calendula

They reseed with vigour, but make a pleasant midsummer boquet.

blue vervain/marshmallow bed

The blue vervain and marshmallow were grown from seed last year and seem happy.

Also have yarrow and chives in this bed - and pink malva volunteered itself. 

japanese beetles

Caught in the act. I wage war against japanese beetles daily, walking around with a container of soapy water and knocking the varmints into it as best I can. Or I smash them with my fingers, depending on how grumpy I am at the moment. 

hyssop/mint bed

hyssop, wormwood, spearmint and lemon balm are very grown in now. Need to start editing so they grow in clumps rather than a jumble. "Masses are more effective than mingies," as Vita says.

And a little St. John's Wort is peaking striving to thrive.

Pink and Yellow

Always liked this combination - photo doesn't do it justice, but pink malva and pleasant stella d'oro daylilies look lovely together:)

aronia berry update

They're coming along in the bed they share with many upstarts...

  ... primarily Johnny-Jump-Up, dill, german chamomile and calendula.

lupine

Still trying to grow in a front raised bed. No dramatic growth spurts, but we shall see...

Yarrow

Grown from seed a few years ago, yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is doing fine in raised beds in the front yard ...

 ... and it's spreading, as witnessed by this little fellow nestled among malva, dill (?) and weeds.

Delphinium

Got this at the grocery store today - two of them, in fact. Got them for free - a cashier error, which I feel bad about except I kind of think it's the universe saying thank you because last time I was at the grocery store, I found a credit card in the parking lot and turned it in to management. 

permaculture & perma-mess

Wormwood reseeded itself and is sprouting up amongst the weeds, mints and hyssop.

Maybe St. John's Wort below? I think it's in there somewhere, but I can't remember exactly what it looks like.

Chaotic, but full of good stuff. Tried weeding out the grass, yellow wood sorrel and black medick at least.

And here's the horehound trying to hold its own amid the free-for-all.

Strawberries

Not a huge harvest, but enough to make meusli delicious:)

Bradbury's Monarda

Not showy and hard to get in focus on a wind-tossed day, but blooming in its first summer under the evergreen. 

containing self-seeding annuals

"The say every blessing hides a curse and every curse a blessing"  -Gloria Naylor

Case in point: self-sowing annuals. So glad to have them and yet they are so vigorous. My new method of  containment is to leave large swathes where they won't interfere with other, less vigorous plants. Below is cilantro which would overrun the peppers if not kept in check. 

I leave milkweed only in my perennial garden because I came across the following note to self that I wrote last year at the end of the growing season. 

drying mullein

It's a cool and breezy day - a good time to get out the dehydrator and dry some mullein leaves for cold and flu season. I use mullein (Verbascum thapsus) for coughs, especially coughs that are worse when lying down.

I leave mullein plants in several spots in my garden (probably too many) so it can flower and reseed itself. The rosettes tend to grow larger than I expect and can overshadow other plants, like, potentially, my tomatoes, so I try to monitor their growth and pull any that are impeding the growth of their neighbors.

To dry I pick the younger, softer leaves. Blot off any dew, clear any debris and put them in the dehydrator until they are crisp and crumble if pressed. Then I store them in a jar, labeled, through the winter.