiger lilies rapidly reproduce from the small bulblets that form along the stem, I am hoping that they will take over the open space next to the fort in the Walled Garden.
For fragrance, the Excelsior lily is phenomenal. The fragrance is rich and unlike any of the other lilies I grow. In addition, they came at a time when my other lilies were finished except for yet to bloom Rubrum Lily.
The colors are a beautiful and vibrant mix of yellow, cream, and peach. I will be ordering more of these for my cutting garden next year.Follow-up: Heirloom Lilies for Fall Planting
Heirloom Gardener 
