Out Our Kitchen Door

The thermometer on our south porch said 90 yesterday. I think it must be broken. It felt just about perfect out to me. We took our lunch outside and had a picnic on the lawn while we watched the chickens taking dust baths in the shade.

Later, I took a little walk-about the garden. I’ve hardly set foot outside this past month but now that my deadline has been met, I thought I’d brave it. I was almost afraid to see what might be happening (or more to the point, not happening) out there and I actually was pleasantly surprised.

In the Kitchen Garden – so termed because it’s out the kitchen door and not because we have an array of herbs and vegetables growing out there – the red red roses are thriving. They must like it when I neglect them. So far, they aren’t even showing those pesky rust spots on the leaves. Go figure.

Pink and Blue Hydrangea

Dahlias are up and more are coming. Ditto the daisies and tiger lilies. And, unhappily, the morning glory. What a singular scourge!! I do like its blooms, though. And the nasturtiums are beginning to show themselves. (Why are mine always so late?)

The west fence is all but hidden in masses of Dorothy Perkins roses and Nyel’s hanging baskets of fuchsias are unbelievable! And did I mention the day-glow, knock-your-socks off, red geraniums in pots along the porch walkway? Or the California poppies nestled next to the York roses over by the croquet court?

Then there’s the hydrangea. It’s never had more blooms. I’m not quite sure why there are both pink and blue blossoms on the same plant, though. I thought it had to do with the pH of the soil – acidic soil (which we have) gives blue blossoms; more alkaline soil gives pink. It doesn’t seem possible that our soil is both. I’m not complaining, mind you. Just curious.

Hornets or Yellow Jackets or ???

Pests are proliferating out there as well. For starters, the weeds – as high as an elephant‘s eye at least. But I can’t really complain. I haven’t lifted a finger in weeks. And, the second battalion of swallows has arrived. We have another nest outside the kitchen window and they are trying to establish themselves on both porches.

More worrisome is the activity of a group of hornets. Or yellow jackets. Or maybe they are wasps. Not paper wasps, though. They seem to be building a nest inside a crevice in the porch ceiling and they are coming indoors much too frequently. We called the exterminator but there’s a holiday weekend coming up and…

I love that it is all happening in spite of us! I don’t even mind that Bradley calls ours a “garden under stress.” It must be ‘good stress.’ Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.