WELL, I neglected the timely posts from May through the summer and now it is October! Today has been rainy and the air is like a blanket of white, so laden with moisture. Can’t see across the sound.

After beginning this blogging endeavor we took a trip to Washington D.C. for a week and then Jood and I spent 4 days in NYC. So, upon my return transplanting tomatoes into their summer homes became job #1.  Summer is busy–planting, weeding, transplanting, traveling (we bought a new slide-in camper), jamming, and canning. And, before I knew it summer was coming to a close and the canning and preserving reached a fever pitch. More than 100 pounds of produce from our garden alone, were put up and dished up this season. I’ve never really kept track before, so it is a meaningful number. In addition to our own produce, I put up close to the same amount of purchased and gifted fruit as preserves, infused vinegars and vodka, brandied peaches, nectarines and 15 pints of our own pears with wine (from a Eugenia Bone recipe that I found in the Sunday NY Times magazine). There are still baskets worth of peppers both sweet yellow ones and ancho/poblanos and long Anaheim types to be picked and preserved somehow.

So, sisters dear and random readers, I will attempt a recap to entertain your winter dreaming and spring scheming with month by month highlights.

First a few more photos of May’s grace.

I try to plan for color combos-sometimes it accidental but this is a nice combination of clusiana tulips, astrantia, heuchera “Purple Palace” and daylily “Corky”

My oldest and largest hosta, “Frances Williams” looks so sculptural as the leaves unfurl.

This one is ‘On Stage’. When I first planted it the squirrels kept digging in the pot and I was sure they had killed it so I removed the tag and the following year it looked great. It is lovely at all stages through the season.

Ligularia, blue camassia ( a native), Spring Green tulip, Euphorbia griffithi “Fireglow”

Viburnum tomentosa “Summer Snowflake” only 4 1/2 ft tall. This blooms sporadically through the summer.

JUNE. The roses were really beautiful in mid-June, the first real flush of bloom. Tom, who cares for all the roses around our yard commented that “Roses don’t just blink and take the rest of the year off” as so many blooming beauties do. Poppies, iris, lilies, and all the spring bulbs show their stuff and fade away until next year, but roses continue to delight long into the fall.

Dainty Bess is a pretty single and blooms all summer.

Iceberg, a floribunda has masses of blooms all summer long with regular deadheading. Very light fragrance.

Perhaps my favorite for color variety is Playboy since it changes color dramatically as it ages.

Of course, everything looks beautiful after a little June rain and the rain that wetted these roses was about it for the remainder of the summer. We had a record number of days without rain this past summer, only .24″ for June-July and not much more in August.