Summer isn't just gardening time; it's also vacation time. I left for a week's vacation on Prince Edward Island in Canada on June 22 and came back to a very different garden than I left.
First, the bad news. While I was away, our lawn service came and ran the weed-eater through my cottage garden. Thankfully, one of my neighbors intervened before too much damage was done, but alas, my columbine is no more. I was lamenting this to Kathie Evanoff, a Master Gardener and the Tribune Chronicle garden columnist, and she reassured me that my columbine should come back. It still leaves a big blank spot in my cottage garden for the time being, though.
The day my husband and I left for our trip, I noticed my salvia was getting ready to bloom, and I told my husband that I hoped it would still be blooming when we got back. I was in luck - the salvia is now at its peak of beauty.
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Tribune Chronicle / Mary Beth Wyko
Though it’s not an especially showy flower, salvia is one of my favorite plants in the garden.
Each year as I put together my garden, I will keep some favorites and try some new plants. I'm learning as I go what I like and don't like in the garden. Salvia was my favorite addition to my garden last year, and I was really looking forward to its appearance this summer.
Salvia isn't an especially showy flower. Instead of distinct flowers, like the cosmos I wrote about previously, salvia blooms look more like colored leaves. But what colored leaves they are - mine are deep purple and a delicate pink.
The pink and purple salvia is a nice reminder of my vacation as well. They are nearly the same shade as the pink and purple wild lupines that grow all over Prince Edward Island. I don't have any lupines in my garden, but after my trip, they're on the list for next summer. They will go well with my salvia.
My husband remarked recently that it seems like our vegetable garden is a little behind this summer. Our peppers certainly aren't doing very well this year. I have photos of small peppers from July 6 and 7 of last year, but at the moment, we have a few flowers on our plants, but no veggies as of yet.
The tomatoes are doing a little better. Last year, I don't have any photos of little tomatoes until July 16, but I've got a few on the vine now and lots more flowers. It won't be long before I have fresh tomatoes to go with the basil and oregano I've already been snipping.
Share your gardening stories and tips with me at mwyko@tribtoday.com