TBGDN's blog: Here Comes Summer!

Meteorological summer begins here in the heartland on June 1st, and continues through August. It is a transition time from spring bulbs, dandelions, and lilacs to sounds of lawn mowers, peonies in flower and the last blooms of the irises. Then suddenly, regardless of what adjective we put in front of the word, “summer” is here! School is out; heat and humidity increase and the garden activities are in full swing! For us country bumpkins it’s a never ending season of labors of love. I could go on and on about planning and looking forward, but that has been addressed in another article. For this article it is simply about enjoying the three-month period on the calendar known as summer. When we were younger (speaking personally) it was about the carefree days of no school, girls and hot cars. And of course there was the real music of the teen-age 60’s; notably HERE COMES SUMMER. Those were the days of pure innocence, but yet they were even more enjoyable because of that innocence and all the other things that made the summers back then so memorable. I sometimes think that I must have been the black sheep in the family because my father placed me in an iris field with a hoe in my hand as a freshman in high school. "You've got to earn some money for school", he demanded. God love him; little did he know I had my heart set on a hot '57 Chevy Bel Air! Those were very ‘hot’ back then, (especially the baby blue & white) but now a ‘classic’! (I never got the '57, but eventually saved enough money for a '59.)

Fast forward quickly to 2015. The times have changed- immensely! Gone now are those days of innocence when summers were relatively carefree. Or, am I seeing things in a different light since maturing into a retired ‘senior citizen’? Am I now looking at the world differently, and fairly? Or, did I just ignore all the major problems back then with a child-like attitude? I cannot honestly answer my own question: Summers come, and they go. But I guess the question that needs to be answered is do we really take the time to enjoy them? Or, do we just rush through them and let them slip away? Do we really take time to ‘stop and smell the roses’? What about all the other things of summer? I suppose the answer lies with each of us individually.. My biggest fear is that I won’t be able to enjoy every part of the summer season. That includes cook outs, drinking ice tea on a shady deck and working in the gardens on hot summer days! It also means sharing summer experiences with family and friends as well as ATP members in forums, blogs and data base posts!
Roses follow closely behind the irises and peonies. They are especially nice in the summer landscape when they re-bloom. The early ones are susceptible to the brown rose chafers and Japanese Beetles here in my central part of the state. The chafers arrive about the first week of June and the Japanese Beetles are always on time at the end of the month. Both can cause damage to all blooming plants; not just roses alone. I’ve seen them devouring flowering annuals and perennials as well as soy beans and field corn silks. Even with these pests I feel the inclusion of roses is well worth the time and effort involved with caring for them. Among the most fragrant are the shrub rose 'White Rose of York' and another white shrub/climber 'Iceberg'. Both can perfume an entire the yard on warm summer days and evenings. And both are equally attractive in the landscape. Bear in mind this is the mid-section of the U. S.- NOT California! Our winters are brutal here; often matching Minnesota and the upper Midwest.

Hello, I am known as TBGDN (Tall Bearded Iris Garden). I am the author of this blog, and I appreciate you stopping by. My ideas and opinions are based on and influenced by a lifetime of rural, agricultural lifestyle. We all see the world from differing viewpoints; yet we seem to hold a common bond when it comes to all things plants. It is a subtle yet strong relationship we gladly share with each other in the pursuit of gardening and farming, as well as related fields. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will visit again.

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