Friday, September 14, 2018

Mid-September Update

Yay! My Paradise Garden is free of netting.

Hello everyone, it's been a month since I last posted and wanted to give an update on what's been happening in my gardens. After our usual intense summer heat, we had a couple weeks in which it rained almost every day -- I almost forgot what it was to water all my pots every day, since I didn't have to do it for two weeks. The cool weather and near-daily rain was welcome after we had been dry for while.

I also would like to give a recap about my Big Net, in case people are wondering how that worked out. As you might recall from my earlier posts, we've had a horrible Japanese beetle problem here, and they were destroying my roses, especially in my new Paradise Garden. So I came up with the idea of draping a Big Net over that entire garden:

Here's the PG a month ago. The Big Net actually worked very well, keeping the JBs off my roses, and I didn't mind the net at all.


But then disaster struck:
On August 28, a tornado warning, a ton of rain, and a huge windstorm with gusts recorded of up to 80 mph blew through here. I was home at the time, and I looked out the front windows and saw the net blowing straight out, horizontally (toward the viewer in the above photo), and saw that some of the garden was uncovered. After it was safe to come out of the basement, I went outside and saw that the net had been Torn Asunder:


Shredded. Back to the drawing board....

After this calamity, I was able to use paper binder clips to pin together the net in spots so it covered most of the garden again, although I had to keep a close eye on it on breezy days and re-adjust the net frequently.

During the cooler, rainy weeks, I hardly saw any JBs, so I finally took down the remains of the net a few days ago (I saved the two-thirds of it that wasn't shredded, to use on other shrubs or fruit trees next year). There are still a few remaining JBs now that it's turned warm and sunny again, but only a few -- not the mobs of them destroying my roses like before. I just go out a couple times a day and knock them into my soapy water cup, and the damage is quite limited. They'll likely be completely gone in another week or so.

The netting structure, partly disassembled. It's all packed away carefully for next year now.


Free at last! Filled with butterflies and hummingbirds, it really is a flower-filled Paradise.

The net really did help my roses avoid terrible damage -- they look great right now, as do the dahlias, marigolds and other flowers that JBs love to wreak destruction upon. I'm planning to buy another net next year and make a few engineering modifications to next year's edition:

  1. I need to reinforce the net with some kind of weather-resistant tape where I attach the grommets along the sides (those hold the net in place during wind and make headroom to walk under the net along the sides. 
  2. I need to cover the ends of the wood slats on the pergola at the back of the garden (maybe with tennis balls or something round and smooth), because their sharp ends were what caused most of the tearing of the net.
We'll give it another go next June, and see if it will work better, even in high winds.


These make all the trial and error worth it. If a Big Net is what I need to enjoy
my roses, that's what I'll use.

Still a lovely spot to sit and enjoy my flowers....

The Clematis paniculata is blooming incredibly generously, considering I just planted it in May, and you can see scented tuberoses and lavender at center, and lovely roses and sweet peas across the path. Heavenly scents all of them.



After the next few days of continuing warmer weather, it looks like it will cool down here and that might be the end of our summer weather. Hard to believe autumn is upon us. I've bought a few spring bulbs that are waiting to be planted, and there are still several improvements I need to make to garden areas this fall -- but it's a lot easier and more enjoyable to work once it's cooler.

I hope you are enjoying beautiful fall weather in your own gardens (and a few more warm summer days too!). Thanks for reading! -Beth




14 comments:

  1. Your flower garden is gorgeous! Sorry about the tornadic winds but everything looks like it's thriving!

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    1. Thanks, Sonia -- I'm sure you guys down in OK know all about big tornado storms! I hope your gardens are doing all right at the end of summer? I'm excited to read about your new greenhouse and summer flowers when you next post. Thanks for stopping by! -Beth

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  2. Your Paradise Garden has become well-established in such a short time. It's wonderful to see the clematis climbing up the post and the flower beds filling out with sweet-smelling plants. It's a delightful garden area. I'm glad you found a solution to protect your roses from the Japanese beetle problem even though your netting was damaged during the high wind episode. You can modify the netting and use it again next year. Wishing you good gardening over the autumn (outside and in your indoor area).

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    1. Thanks, Linda -- hope you're enjoying lovely days in your own gardens! -Beth

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  3. Oh no! That sounds like quite the storm! Your paradise garden is gorgeous, and I wish I could smell all those beautiful flowers through the screen. So glad your netting idea worked, and your plants were spared from the beetles.

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    1. Thanks, Indie. I'm sure you have plenty of lovely-scented flowers in your beautiful gardens too, and I look forward to reading about them in your next posts. I hope you aren't affected by the big east coast storms at all up in MA. Best, -Beth

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  4. Hello again Beth. Thank you for leaving a kind comment on my blog today. I meant to say on my last comment how much your fig tree has grown. It's good to hear that you have figs that have ripened. Our fig tree which was planted in the ground didn't produce figs for several years, but now each year there are more and more. This year we have gathered many bowlfuls over the last month or two. There are many on the tree that will not ripen now as the weather gets colder. Our three children have fig trees, but they grow them in pots. Their gardens are small and by growing the trees in pots they stay small and manageable, but still produce fruit. I intended to email you, but I can't get the link on your blog to work.

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    1. Linda, I'm sorry you couldn't get the link to work -- Blogger seems to have all sorts of problems these days. But thanks for your kind note about the figs! After reading your post, I picked the softest fig I could find on my tree this morning, but I'm pretty sure it still wasn't ripe, as it didn't look the right color inside and still had a bunch of milky sap flowing out (I didn't taste it, because I read about how horrible the unripe ones taste!). I'll wait a few more weeks and try again. Live and learn, right? Thanks again! Best, -Beth

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    2. Thank you for getting back to me to me to let me know how you got on with the figs. It was a good idea to just pick one to see if it was ripe. You are right, the milky sap indicates fruit is not quite ripe. Your little fig tree has done well to produce fruit this season. A senior gardener at our local country estate in Derbyshire who is a friend took cuttings from our fig tree to train his students how to propagate and grow such a tree. We're pleased with the fact that this particular tree in our garden has done so well over the years. Whilst I was trying to find a contact link I happened to look at your other pages again. It was interesting to take the photo tour and read more closely about the history of your house and land. You've done a lot of research about the previous owners. Thank you for sharing and well done for maintaining the land and creating your own beautiful garden areas within it. Best regards, Linda.

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    3. Linda, thanks again for your advice about the figs, which really are a mystery to me! I'll wait a few more weeks to try for ripe ones again. And I'm glad you have enjoyed reading about the farm history and seeing the photo tour (I really need to update the tour with some more recent photos, I realize...). Thanks again for all you kind words! Best, -Beth

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  5. Your paradise garden is so beautiful ! Great, that you finally could win against the bugs and save your plants. I like the pergola with the bank very much. Especially with this sight of your garden and the landscape around.

    Greetings from Birgit

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    1. Thanks, Birgit, I'm so glad you stopped by to visit! Best Regards, -Beth

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  6. The JB's have pretty much died out for the year here. They ended up not doing as much damage this year, leaving both the crabapple in the North Courtyard and the linden tree in the South Courtyard with leaves this year. So that's a plus.

    Let me know how you like the Clematis paniculata. I like they way they look and how the smell, but I've read the self sow pretty vigorously, which I'd be worried about.

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    1. Hello Brother Placidus, I'm glad to hear that you haven't had too much damage from the JBs this year -- it probably depends on the year, and also what you have in your gardens. And yes, I've read that the Clematis paniculata can be invasive in some areas, particularly eastern states and warmer-winter areas, but I haven't read too many negative comments from Iowa gardeners so I thought I'd try it. It's surrounded by paving and dense mowed grass, so I hope that might contain it to some degree -- we'll hope for the best. Thanks for the warning though. Best, -Beth

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