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Bergamot (mint family) is used in perfumes.
Hummingbirds and bees love it. |
Recently the altar committee said, in shock, "You gave away the Sunday roses!" Sassy and I delivered a big bouquet to a neighbor. I responded, confidently, "No, I made sure we had roses for Sunday."
We had heavy rains recently, so the roses were blooming steadily. However, with temperatures still high, we were bound to have roses that bloomed and wilted fast. Giving away the roses meant a fresh group of blooms had to available on Sunday. Rain and pruning make roses blossom. If I walk around the rose garden and prune every rose a bit, more long-stemmed roses will be perfect for cutting a few days later.
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| Double Delight |
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| Edith's Darling rose |
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| Edith's Darling - Downton Abbey |
Some initial efforts are paying off now. Here are projects based on plant growth - free expansion of the garden, thanks to divine engineering.
- Hostas are great in deep shade, better with sunshine. Hummingbirds love their flowers. The plants multiply once established, so they will be part of the ground cover. That means dividing them this fall and next spring.
- Mints grow densely in clumps. Insects, butterflies, and hummingbirds love them, so these are destined to be flowering fill-ins (groundcover): bergamot purple flowers, Cat Mint, and Mountain Mint.
- Joe Pye is the ultimate butterfly plant, so I am moving the finished seedheads to the spare garden in the back, for some free plants.
- Clethra and Chaste Tree can move to the front yard, to leverage the butterfly and beneficial insect power of the shrubs.
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| Cat Mint is so appealing to cats that we now have a Ranger Bob's watch-cat occuplying our porch seat, most of the day. |
