Garden This Week

Both rose bushes have buds about to bloom, the surviving carnations have buds, and the patch of sunflowers are going strong. Goldenrod is still alive, dianthus have dug in, and the wisteria continues to grow as it does year after year still refusing to bloom (ten years! I have waited ten years for that bloody plant to bloom, and I fear it never shall).

In the kitchen garden, the escarole is finishing up, the mesclun is still going strong, potatoes, fava beans, lima beans, and borlotto beans are coming along. The grapes are growing insanely well. The cherry tomatoes are forming, the aubergine is dead, the curry plant is alive, and someone continues to eat the tips off the laurel leaves. I am not pleased. Don't be shocked if you see me serving rabbit in the near future.

Danny's lovingly tended parsley is finally growing. It takes so long to germinate you wonder if you have parsley or weeds until the recognisable leaves burst forth. He's really delighted with all the hard work watering, and devising ways to ward off bunnies, and I suspect we'll be enjoying our share of butter and parsley sandwiches soon.

The forget-me-nots still have not flowered. I'm getting irritated, but the plants look healthy-they're just being stubbornly slow. I planted them in march for heaven's sake.

The glads are up, and the foliage looks healthy, but still no flowers. The nasturtiums have not flowered, but I have pots full of healthy leaves. I may just pluck them out for salads.

Danny wants to do a large area of daffodils this fall, and I'm dreading the digging. I agree that we have a perfect spot for them, and it would look rather spectacular in the early spring when not much else is going-but oh, digging in dozens of bulbs! I'm not sure I'm up to that. My desire for early colour in our landscape may outweigh my common sense yet.

I still can't believe I'm successfully growing fava beans. I go out there and look at the gorgeous pods and feel like I've just solved some mathematical theorem. Favas might just be the one thing that grows in our garden that pests refuse to touch. How exciting.