The tall ones, and a sweet beginning. . .

The tall ones in a favorite vase

As I was walking around the yard, I realized that The Tall Ones have arrived. The peach colored slightly frilly day- lily is a real show off. . .she's blooming so much that I feel like I have to cut some to bring in. Hardly fair competition for the rest of them. Hydrangeas are just getting a start, but the Coral Bells are also having great fun. And my volunteer grape needs a little resistance to her climbing under the siding of the house.

Also of note, I harvested a few blueberries yesterday. . .plump and fully blue, so delicious, and a bunch of raspberries. These pictured are from last Tuesday, but Thursday's crop was considerably bigger. Raspberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until we get sick of them, and then I'll start on the jam. Smile. Raspberries for the winter.

Small beginnings

These are summer raspberries. . .a cultivar called 'Killarney'. We never grew it elsewhere, because it's big claim to fame is it's cold hardiness. But moving to Maine, it seemed a good idea. I was unimpressed with its size, flavor, color and thorniness for the first couple of years, but I'm pretty impressed with size and flavor this year. It's not as red at full ripeness as my fall fruiter (JoanJ), not as large either. But it's a decent eating berry. Last year I was sprinkling it with a little sugar to eat straight, but this year I'm not. It's pretty delicious as is. I did see my first Japanese Beetle on a leaf yesterday. I'll have to monitor that closely. I hate to spray unnecessarily, but those critters can ruin the whole business. Japanese beetles so love all of the family Rosaceae. That includes not only raspberries, but my apples, plums and peach. Can't have that.

Other horticultural items, the basil is ready for the first big cutting (pesto!), all of the herbs are doing exceptionally well, even the little cilantro that I transplanted from a grocery store pot, and the bean and pumpkin vines have decided to overtake the entire yard. Food is so great!