Summer Plus One

Happy Summer Solstice 2013 or Summer plus one day because I was so busy doing non gardening things yesterday.

Had loads of fun staging the wedding reception dinner tables for a nice young couple.  So much is publicized about "bridezillas" and "mother of the bridezillas" but this family was a total pleasure.  Wishing them a lifetime of love and Blessings.

I am finishing the last of my second term as President of the Board of Directors of Freedom House, a women and children's domestic and sexual abuse shelter and services.  I will remain on the Board and have faith our new president will be a valuable asset.  www.freedomhouseillinois.com

Back to summer and the joy of working our way through months of warmth and beauty.  As I was visiting the new president yesterday, we walked through her beautiful yard.  I love seeing the work and imagination involved in another gardener's choices.  Like all of us, she fights garden wars (deer in her case), moves, redesigns, babies and most of all loves her gardens.  We should have had pictures of us because there were two definitely past middle age ladies with umbrellas walking around her yard in a heavy rain.  It was an opportunity and it wasn't to be missed.  For some reason a Patsy Cline song kept running through my head...

Because of the large amounts of rain this spring my yard is growing like crazy and benefiting mightily.  One honeysuckle has become infected (is that the right word?) with mildew and I've noticed some mildew beginning on the old fashioned phlox.  I've heard of the home remedy of milk diluted with water - may try.  The real way to fight mildew is to never plant anything that isn't resistant (which leaves out many older varieties) and to never crowd plants (which leaves out most of my beds.)

I am still fighting apple/rose rust and I think it's spread to other plants.  Calling in the professionals on this one.  We've taken out a large juniper near the orchard area and may need to take out another.  I will never get rid of all the junipers in the area because they seed everywhere there is undisturbed roadsides, fence rows, etc. in the country.   It's a nasty disease and I'm not willing to give up yet.

Yes, every plus of nature brings a minus.  It gives with the right and takes with the left.  It's called gardening.  It changes yearly and often monthly.  I am so glad to have all the resources of other gardeners, professionals and materials to reference.  If nothing else, we support each other by knowing we're all in this together.

What are you fighting and what are you enjoying this year?