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The evolving window box

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I followed my own advice this weekend and spent a good amount of time in the garden, although all I accomplished was a lot of weeding and a little bit of planting. There is still tons to do. I hope the weather hangs in there awhile, even though the first day of fall really felt like the first day of fall to me. Beautiful and sunny with bright blue skies, but it got downright cold around 3:30 p.m. Mr. Much More Patient even turned the heat on before I threatened to chop his hand off if he touches the thermostat again before mid-October.
There wasn’t too much exciting to report from my garden chores,  but I will say that all those zinnia seeds I threw in the garden certainly seem to be happy. The garden looks a bit messy right now but it’s not lacking in color, that’s for sure.

The Impatient Gardener -- a sea of zinnias

I will write more on my first experience in growing cardoons some other time, but of the three I planted, this one is loving life the most. It is huge, at least 4 feet high and wide and it is in the least amount of sun of any of them, which is surprising to me. It’s still mostly sunny, but you can see when I snapped this picture in the afternoon it was already in shade.
The Impatient GArdener -- cardoon
Watering continues, especially in this area where the cedar tree came down and everything is newly planted this year. I’ve found that the single best thing you can do to ensure that new plants survive the winter is to make sure they are well watered before they go dormant.

Watering rainbow

The window box is rather ridiculous now, it is so overgrown but I sort of like it. This was certainly the most interesting window box planting I’ve done and perhaps the most successful, depending on how you define that term.

This photo was taken July 7, at least three or more weeks after it was planted. You can tell it was a cool start to summer because there really wasn’t much happening at this point.

This was taken August 21 and boy do I wish I had turned off the light in the kitchen before I took it. If the nasturtiums (which were planted WAY late) were a little bigger in this picture I think I would say that hands down this would be my favorite phase of this planting.

This is what it looked like this weekend. You can see that it has essentially turned into a study in foliage, as there is little left to see of the Supertunia Indigo Charm and the Superbena Peachy Keen. Interestingly though, I think this is the best I’ve had a window box look this late in the season. It’s not really what I had originally intended, but I don’t mind it, really. I’m really happy with the Blue Mohawk grass in the background and I think I will do that again in the future.

What do you think? Which is your favorite look or are none of these your cup of tea? Did you work in the garden this weekend?

6 Responses

  1. Your windowbox is lovely! Good job! I know with my containers I never really know how it's going to turn out when all is said and done. I put things together and hope for the best. The last picture with all the pretty foliage is very striking.

    I'm itching to get back outside and finish up some chores, but it has rained almost all week! That's okay, because that means one of my chores is getting done for me, but it also means the rest will have to wait….or I'll just have to dress for the weather and plan to get wet and muddy. I wouldn't be so reluctant if it were just me, but I know if I go out in it, all 3 kiddos are bound to follow. 🙂

  2. Your window box looks amazing all overgrown and wild – it's my favourite too. I didn't work in the garden this weekend as we were getting ready to have a new kitchen floor installed – so it was refreshing the trim and moving the furniture and stove, etc. out. But I did get out there yesterday to start tidying up before the first frost (which will be soon unfortunately). Had the heat on Monday morning just to take the chill out of the air – but I'm with you – mid-October is usually when our's goes on too!

  3. I adore the bottom picture. I have a question for you. I have noticed (and have great respect for), that you are a master gardener. I have this dream as well. I have looked into the programs here in Massachusetts. They are far away, and during the day. How can I do this. I was annoyed by the response I got back about the fact that a master gardener should be readily available to volunteer, not working full time. Well, as a teacher with summers off, i would love to volunteer my time. I find it odd that they make it so difficult here. Any suggestions?

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