A follow-up to commentor PAM Dirac‘s July garden / vineyard post:
An update on the gardens that were chatted about in July, now
including the dogs.At top: Here is a view of the circle bed. Not a lot of structure to the planting, but most of the outright weeds are gone. One of my wife’s cousins took up metal working in her retirement and created the sculpture in the middle. She calls it “The Atom”. We really like it and are thinking of planning future beds for showing more sculptures.
Although they aren’t on it in this picture, the blue birds that live in the house you can just see in the shade on the tree to the left love to sit on the rings and keep watch.
On the other side of the weigela near the patio we planted zinnia from seeds. Really easy to grow, some nice late summer color and the butterflies really love them. We will be planting more next year.
The crepe myrtle next to the patio showed pretty well this year. It had been knocked back to the roots a few years ago by some nasty winters. I really like the white flower near all our reds, pinks and purples and I think the beds next to the patio need some height contrast.
Here is our old guy, Doolin. I meant to pose the dogs next to the beds, but they are pretty terrible models. We have had him well over 12 years. He came to the rescue as a stray, so we don’t know exactly how old he is but he must be getting close to 16 if he isn’t there already.
We know we aren’t likely to have too much more time with him, but he is still happy and healthy and our best dog ever, so we will enjoy what we get.
Here is our new girl, Ennis, next to the vineyard*. We got her on August 4th from an old friend who is a pretty serious lab breeder. One of the most important lab shows every year is here in Frederick, so we have been seeing our friend and her dogs for a while. My wife always hinted that we would take a “reject” and this year we finally got an offer. The text came while we were in the hotel room getting dressed for the funeral of my wife’s brother. It really felt like the universe was trying to ease the pain at least a bit.
Ennis is such a cuddlebug and a goofball and fits into our home very well. She and Doolin get along well and I think Doolin is a bit more active since she has been around. I don’t think there has been a day when she hasn’t made us laugh. Dogs are just good for the soul.
*As usual anyone wanting vineyard updates can go to Waving Free Vineyard. There are a couple of more chapters up on ripening, harvest, and primary fermentation.
Things are looking very good for this vintage.
One additional update: the 2017 Rocky Springs White that was in July’s pictures won first place in the dry white wine category at the Frederick County Fair.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Garden Update, Now with Dogs!Post + Comments (73)