r M
JUNES
By September, my garden has rewarded
me with all the color, aroma, and taste I dreamed
about when planning it last January. Large
bouquets of lilies, roses, glads, dahlias, godetia,
and many other flowers have filled the house with
color and fragrance. The salad bowl has been
continuously filled with mixed lettuce greens,
fennel, parsley leaves, cherry tomatoes, and lemon
cucumbers.
Hanging in my garden shed are strings ol
garlic and shallots to save for winter soups and
stews. Some of the clusters, I saved for next
year's crop. Herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary,
and marjoram, I've prepared in small packages for
the freezer. Before the first frost, I'll also gather
parsley and chives. The leaves of these plants
also freeze well.
My two cherry tomato plants have
produced a huge crop of tomatoes. If there are
still green tomatoes on the plants when the
weather turns cold, I'll pick what's left to place in
a basket to slowly npen.
For best results, pick the remaining
tomatoes on a dry day, or dry them off before
storing them. Excess moisture can cause rot.
Line a basket with paper towels. A large,
flat-bottomed basket is best to use so that you can
spread them out. Check daily, give them a turn as
they ripen. In past years, I've had all my green
tomatoes ripen eventually, lasting until the middle
of December.
As I mentioned last month. I've gathered
hydrangeas to dry for winter bouquets. I also
dried godetia, lady's mantle, and larkspur. To
keep the colors more true, these all need to be
dried in a room that doesn't have too much light.
Sun rays will bleach the colors.
My fall catalog of lilies has arrived. B &
D Lilies, P.O. Box 2007, Port Townsend, WA
98368. These lilies are available to select until
December 31, 1996. Shipping starts after bulbs
are harvested and processed, beginning
mid-October. Lily bulbs are never completely
dormant, and need to be planted in the ground as
soon as you receive your order. All the lilies I ve
ever bought through this catalog have bloomed the
first year.
In my garden, 1 have successfully grown
many varieties of lilies in the clay soil of my
raised beds by adding an abundance of compost
and peat moss. Lily bulbs need good drainage.
They will rot if planted in areas that have standing
water during the winter. Lilies appear fragile, but
really are easy to grow and worth planting for
their'fragrance and elegance in both the garden
and bouquets.
This year, Cannon Beach should be called
the "flower town." I spent a day driving through
all the streets just to see gardens, decks lined with
planters, and all the different styles of window
boxes and varieties of flowers people ha\ e
planted. My "garden hat" goes off to all of you
that have caught the "fever" of gardening. You
have made this town even more beautiful with
your endeavors.
I received a letter from a recent \ isitor to
Cannon Beach, who lives in Port Townsend,
Washington, suggesting the City of Cannon Beach
should plant Shasta daisies and calla lilies, and
scatter nasturtium seeds along the roadsides, parks
and beach accesses. Port Townsend citizens,
some years ago, scattered bachelor's button and a
red poppy commonly called Corn Poppy, and
other wild flower seeds along their roadsides.
Now those seeds have multiplied and how
delightful in the spring and early summer to see
all the bright colored flowers.
She mentioned an overkill of using so
much Lavatera. It seemed to her that since Shasta
daisies calla lilies and nasturtiums grow almost
wild here, they would be more appropriate to use,
along with Montbretia, that grows so prolifically.
I’m a kind of paranoiac in reverse,
I suspect people of plotting to make me happy.
J.D. Salinger
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PACDTC
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