Six on Saturday – Second Chances and weird beginnings.

We’ve had rain on and off this past week and that seems to have have been the cue for some plants, well past their peak blooming period, to send out new growth.  Or perhaps it’s a desperate attempt to set more seed before autumn.  I’m not complaining, whatever the biological/evolutionary reason for it.  I’m just enjoying it. I also continue to enjoy the veggies and flowers that spring up on their own accord.  (I’m not referring to the bindweed that, without constant pulling, would happily take over everything!)  To see more Sixes from around the world check out The Propogator‘s site!

1 – First, the long view of my ‘Island’ – the garden surrounded by the driveway.  The volunteer sunflowers are in full glory but I don’t think I’ll let them do the same next year.  It really blocks the view of everything else growing behind them!  On the other hand, it helps creates a ‘secret garden’ effect; exploring the Island becomes a bit of an adventure.

2 – This viticella Clematis, I think it’s Etoile Violette, finished blooming a few weeks ago.  But today, voila!  A few more bug eaten blooms have appeared!

3 – I have several clumps of Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) that just get bigger year to year; last summer there was about two dozen tall flower stalks.  This year, for some reason, there was just one flower stalk!!!  And it bloomed meagerly for just a few days.  But, like the Clematis, this week it realized it better set some seed and here is the wonderful result.

4 – I screened some compost last weekend and a gazillion tomato seedlings sprouted after the rain.  My compost piles never get hot enough to kill seeds – from tomatoes or, unfortunately, weeds; I generally have to throw pulled weeds that have seeds on them into the burn pile.  I’ll rake these tomato seedlings into the compost pile to add even more nitrogen.

5 – New England Aster (with a new botanical name Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) has just started to open!  Sad because it means autumn is truly on our doorstep; happy because it’s a glorious pollinator magnet.

6 – The volunteer cantaloupe has fully embraced  the trellis I built for snap peas this spring. If you look closely you can see a few melons quickly growing, like the one at the top of this post.  Another example of how volunteer plants sometimes do much better than those purposefully planted.