Then and Now

I always find it amazing how quickly gardens, especially annuals, take off once the warm summer sun starts to shine. The scrawny little petunias, lobelia, ivies that were planted in the freezing rain on May 24 have started to fill out and add colour to our deck. Indeed the constant watering and fertilizing my husband lavishes on them have them flowering profusely and beginning to cascade over the sides of their containers.

The canna have settled in and started to reach to the sky. And the foliage and bacopia I planted around the base are beginning to fill in nicely. We had a near disaster this past week with torrential downpours of rain and even an afternoon of hail. The hail did do some damage, especially to the broad-leafed canna and even broke a secondary shoot off completely. After just 2 or 3 days of sunshine though, the intrepid canna has recovered beautifully. There are still some reminders of the hail in the shredded leaves, but I think we will still see some spectacular blooms later this summer.

I think the most amazing progress has been with the herbs. Last February when we planted the almost microscopic seeds for basil, sage, oregano and thyme I don't think we ever truly believed we would be harvesting our herbal crops and using them to season our dinners. The herbs have taken root, so to speak, and are quickly outgrowing their containers. Many times every day, we find ourselves in the 'herb section' gently ruffling the leaves of the basil and sage to enjoy the aromas they release. We have recently added rosemary, chives and lemon balm to our little herb garden ... not to mention the lavender and nigela damascena or love-in-a-mist that is reputed to be good with lamb - but I love it purely for the delicate flowers.

To add an extra element to our deck garden, we have had a few visits from humming birds and some very hungry finches ... mainly purple finches. The neighbour's cat is quite intrigued with the finches. The clematis is growing nicely spreading it's tendrils around the wire frame and I do believe I see quite a few buds that I am looking forward to enjoying in August. The morning glory seeds, started in wet paper towels last May are happily climbing the trellises though I don't see any flower buds yet. The tomato has managed to flower quite a few times and I can count at least 30 perfect little tomatoes forming on it already.