Home Grown Chamomile?

I haven't used my garden boxes in years. (I have three.)

I initially planned to plant vegetables and herbs in these mini-gardens. But I soon realized that I'd need to install some serious animal netting to ever get these little gardens to work... So I have left them fallow.

Last year, after pulling "weeds" out of them, I discovered (in an article on growing chamomile for tea) that some of the "weeds" I had discarded were actually chamomile.

This year the flowers are back - and I hope to harvest them to make my first home-grown chamomile tea.

Mid-July Flowers

Mid-July is my favorite time of the summer - it's when our garden is at its brightest.

Early spring flowers are gone, though this mass of low-lying purple geraniums, that began to bloom in spring, is still blooming near the white daisies.

I'm thinking of dividing them and adding them to other parts of the yard.

I love it when flowers last that long!

In shadier parts of the yard, the hostas have filled out and are beginning to flower.

Masses of yellow coreopsis, white daisies and orange lilies brighten the yard.

Less showy are the red knautia, also in bloom.

There are a few brown-eyed Susans here and there in the yard. They resemble the white daisies, but I'm not sure if they're part of the same botanical "family."

At this time of the summer, my favorite garden view is driving down the street, welcomed by the giant "bouquets" of orange lilies and white daisies that flank the driveway. I look forward to their arrival ... and miss them when they're gone.

Garbage Day Construction!

Last week, on garbage day, the city started to tear up our street to repave it.

I'm not sure how the garbage collectors managed to drive their trucks through the construction chaos.

It took three days for the five blocks to be torn up. Then the construction stopped - once the crushed rock was packed down.

Then it sat for four days, untouched...

Then, this week... on garbage day (!) the paving crew arrived with heavy equipment and dozens of dump trucks full of hot asphalt...

Over the course of the day, somehow both paving and waste collection eventually were done - but it couldn't have been easy!

(Hmmm. Do city planners do this on purpose - just to make life more difficult?!!)

Ottawa Summer Temperatures... a Lot Like ... LA?!!

A few weeks ago, one of my sons was vacationing in Los Angeles, so I added LA weather to my weather ap.

I was surprised to see that their June temperatures were about the same as ours. In fact, some days, Ottawa was even hotter...

A month later, I'm still surprised to see that our daytime highs and our night time lows are still almost identical!

Their winters certainly aren't like ours... So when do our weather patterns move apart?!

Until I find out, I'll keep comparing Ottawa's daily weather to LA's!

Gardening Update

A few days ago I cleared the weeds from a corner of the yard...

It looked better... but had lots of bare spots.

A few days later, I transplanted a few plants from other overgrown beds...

Doesn't look too good yet - but hopefully next year, it'll look better.

Rushing to Finish...

I'm rushing to finish a quilt I started a few years back...

I wanted to get it done before my newest inspiration arrived in the mail...

... a new quilting book entitled Quilt as You Go Made Modern...

(It beat me!)

I'm always looking for quilting shortcuts...

But - as I peruse projects I want to try - I'm determined not to start another until my current one is done first!

Keep the Goal Low!

There are several areas in our yard that need attention.

One is this front corner that was overrun with weeds and grass. (Out of sight, out of mind!)

Every time I walked by, I wanted to get in there - but do I have the stamina to finish the job once I start?!






 


Finally, the other day, I got on my gardening gear and headed out. Where to begin?

I remembered a comment I read a while back in an article on forming habits: 

Make your goal very small so that you will never be discouraged, one expert advised, adding that his daily goal was to do one push-up in the morning. Just one. Sometimes he did more, but his goal never changed. It was so low that he invariably did at least one.
 
So your goal is to pull out one weed? my son commented when he saw me outside.

Actually it's one garbage can full, I answered.

(In the end I managed to fill three.)

But the work isn't done yet... It looks better - but I still haven't touched the back, near the fence.

And once the weeds are gone, I want to add some plants... like this purple one that needs to be divided.

Once I get started with a major makeover like that, it's hard to have a really small daily goal.

(Maybe my goal should just be to get out there with my gardening gloves on and see where that takes me!)