Got 12 cloves of garlic in and another 22 narcissuses in today. Delighted that I got two Alberta dwarf spruce for the front urns. Another $200 visit to East End Garden Center. Love that little shop.

Kevin and the boys finished the wall last month.

Been out of the garden for months, for good reason:

What a summer. Twenty degrees at noon on September 3. We didn’t put the AC in this year. We haven’t had much rain in the last month, so everything is really dry. A surprise, but in reality, August has been relatively cool and dry.

The big news is the retaining wall at the back of #14 is started. Should be done in a little over two weeks.

My back and neck have gone out for two different reasons, so I have done nothing for the past two weeks. Ken is learning how to water. And he is doing very good at it.

It has been a year for sow bugs and cutworms. Never seen so many, ever.

Picked the first of the hops yesterday. They are full of aphids.

Quiet day today. Richard visited yesterday and everyone else went to Andrew’s wedding. A lone cicada is singing in the next yard.

Need I say more? So amazing it startled me this morning when I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Motivation for a big update.

Yes, almost the best time of the year. Fresh tomatoes. The Roma's are coming along nicely.

And the boxwoods still need a fine prune, but the overall form is there.

The hops are full of aphids so the lady bugs have shown up.

Weather has been pretty much the same so far all summer. A little rain almost every other day. And the temp hasn't broke 30 yet, so all good.

A rabbit!  Wild I presume. The weather has been largely perfect for the garden. Could use a little more sun, but the temperature is perfect.  Peas, beans, cucumbers and edamame are all looking good, at last.  Replanted at least three times. With a little rain almost everyday, I am behind on pruning.  

Got a lot done this weekend so the boxwoods and cedar hedge are looking amazing. Tackled the western hazelnut. Wow is it ever out of control. A major tree, not the shrub it needs to be. Still have a lot of fine tuning to do, but that is easy compared to the major clipper work.  Cut through an extension cord.

Pruned back the oranges and olive hard. They are all coming back strong. A shot of liquid fertilizer really helped.  

Got some pole beans from Helen and put those in today. Let’s see what happens. Started to empty the composter.  Put a big pile on the potatos.  Should be interesting to see what that does. Gave a handful of 10-10-10 all over the veg bed. The cherry tomatoes are really pushing. A potential 100 fruit on three plants. 

Happy Pride!  Don’t need the hit of thundershowers we are getting.

But, from a gardeners view, it’s a good thing. Got back from Venice and Berlin, so excited by some of the garden designs we saw – not to mention the art and architecture. And two weeks away means a lot of garden work. The Cornus Venus is done flowering. A million petals to clean up. Lawns to mow. And decided to put four more tomatoes in. A bit leggy from Home Depot so I trenched them in. Picked up a few other things, about a $60 trip.

Peonies are done, cherry tomatoes have little fruit just forming and good buds. Reseeded edamame and put in more cucumber seeds. And the patch of grass I am trying to mend is just being stubborn, so more grass seed down. So I can take some rain today.

Got the cherry tomatoes planted in the pots under the balcony today. Two are called Rafael and the other is just called Red Cherry. Also put in the leftover pansies and the yellow Asters that were in the front pots this spring.  Should be pretty. Gave everything a shot of liquid fertilizer. All the pots should be happy. 

Big day in the salad bar. Planted beefsteak tomatoes on the west side and a Better Boy on the east. Also got some cucumbers seeds in. 
In the veg bed put in a pot of basil and a row of San Marzanos beside the potatoes. Some cuke seeds on the east side by the juvenile garlic. And the remaining Better Boy in front of the winter garlic. Jammed a few pole beans seeds left over from last year’s crop at the back against the stone wall. Spread some 2012 coriander seeds all about especially on Astrid’s bare soil.  Will know what’s taken in a couple of weeks. 
Still have to refill the hole were the crab apple was. Photo just cause. 

$177 @ Fiesta Farms, yee ha!  Ken and I did a run for the front planters. And of course I got tomatoes and the herbs for the balcony. 

The planters should be amazing. Cannas, dahlias, lib…something. I reused the gerbera daisies, white pansies and have to put the yellow asters that were in there somewhere else, or perhaps the compost?  With a shot of Miracle Grow they will be amazing in two weeks.  Can’t wait. 

Light showers have sent me in.  I can use the break after moving 4 cubic yards of mulch yesterday.  $290 delivered from Plant World.  Took the full day, well, eight hours really and it still needs to be properly placed in the beds. It looks so good already with everything bursting. 

Was out to hill-up the potatoes, plant peas, edamame, carrot tape, and hopefully bush beans. Nice neat rows this year. Half the garden is in so far. Have to get to the garden centre for herbs and tomatoes.  It’d be nice to get more greens in tomorrow.  It’s suppose to be light rain all day.