Tricia — Organic Gardening Tips

Garden Blooms

It’s been warm and sunny all weekend here in Toronto. So warm in fact that the garden desperately needed some care and watering!

It’s supposed to rain later in the week and I’m actually looking forward to that. We’ve seen so little rain this summer. It will be good for the garden. If it comes – that is. I know if we do get some good rains my plants will be very happy and I’ll get some more good blooms before it starts to cool off.

Right now I have several plants blooming in my garden, but not nearly as many as I normally would at this time of the year. I have Gladiolus blooming – a little late, but I think that’s due to the hot summer we’ve had. Other plants in bloom include Phlox, a variety of roses, Brown Eyed Susans, Petunias, Honeysuckle, Impatiens, Hydrangea, Sedum, and a few of my Clematis.

Even my Rose of Sharon is blooming. It’s been blooming since early July. Usually it’s done blooming by mid-August at the latest but again, I think because of the hot dry summer it slowed down it’s blooms and now that it’s a tad cooler and we’re getting more rain or I’m watering more it’s starting to bloom again. Very odd.

What’s blooming in your garden at the end of this lovely long weekend?

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It’s still pretty dry out there – my poor garden

by Tricia

We seem to be going through yet another dry period here in Toronto. It’s been a very dry summer. I think it’s been one of the driest I’ve ever seen here in Toronto in the time that I’ve lived here.

We did manage to get some rain on and off for the first two weeks or so of August. Much needed I must say! However, now that we aren’t getting any rain my garden is being to shrivel up again! My tomato plants are wilting as are the cucumbers. I water them but they are not recovering. I suppose it doesn’t help that it’s hot during the day but it’s cooling off quite a bit now at night.

Maybe the plants know that Fall is coming and that’s why they are getting wilty and not recovering like I think they should be. I mean – we still have a month of summer and I’ve only really just started to get a good crop of tomatoes coming in. My plants can’t start failing now!

How is your garden doing in this heat and or drought?
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My thirsty garden

by Tricia

Earlier this year I was amazed at how fast my plants were growing thanks to how warm it was so early in the year. I had plants coming up and flowers blooming in March that I normally don’t see until April or May. Now .. it’s July and I’m wishing for cooler weather!

My poor garden is so thirsty in this heat and I injured one of my hands a month ago making it all that much harder to take care of everything let alone get the watering done regularly. It would be nice to have a week of much cooler weather.

Over all my garden seems to be surviving the heat and my semi neglect although it would be nice if it would at least rain a little bit. Please? The roses have bloomed a few times and oh how I love their beautiful scent!

My fruit and vegetables haven’t been growing quite as fast as they normally do. I think that’s in part because the ones that I had to plant I planted a little later than I normally do, and also the heat and lack of rain or lack of my watering them enough is a factor. However … they are growing.

My raspberries are starting to produce berries and I had some strawberries this year although fewer than normal. The tomatoes have plenty of green tomatoes on the vine and I’m anxiously awaiting the first ripe tomato. I love nothing more than freshly picked tomatoes. Yum! I also have a few types of lettuce, snap peas, beans and cucumbers growing in my garden. I spotted a few small cucumbers the other day so I think I’ll be having a nice cucumber and tomato salad very soon.

Do you live in an area that’s been hotter than normal this summer? How is your garden holding up in the heat? For that matter how are you holding up – are you keeping cool?

Living Green

by Tricia

I’ve always tried to live green.

I don’t use plastic bags – I use reusable clothe bags for my shopping. I watch how much water I’m using when I’m washing the dishes or brushing my teeth by not running the tap unnecessarily. I walk to work – mostly because it’s very close to where I live but it’s great for the environment that I’m able to do that. I also try to buy grocery products that are grown close to home.

Just like the information in the image below kindly sponsored by Neutrogena Naturals we also use CFL bulbs throughout our house to save energy. I also try to keep the lights out in rooms that aren’t being used. I mean, there’s no point in lights being on or appliances or electronics being on in rooms that no one is using – right?

What do you do you do in your home to save energy and to save the environment? I find Living Green is quite easy if you just keep practicing good habits. One green deed a day and it will come naturally very quickly.

Wrestling with a Monster Rose

by Tricia

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon fighting with my monster rose. I call it a monster rose because it’s absolutely HUGE.

The rose in question is a William Baffin Canadian Explorer Rose. It’s about 10 years old and it’s oh … 16 feet tall and maybe 12 to 14 feet wide.

It’s just finishing it’s spring flush of blooms so all of it’s many branches are full of rose blooms. Thousands of them I believe! It’s absolutely gorgeous – all pink and unbelievable. I can’t believe how big this rose is and how many flowers it actually produces when it first blooms each spring!

Unfortunately about a week ago there was a big rain storm and the rose being so heavy with blooms half the branches fell to the ground. The rose looked like it was split in half!

So … yes, that’s what I was doing this afternoon, wrestling with my huge rose, trying to lift all those big heavy branches and make them stand upright again. I was out there with my husband pounding stakes into the ground and tying branches up with heavy twine. Oh and losing skin … all the while doing this with a hand that very well might be broken!

I sure hope that all the tying up and staking we did holds those branches up for a few years! That rose really is a monster!

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