Happy Fourth big garden post!
July 03, 2025
If you live in the USA I wish you a Happy Fourth of July. I hope you enjoy this special day and get to celebrate our independence and freedom with fireworks and fun. We are going to Shoreline Amphitheater to hear the San Francisco Symphony and watch fireworks. I'm so excited!
It's been sunny and mild here, ideal growing conditions, and the flowers and veggies have been loving it. We are bursting with tomatoes and green beans but unfortunately watching the bunnies enjoy the cucumbers and squash. We are in the middle of an epic battle and I'm determined to be the winner in this. If you have any bunny advice, please share. The zinnia border is a bit different and more colorful than I've had in years. It's nice because it's bright and the colors really pop making it easy to see from the house and patio. I invite you to come on into the blog too see beautiful pictures of what we have growing this year in our flower and vegetable gardens.
The zinnia border.
I picked this big Gold Medal this morning.
The first BLTs of the season! We had a little mini BLT party with just the two of us. Bliss. Here's hoping for many more to come!
Above and below, Costoluto Genovese tomato, a big Italian beefsteak heirloom famous for its deep ribbing. When ripe they will be deep red, and when sliced will have an almost ruffled edge making it so pretty on a tomato platter.
I sprinkled a packet of assorted flowers on an empty patch in our side yard.
Cosmos
Gladioli and Shasta Daisies
A bee is busy with a tiny borage flower.
The new fence is only one or two years old and the ivy has already grown up and over. Yay! This is the shady back side of the zinnia border. A 12' tall dense ivy fence plus two wisteria growing up and over the trellis creates a lot of shade. We tuck in jasmine and hydrangeas and a few other shade tolerant plants but mainly this is a walkway that doesn't get a lot of attention. When the kids were little, this was a scary place and most likely where the big bag wolf lived. Below is a picture of my grandson when he was two or three when all of a sudden he let go of my hand and took off and ran through like a jackrabbit. At the end and when he got into the sun again, he turned around to look at me and encouraged me to come telling me to be brave and that he would watch me. All day we talked about what a brave boy he was. Such a sweet memory.
We're battling rabbits right now. As soon as a tiny squash appears, they eat it. Frustrating.
I'll be back soon. I've got a few more summer post ideas planned in my head but it's trying to find the time to take the pictures and write a post that stalls me. When I finally settle down to do it, I'm reminded that it's one of my favorite things to do! I love being here and I thank you so much for joining me. Until next time, I hope you are enjoying your summer and finding plenty of time to relax outdoors and enjoy the sounds of summer. In my backyard it's hearing the birds singing, the bees buzzing, and the whoosh of wings as the dragonflies race by. In the evening we hear the hooting of one lone owl. Wouldn't he like a bunny for dinner? xoxo Kristen
I hope you enjoyed my post and found it helpful and will want to come back! I post about once a week and would be honored if you became a subscriber to the Knitionary blog. If yes, please click here. I won't sell your email so no need to worry about that sort of thing. I honestly wouldn't know how to do that anyway. My posts are usually about knitting but also about my other loves--gardening, crafts and entertaining. Sometimes I use affiliate links in my posts to help offset the costs of running a blog. If you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may earn a little money. If you purchase the item using my affiliate link or not, the price will be the same. Purchasing from my affiliate links adds no cost to you but could put a little money in my pocket. Thank you for supporting the blog. If you'd like to make a comment, please scroll down. I reply to each comment and that response will appear directly below your comment. If you would like a personal reply, please know that I use the Blogger platform and they do not give me your contact information when you comment. If you would like a personal reply, you can contact me using the contact form on the right side at the very end of my website.
12 Comments
Your garden is STUNNING!!!!! I live on a very shady lot in Minnesota so I am envious of all your veggies and flowers!!! Thank you for sharing!!!! My garden consists of lots of shade loving plants!!!! Hostas, iris, coral bells...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for you kind comment. A shady lot sounds like a bit of heaven to me. Lots of cool shade to sit under, bird song from the trees, not to mention how pretty it must look. Coral bells! I love them! I completely forgot about them for the shady part of the yard. I did not have too much luck with hostas if I remember. Maybe I'll try again.
DeleteBeautiful BIG garden,,
ReplyDeleteLove the mix of flowers!
Your tomatoes make me so hungry for BLT.
M.Sullivan
Thank you Margie. I promised my husband we would have BLTs once a week throughout the summer. As many as we can!
DeleteA GORGEOUS post, Kristen! We’re at the beach for a final July 4th celebration with a few family members. Lots of memories of much bigger gatherings in earlier years. Bittersweet. Xxxx
ReplyDeleteAhh Casey. I thought about you so much yesterday. This weekend must be bittersweet for you and the kids. How lucky everyone was to have this gorgeous property in the family for so many years. You were always ready to share it with your friends too. I hold on to so many good memories--the campfires, the fireworks, the s'mores, the long walks, and all the laughs and just how comfortable and easy everything was. That is, for your guests at least it looked like that. Now it's time for another family to enjoy this one of a kind home, but I doubt they will have the hostessing skills of my friends! Do I remember a whole goat buried and cooked over coals or am I crazy? xoxo
DeleteHi Kristen,
ReplyDeleteWe had rabbits in our yard and they chewed down 75 pansy plants and ate my lettuce and other things in my vegie garden. It looked like someone took a pair of scissors and chopped them all down.
They don’t climb like raccoons, rat and possum. They dig, and any low spots around your fences they will either slip under or dig under. I found when we put wire down near all the low spots and also attached it to the bottom of our gate it stopped them from coming into the yard. Good luck with bunny proofing your yard.
I cringe at the very thought of even one pansy, but 75. Horrors! Well, they are cuties, but that's the only thing they have going for them. We have gone through our entire property and rabbit proofed somewhat, but I think putting wire down below ground is our next step. I actually think they may be living in our ivy, hiding during the day and coming out when we are inside. The culprits are conttontails, so probably someones escaped pet a few years ago and now we have dozens. All the neighbors are in the same boat. Ugh.
DeleteWe’ve found marigolds around the edges of our garden have helped keep the bunnies away.
ReplyDeleteI love love love that idea! I looked it up and other gardeners like it too. I know bunnies are particular about smells and marigolds do have a pungent smell (that I actually like). Pretty and practical. Definitely doing that next year!
DeleteThese photos leave me breathless!
ReplyDeleteThank you dear friend! It's def at it's peak now. Roses are skimpy, but we hardly notice that with everything else.
DeleteYou make my day when you make a comment!