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Saturday, August 25, 2018

Garden

Now that we're doing all this fair weather motorhome travel I'm having a difficult time with the garden.  The last thing before we leave and the first thing when we come back I spend a good part of the day out there watering and deadheading.  If I'm lucky, the deer don't move in and feast while we're gone.  It's hard to keep deer spray on things that are constantly growing and blooming.

I'll share a few recent blooms that survived, some of which are done blooming now (click to enlarge):









And because the garden isn't complete without a Golden:




When we came home from our most recent trip the deer had chomped down all my Impatiens.  The next day they'd nipped off a few blooms from another plant.  I'm moving more and more flowers to pots in the fenced-in dog yard.  The hydrangeas aren't doing well this year and that's not because of the deer.  Some of them do not have a single bloom.  Weird.  At the rate things are going, the garden will be all evergreens and ferns soon.  I persevere, sigh...

You take care, now, and enjoy the remaining days of summer.  I'm stretching it out as long as possible.  See you here next Saturday!




16 comments:

  1. Stunning blooms Leslie, the colour is brilliant red..hugs.

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  2. Your garden is still gorgeous, even with the deer eating lots of it! I would be torn between loving the deer so close and wishing they were not! Would they avoid your plants if they had a salt block? Yes, a garden is not complete without a golden! Hugs!!

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  3. My favorite bloom is the blooming golden! LOL Seriously, I so admire your incredible garden, Leslie, and cherish all the photos you share. Do you have to spray your deer spray every day? We're trying to find one to keep the squirrels off our vegetables, but not be toxic to the veggies. It was so frustrating to watch them eat our newly developing green peppers. Like you, I am having to do more and more container gardening, but it is primarily to be able to control the watering. Despite our 4 inches of rain yesterday, and living in a damp, humid climate, the soil dries out quickly. Blooming plants are the most susceptible. Our large leaf red caladiums have been dying back for a few weeks, and are nearly gone - primarily due to heat. The white dwarf caladiums last longer. Such lovely geraniums - mine have just been severely pruned. Sometimes they come back thickly, and sometimes, I must root new plants. Pentas (butterfly plant) and Periwinkles are the blooming mainstays here, due to the heat index. Butterflies and other pollenating insects thrive with them, and both plants reseed themselves. The Pentas actually behave like perennials here, and I've had them last over 10 years. My current plants are only 3 years old, but they have seeded lots of babies! Are those white Agapanthus in your wonderful garden? I've only ever seen purple (when we lived in So. Calif they were prolific). When we first moved into our home in FL, I tried planting several, but they perished almost immediately. I wonder how they would do if container grown? We are entering our hottest, most miserable days of summer - at least until the end of Sept. June and July are not as humid as Aug and Sept, and usually, they are not as hot either. Glad you are getting to travel, but sorry for the loss of your garden during your absence. Thanks for sharing, Leslie! xx

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  4. Beautiful pictures Leslie! Our hydrangeas started out great but then went to just growing leaves! I searched and read if they're watered too much they don't bud. Well, we had a lot of rain for awhile and then we watered a lot! We're just learning! hehe No deer here at least, except on the highways. grrr They also got a fungus that is from being watered from the top! I checked at the garden center and they said, that too, that treating them wouldn't even help much. Interesting.

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  5. Your plants are gorgeous, Leslie. Every year is different. Maybe next year your hydrangeas will be back to blooming profusely. TFS your beauties. Hugs.

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  6. Oh Leslie, what a delightful garden, gorgeous colors all around, I particularly love the beautiful purple flowers that are hanging from that bush, what are they, can you tell me? Green and purple are one of my most favorite color combinations, that's why the photo caught my eye.
    Your sweet Golden looks just stunning enjoying the sights, is it Wally or Lulu?
    Thank you for sharing this pictures with us.
    Sending hugs and love.
    Maria.

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  7. I like the pretty Butterfly Bush and of course Wally.

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  8. bummer about the deer eating your blooms... but it still must be nice to have them so near. Lovely flowers. Have a great day

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  9. Love seeing your garden pictures! I kow what you mean about the deer - they have been having fun with oe's garden even though we have a small fence up. Nothing stos them. Interesting you should say that about your hydrangeas. We have one bloom on ne ant and the other have not bloomed. Something must be in the air. Is that a butterfly bush? Looks so pretty. Glad you are enjoying camping. Our crew just left early this AM for the lake with their RV. They are really enjoying it.

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  10. Oh my, Leslie how I love when you share your gardens & goldens. I saw your post in my Feedly this morning before leaving for work, but didn't have a chance to look. Your gardens are always so green and lush, it seems you might have a lot of shaded areas. My yard gets full sun most of the day which can be hard on the plants, especially with the hot summer we had. I find my hydrangea's can't take the heat, I get home after work and they show signs of struggle, but once you water them they come back up. I have one hydrangea as well that did not bloom this year until about a month ago, I got one bloom on it and it was a small bloom. Not sure why this happens. Your geranium is gorgeous as is the butterfly bush. I love those. This year we had to replace the butterfly bushes because the winter killed them. We thought we were buying purple ones like yours but ended up being a couple of white and a couple of fushia colour - very pretty! And those darn deers you have to contend with, but they are so sweet. (only when they are not eating your plants!). And a garden is only complete with a golden - you are right. I take it this is Wally, precious boy! I think that is enough jabbering, so once again, thanks for sharing your gardens. Love it when you do! Enjoy the rest of the weekend Leslie.

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  11. Thanks for sharing your Goldens and Gardens with us. All are so very beautiful!

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  12. Your gardens are beautiful and I commend you for being able to keep up with them as much as you can with your traveling and crafting. Deer have been a problem for me this year more than the past few. And, I've noticed they prefer one particular type of hosta over another ... hmmm might have to look into planting more of the one they seem to leave alone. We planted two new pink dogwoods a couple years ago ... they have the one all nibbled off at the middle/bottom ... only where they can't reach are there leaves. The other one (knock on wood) is doing well so far. I too am trying to stretch this summer/upcoming fall as far as I can. I'm not looking forward to winter ... I so enjoy being able to sit out on the deck, watch the squirrels play and the birds frequenting the feeders. But thankful for the change of seasons ... makes one appreciate the wonders of Mother Nature! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. This (as I'm sure you've read) is our 3-day family reunion weekend ... so that means a lot of driving back/ forth to PA. Today was spent making 6 dozen+ of my Uncle's yummy sweet rolls (sure miss him!!) HUGS

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  13. Glad to hear that some of your garden is able to survive your going away, it looks pretty from what you have shared, those pesky deer, they must have realized you were actually gone now. that's weird about the hydrangeas, maybe they are taking a little break. Your goldens always look happy no matter where they are, just as long as they are with you :) Have a great rest of your weekend!

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  14. I honestly don't know if I could leave a places so beautiful even if it were for a few days. The plus side is that you get to take the Goldens with you. Enjoy life!

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  15. It is all looking beautiful even if the deer are nibbling a little bit. Just think of how happy they are to get a snack. :-) I agree nothing better than a golden in with the flowers. hee hee Glad you had a good time.

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  16. It all looks beautiful and so MUCH better then mine! I can understand about the gardening and traveling as we have been gone every other weekend since June (going this weekend too for 5 days)..Love your pretty geraniums in the chair and all your lovely plants and of course Wally too (or is that Lulu?) MY problem has been not deer, but massive weeds, a vine that is strangling everything and kittens eating all my herbs before i even got them planted...it has been a struggle with the gardens this year, but I am going to miss summer!!

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