Time to harvest! Peas did well this year. Sawed the seeds already in April which is early up here. Normally peas are planted few weeks later.
I tried a new variety called Douce Provence and it did surprisingly well even though we had the coldest summer in twenty years. Spring was dry and cold and summer months cool and rainy.
The variety is not that sweet tough. I was expecting a bit sweeter peas.
The first hints of autumn are here. Ornamental brassicas are starting to display their colors.
The Red Pigeon is yet another newcomer to my garden. It has succeeded well and I like the colors it has.
If I am right it will tolerate the cold well and continue to grow two more months. Getting even brighter and larger. Standing out even better when nearly all the other plants are gone.
This far there has been no pests to ruin its leaves which has surprised me. I expected to loose some of them to hungry visitors. Must have more of them next year.
It is time for the marigolds to start blooming. Only have color orange this year.
Up here in the north marigolds are one of the most reliable annual bloomers. Not that sensitive to cold and can take different kind of weather without suffering too much.
I think I will have yellow ones next year just for a change.
First cosmos flowers are starting to bloom. The ones I have gotten from my mom always go first. The others follow a month later in August.
I have been trying to find an early blooming variety with no luck. Simply because the summers are so short up here in the north.
This far I have not had any luck. My luck might change this year. A new variety is already making buds. We will see.
If I have no success then I just give up and continue with the one from mom. One variety is enough if it is a good one like I now have.
Bought the seeds for this poppy simply because it looked a bit unusual. Turned out that it is a beautiful one and surprisingly easy to grow.
The combination of white and read is quite striking. Also the shape of the flower is not regular.
Have been waiting and waiting for it to start blooming and now hoping that the heavy showers don’t ruin it.
Well that was false hope. Two hours after the photo was taken a hailstorm struck and all the blooming Danish flags were gone. Luckily there are still some where the buds are not open so not all hope is lost.
Many and plenty! For some reason aquilegias have always been one of my favorites. Cannot have enough of them.
This year I have managed to have five more varieties to bloom and I am happy. After several trials even Nora Barlow has started to bloom for the first time.
The challenge is that I have planted so many varieties that I am not quite sure what do I have.
Well the main thing is that they look beautiful.
A newcomer to my flowerbed. I am surprised how easy it was to grow and even though the summer has been cold the flowers are doing well. I guess the name just suggested that it is for a warmer climate.
They do though seem to have an ability to predict the weather. If it is going to be cold or rainy the flowers close themselves a way ahead. It is always good to have a weather station of your own.
I already ordered two new colors for the next year. If everything goes well I will have white and red ones to accompany the orange.
Now I am just waiting my other new experiments to bloom.
Why orange? Siberian poppy comes in many colors – white, yellow, red. But for some reason only the orange ones are able to make it through the winter.
Do not know why but now all the ones I have are orange. Only in the autumn the colors are many due to the seeds I have added in the spring.
This year I have added many other poppy varieties. Hopefully those will bloom in the autumn. Just have to wait and see.
Time to harvest. After very many years my chive finally looks good.
I do not know what went wrong but for many years the chives we have looked poor and modest. Maybe they just needed time and the right weather.
I have tried many different varieties and to be honest not sure anymore which was the one that was successful. Main thing is that I now have many flourishing hassocks.
Autumn has been beautiful. Sunny days and only few rainy ones. The nights are already cold but some of the flowers are still standing.
Spent the whole day outside enjoying the colors of October and planting bulbs for the spring. Hope they make it through the winter. Was not that successful last year and have selected hardier varieties this time.
The dwarf sungold sunflowers are blooming. Finally I would say. They made it but only barely.
Usually I have selected the teddy bear as the dwarf variety but could not find the seeds anywhere in the spring. The two varieties are very similar but teddy bear blooms a bit earlier and that makes all the difference up here in the north.
The nights are getting long and dark up here in which means that I have plenty of time to start planning for the next summer.
Gardening in the North 