How's It Growing: June 5, 2025

After that week of cold weather mid-May I thought we were home free from the threat of chilly temps. The Teacup Dogwood was in full bloom and all the annual seedlings had been planted out and were doing just fine. So I gave the word and the great dahlia plant out began.

About two-thirds of the dahlias were transplanted, filling one and about a quarter of the two dahlia beds. This year we planted them closer together and put up some support netting right from the start. Last year we sort of waited to add plant supports until some of the plants were already falling over and since they were already too big to put to a support directly over the plant, we had to use tomato cages squeezed in around the plants. It wasn’t the most elegant of solutions but we still had a bang up continuous harvest of gorgeous dahlia blooms. This year we have way more plants and that haphazard support system likely wouldn’t work.

The Blackberry potatoes that were just barely starting to pop above the soil are now rising far above the top of the grow bags. They are looking quite healthy and fabulous.

The raspberry bed is also growing fast. This full raspberry bed was started with just a couple of cuttings given to us by one of our favorite servers who had worked many years for us before moving on to bigger and better things, but the raspberries are a lasting memory.

So there we were reveling in the warm Spring weather and looking forward to spending more time puttering around the garden, when the forecast for the end of May and beginning of June (June! What the heck?!) showed temps in the low 40s at night. Operation Save the Dahlias was immediately initiated.

Dahlia’s are notoriously tender and could easily give up the ghost if subjected to temps below 50. While I had the foresight to hold about 30 potted up dahlias in reserve for just such change in weather, I still didn’t want to lose the over 70 dahlias that were already planted out.

I quickly acquired some frost protection fabric and on a rainy and windy day, the team blanketed the dahlia beds and covered some of the more tender veg in the garden, such as the tomatoes and squash, with the winter rose covers.

I had to reset the blankets several times due to wind, but after the cold spell was over after several days, all the coverings and protection cones could be removed and it seemed like everything was looking peachy-keen.

Now we have gone straight in to summer with temps in the high 80s. The snap peas are growing fast. I added two more levels of supporting string to the pea fence and it seemed like overnight the vines were already reaching for the top level. The ceramic fairy house will soon be in complete shade and hidden, just the way the garden fairies like it!

The Victoria rhubarb plant has been loving the weather, hot or cold, and was getting to such a height and spread that it was totally putting several rows of carrots in complete shade. To take care of the situation, I harvested enough stems to make 8 cups of chopped stems in order to make some Rhubarb Lemonade concentrate (a delightful summer beverage). The huge leaves made a great mulch between the rows of Cranberry Bush Beans.

It is now garlic chive flower and herbaceous peony season in the garden. We use the garlic chives in our Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese and Chives breakfast special, but they are also wonderful cut flowers and a great in the gardens because critters don’t eat them. This photo is from the Carriage House border where the chives are paired with the fuzzy softness of Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) that will also bloom with tiny lavender colored flowers.

We have several new varieties of peony blooming for the first time this year, which is their second year in the garden. The following photos are of Joker (Holland Bulbs) and White Cap (Peony’s Envy). Or at least I think it is a White Cap because that was what I had written in my planting records, but honestly it looks more like a Candy Stripe. Either way, it is a beautiful flower. Every peony season I’m thinking, “I really should get more peonies - beautiful blooms and deer leave them alone.”

By the time I post the next installment of the garden update, I’m sure we will be enjoy fresh picked snap peas because the first blossoms have appeared. Crunchy goodness on the vine. Snap peas never make it inside and are eaten totally in the garden.