It’s been a while since I’ve done a backyard garden update, so I thought I’d share what’s been going on around here lately. I think it’s been pretty well documented that this summer had been an absolute disaster in the garden.
First we covered the entire religious family sized garden with landscape fabric {which seemed like an AWESOME idea at the time} because The Duck Lady had had such success with using it.
And then it started raining. And then it rained some more. For basically 6 weeks non stop. I read that it was one of the wettest Junes in over 25 years here in Maine.
So you know, not the best year to try to use landscape fabric in the garden because the soil couldn’t really breath {or drain} properly.
All the vegetables that I started from seed {and babied indoors for 2 months under grow lights} became stunted and more or less have refused to grow much since then.
Talk about lame.
Even worse, is that I was planning on canning all the glorious vegetables I had assumed would grow… So now even our canning season {and winter food storage!} is totally kaputz as well.
But, there are a few things that have done well this year…
The Kitchen Garden
So far this year we’ve been able to harvest:
6 Cabbages
Shelling peas
Boatloads of rhubarb
40+ heads of garlic
Tons of chives, thyme
Blueberries
Raspberries
Onions
Radishes
And probably a few other things I am forgetting.
Or wanting to forget like the ONE tomato I’ve harvested so far this year!
But the apple trees we planted seem to be doing well. 2 of 6 of the bareroot trees we planted in late spring have apples on them.
The Bertie’s Raised Beds we planted are coming along nicely. And the seed potatoes we planted in the spring seem to be hanging in there. So at least this year’s gardening season isn’t a total loss.
But still. What a disappointment. I suppose after nearly 30 years of gardening… A dud year was bound to happen. And there’s not much I can do about it now.
We still plan on testing the soil, but my dreams of growing 1,000 pounds of vegetables in the garden this year is a goner. Oh well.
There’s always next year, right?
Speaking of next year’s garden plans, does anyone know what the name of this particular hydrangea plant is? For some reason I think it’s called Lime Burst, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is that I NEED these hydrangea bushes!
Peace out,
~Mavis
Mrs. C. says
Limelight hydrangea. Why are really easy to propagate, too.
Jeri says
I’ve got the Little Lime variety of hydrangea. Same color, just a smaller plant. I do love it! If you become friendly with the owner of these hydrangeas, maybe they’ll allow you to take come cuttings to start your own plants. I’ve heard they’re easy to propagate!
Victoria Fetui says
I agree with Mrs. C. My sister has one of these Limelights and it does exceptionally well every year…great for bouquets too.
JamieH says
I believe they are called lime light hydrangea.
Dawn says
My kids got me one of these for my birthday this year. LOVE THEM.
Ditto in the garden. Over five more inches of rain here this week. Overflowed my rain gauge. Uggh.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks says
Mavis, so sorry about your garden. Last year was a bust for us.
I think those are Limelight hydrangeas. We have several and they are sun loving and get big. They’re lovely. I have a cut bouquet in my den right now. 🙂
Rosemary says
I uploaded a photo of them to google and it looks like they are Limelight hydrangeas. They sure are pretty!
Holley says
Yep, those are Limelight hydrangeas! They are absolutely gorgeous!!!
So since the big garden is a bust, are you going to buy some things, like tomatoes, to can?
Linda says
Seems like buying some yummy Maine tomatoes would be a good option to can. Disappointed for you about the garden
Hawaii Planner says
Those are gorgeous hydrangeas! Hope the end of the summer season gives you some good gardening results!
Annette says
I’m curious how your neighbor’s garden did this year with the landscape fabric and the rain.
Mary G. says
Wow, those apples look great! Better to focus on the positive things, right? It was hot and dry here most of last summer, but with watering, my tomatoes did quite well. This year (I’m in Southern New England, so similar weather to you), only 2 of my tomato plants are producing a bit. My salad greens and baby greens in pots have also done decently, but overall, it definitely hasn’t been the greatest year. Let’s hope next year is better.
Terri L says
There is also a dwarf one called “Little Lime”. I’m guessing those aren’t them in the picture!
C says
Do you even fertilize? If it was me I’d throw a bunch of granular organic fertilizer on it (I use Espoma Garden Tone), as well as some bone meal. Don’t even bother digging it in, just let the rain do the work. And watch it all bounce.
Tracy says
Those are indeed Limelight Hydrangeas, grown in a tree standard form. Fun fact: there is now a “new and improved” Limelight Hydrangea variety, called “Limelight Plus” that tends to have slightly more rigid branches. The bloom heads of those glorious plants grow so huge that they weigh down the branches so they can break or flop. The “Plus” variety is worth the hunt.
Cecile Hoare says
It is a Paniculata ‘Grandiflora’ Hydrangea (PeeGee Hydrangea in layman’s terms) in either the Moonstruck or Limelight variety. These are the more hardy garden varieties for northern climates.
Mary V. says
Mavis, what variety of apple did you plant? Those look luscious and I’m looking for a good option to plant at my place. Where did you buy your trees? Would you recommend them? I’ve used Stark Brothers in the past, but am open to new options.
Sue S. says
I thought they were PeeGee hydrangeas. Grow like weeds. Turn pink in the fall, long reddish stems? Can take heavy pruning.
Lisa says
I think I’m just south of you. I got 2 zucchini’s, a couple of cucumbers, and quite a few green tomatoes with tiny black dots on them. Can’t be good. No fruit in my pumpkins or butternut squash. My blueberries were the size of grapes this year. Huge. A blue/silver lining.
Mavis Butterfield says
Our blueberries did very well also!
Lori says
It looks like limelight hydrangea or little lime hydrangea. Very easy to grow. My grandmother has a hedge about 20′ long of them. They are so beautiful in bloom.
andrea d says
The wild animals- deer, groundhogs, rabbits, etc- made a giant feast of the over 100 veggie plants my kids & I started indoors and transplanted. And the birds joined them in making a dessert of all the wild berries we were hoping to harvest from our property. So we have been able to harvest zero from the garden this year. I will say though that with all the rain we got in June, I managed to grow a beautiful garden full of weeds taller than me during the two weeks we were on vacation. Thankful for local farmers who offer great prices on pick your own. Now to prep the garden for next year (hoarding cardboard and stacking branches for the woodchipper in the hopes of getting a jump on the weeds)
Cheryl says
I feel so bad that you had a dud gardening year. All that hard work all that money.
My grandparents were farmers in Ransomville, NY. They actually made a living farming. But they diversified. They had milk cows, chickens, pigs, fruit orchards (cherries and peaches and pears and apples and plums, etc), grape vines and a massive vegetable garden. They went to market twice a week with their bounty, well into their 70’s.
They worked their butts off too, just like you.
Funny story. My grandparents were from the old country, Ukraine. Gramma wanted many boys to work the farm. She had 6 children, the first four were girls. By the time the 4th girl arrived, gramma refused to name her. Grampa named that baby. On the day she was born, he looked down in the bassinet and said “she’s as pretty as a Spring morning in May.” That’s how my mom got her name. Happily for my feisty gramma, she did finally get her boy children. Believe it or not, the hardest workers were the girls.
Hopefully next year you will have a fabulous grow year. You and your hubby deserve it.
Mavis Butterfield says
Sounds like some pretty hard working grandparents! Next year will be better for sure. 🙂
JulieP says
Oh my, Mavis, I feel your pain! We had a red h he or June then we had six weeks rain starting last week of June actually started the second day of The Royal Norfolk show ☹️ I noticed that things were water logged then, blight! First in the main crop potatoes then my outdoor tomatoes! My onions all bolted back in May so they were a dead loss, but, greenhouse tomatoes fab (you so need a greenhouse! ) the pole beans are doing ok, things like radish, spring onions, beetroot and rhubarb great. The early potatoes survived it and it’s turned warmer and drier now so fingers crossed for the squashes! The pickling cucumbers have a lot of small ones on but plants going very yellow ☹️ bad year that’s two I’ve had in my last 5 years but overall it’s about 4/5 in last 35 years so mustn’t grumble too much! Happy autumn gardening
Mavis Butterfield says
It happens from time to time I suppose, bad weather that is. Sounds like your garden bounced back pretty well.
Julie K says
I have several. Deer love them. The only way I’ve gotten them to thrive is to plant them along the llama fencing. Apparently deer don’t like llamas. Go figure.
Mavis Butterfield says
Maybe we’ll have to get a couple llamas. 😉
a NJ gardener says
I’m trying chopped straw mulch for the first time this year. It seems to blunt the impact of heavy rain, but allows the soil to breathe. I tried landscape fabric once and promised myself never again. I’m still finding bits and pieces of it in the garden years later.