It’s been a wet and windy week, but I slept through most of it so that worked out well. The predicted big storm did indeed knock over some of my taller flowers, but everything else remained unscathed. Considering we are surrounded by an entire forest of very tall, violently swaying trees, I’m not one to underplay good fortune. Growing up with the Santa Anas gives you some idea of what high winds can do. Then, the sun returned this morning, just in time for me to take some pretty late summer pictures!

1. I cut down the original occupants of the spinach bed this morning: 2 varieties of spinach (‘Vroeg Reuzenblad’ and ‘Matador’) and 2 varieties of peas. All greenery was chopped and dropped. The spinach was allowed to set seed, so I just left all the dried pods on the bed and covered them in a layer of bagged garden soil. The aim is for them to germinate immediately and provide a decent autumn/winter crop if the weather is kind. All remaining pea pods were gathered to provide seed for next year. The majority were a vigorous sugar snap called ‘Frühe Heinrich’, which I will gladly grow again next year. I also managed to save a few pods of pretty purple ‘Shiraz’ snow peas, which I would like to multiply next year with better harvest planning. Current occupants of the bed are… currants! Pink and white currant cuttings, that is. They will spend the winter there developing their roots, whether the spinach plan ends up working or not.

2. Monkshood (Aconitum x cammarum ‘Bicolor’) flowered this week! We inherited a small patch with the house and it’s taken a while to grow, but we now have two decent clumps that produce several flower-laden stems every year. The bees love them and everyone else knows to not touch them, so everybody is happy.

3. ‘Cool Breeze’ calla lily blend, just like the bag indicated. This year, I sunk all my frost-tender bulbs into the cutting garden in pots rather than planting them directly, and they seem to be doing better this way. I admittedly didn’t expect much out of these but will try giving each bulb its own pot next year to see if they get bigger.

4. My notes say that I planted an Oriental lily mix here, but this one looks more Asiatic. Not that I mind — they are small, perky, and lemon yellow, which is a rather pleasant contrast to all the giant pink and white ones surrounding it.

5. Monarda fistulosa ‘Bergamot’ (bee balm) living up to its name. It’s been great seeing so many pollinators everywhere this year, and most of my perennials aren’t even close to being mature specimens yet. These were winter-sown last year and this is their first bloom. I wonder if I should be letting them get this tall or if they should be cut back for a bushier form?

6. The first fruits from my new family apple tree! I picked four smallish ‘Vuokko’ apples this week and they were all eaten the same day. It’s interesting to compare how different varieties taste — this one is sweeter and firmer than our other summer apple, ‘White Transparent’, which is also very near harvest stage.

Thanks for visiting and please do check out what the other SoSers are doing over at Jim’s page!