Today I’m joining with gardeners worldwide to post six things from our gardens. This weekly recap was begun by Jon, The Propagator, in the U.K., and links to other posts can be found here.
Fires have ravaged much of the west coast of the U.S. Our dry weather hasn’t helped. Heroic firefighters are working tirelessly to combat the destruction. Up here along the coast of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, we’ve experienced smoke from huge fires to our south and east, but nothing like the unhealthy smoke and thick orange skies experienced elsewhere. Here’s the current visibility from our mountain with a layer of smoke just arriving (taken on Friday).
ONE – Onto happier sights, these couple of raised beds in the veggie garden are fully re-planted for the fall season with varieties of broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage. Nearby, young beans begin to climb the former pea trellis. Late summer/early fall is an amazing season for growing veggies here.
TWO – I just harvested a whole load of beautiful beets — chioggia and golden varieties. I’ll roast some and pickle others.
THREE – Still in the veggie garden, these photos show why I appreciate Scarlet Runner beans so much. Half of this bean trellis was planted with Scarlet Runner and the other half with Kentucky Wonder. All receive the exact same amount of moisture and all have produced plenty of beans, but the Scarlet Runner just keep going — and may take over the Kentucky Wonder side before long!
FOUR – Heading up towards the house, Lupine Hill has remained in bloom for more than three months, longer than ever before. Re-doing all of Lupine Hill to remove weeds and replanting everything into great compost undoubtably helped. I’m amazed that these lupines have responded so well to regular deadheading and weekly watering. Now that lupine, liatris, and veronica are finishing, it’s time for scabiosa, some pretty white lavender, and eupatorium to shine.
FIVE – A quick stop in the perennial beds where asters are the current queens. Well, maybe they share the crown with anemones, but I’ll save those for another day.
SIX – And back up at the house, I’ve brought with me a basketful of gorgeous David Austin Golden Celebration roses, which haven’t quit blooming since June, as well as some fading-to-perfection hydrangeas that I have ideal spots for. We’ll be staying indoors for much of the weekend due to unhealthy air, so these brighten up the place.
Gardens at Coppertop 
Those beets look good. I’m a big fan of Scabiosa and that rose is beautiful. Stay safe.
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Thank you! Staying inside and pickling veg today.
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Despite the drought, your garden is very pretty. You did well with many vegetables, these beets look tasty.
Pretty flowers and special mention to the asters carpet !
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It may be the best vegetable year yet here, or maybe I just paid the garden more attention. Thank you, Fred.
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The reports of fires in your area are very distressing and I’m glad to see you are safe and well – and your garden also. The vegetable garden is looking splendid and you have had great results.
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I appreciate those words, Paddy.
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I remember that you started a special rose garden a year or so ago and I guess your David Austin rose comes from there. It’s beautiful rose. Your garden is looking lush despite adverse weather.
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Thank you, Jane. Yes, the rose garden has brought us much beauty its second season. I’ve neglected to do a complete post about it, but have shared photos of some of the bounty of blooms.
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What beautiful light for the photographs, which in themselves are worth mulling over. Those are great hydrangeas too.
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Thank you, Noelle. I love when some hydrangea blooms go a bit green and thought they’d be perfect in the huge, old cloisonné vase.
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The vegetables are looking fantastic. You must be so pleased. I love the vase of yellow roses, but the hydrangeas in the cloisonne vase are even more stunning.
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I am a big fan of the hydrangeas as well!
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I thought that rose was a peony. 🤔 It’s beautiful anyway. Your vegetables are so healthy. The garden is looking good – very sad about the fires, do be careful yourselves.
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Yes, we are staying indoors. The air is thick with smoke now.
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The veg beds are so organised, and the beets are going to taste delicious! I doubt if you’ll be growing Kentucky Wonder again – what a difference in the two plants. You’ve succeeded well with successional planting on Lupine Hill, something I’ve yet to achieve – but I’m working on it! Asters are perfect plants for autumn, they brighten up the borders and add great splashes of colour.
I hope you continue to remain safe from the fires, it’s frightening for us to watch, even from such a long distance, it must be terrifying for those caught up in them. Stay safe.
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Thank you, Catherine. Scarlet Runner for the win!
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Your sky does not look so bad. You have already seen ours. Ick.
Kentucky Wonder beans survived the evacuation without irrigation, but will not be productive again. This is the first time I grew them in many years. I will try them again maybe next year, along with Blue Lake. It is not their fault that they were such a dud. The garden was abandoned three times! Beets should get sown soon to grow through winter, but wow, I am concerned about more distractions from the garden.
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Yes, I saw your orange skies in photos from family there. Ours got progressively worse yesterday and are still thick with smoke today. Air quality of over 250 — “Very unhealthy” category. Let’s all hope for a clearing this week, Tony. Kentucky Wonder survive, but Scarlet Runner THRIVE here. We’ll agree to disagree. 😉
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Disagree? I did not try Scarlet Runner. I had always been satisfied with Blue Lake, but tried Kentucky Wonder for more productivity. Although they did not work out, I want to see how they do if properly maintained here.
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OK, I thought you had commented a while back on Scarlet Runner not being great, but I guess I had the wrong individual. My apologies!
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Oh, a while back, I commented that I had not grown it because I thought of it as more of an ornamental. Someone mentioned that there is a white version, as well as pink. If I ever get around to growing it, I will go with the classic scarlet, just to see what all the fuss is about.
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Hope you remain safe from those fires! Our fire season is at the beginning of the year, and we are not looking forward to that! Your vegetable looks amazing, and you do have some wonderful produce there. Happy preserving all the goodies! Beautiful roses and hydrangeas!
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Thank you! Doing more preserving today indoors.
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What a difference in the beans. Beautiful Asters and the Rose is gorgeous
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I don’t think I need to try any other pole beans since scarlet runner do so well for me. The ‘Golden Celebration’ roses are wonderfully floriferous. Just brought in another dozen blooms today!
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Your peas and beans gook great. I haven’t grown them before but I’ve got seeds fot next spring. I’m noticing your trellis and I guess I need to think about something similar.
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Yes, pole beans need support and something to wind through. Bush beans do okay with just something to lean on…
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Such a beautiful rose! Hope you remain safe. Those fires look truly awful. I might complain about the weather we have here, but we have nothing like what you guys experience.
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Thank you, Jude. It’s been a smoky week, but the air here is improving and we’ve had showers, too. The fires are many hundreds of miles away from us, but the smoke traveled and stayed. I feel for all those near the flames…
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What an amazing lupine blooming record! Everything looks great. Thank your for sharing.
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