Hot, hot, hot – it was hot this weekend. There were no outside activities except for watering and picking raspberries. There was a lot of keeping the shades drawn and finding inside projects to keep busy.
Thursday night I did go on a weed walk Β at Wagon Hill Farm in Durham.
Wagon Hill includes a community garden which has 90 plots and a waiting list. Beautiful setting, amazing gardens, great views, and lots of conversation about weeds.
Since they are so prevalent after a wet spring, I guess it was only fitting. My favorite weed – Queen Anne’s Lace.
Weeds, bugs – they both hinder good gardening practices, which leads me to the fact that the Japanese Beetles have arrived.
I’ve seen more but, however many there are, they inflict damage. This summer they seem to be focused on my blackberry bushes. If you don’t have them in your area, consider yourself lucky.
Heat, weeds, bugs, animals – none of them seem to impact the tried and true perennials and my annuals in containers. They are just strutting their stuff.
But, last Friday was a banner day because I trapped the ground hog! Yes!
On Thursday, I walked the fence line, found an area where the soil was disturbed, put a nice big slice of cantaloupe in the Havahart trap, and on Friday morning there he was looking up at me.
I loaded him up in the back of my pickup and drove him down the road to a wooded area several miles from home and let him loose. Have a good life, but please don’t come back to visit.
After that, we cleaned up and headed to McKenzie’s farm to buy strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, greens, fresh baked ciabatta, and apple cider donuts. I figured if we were going to spend the weekend inside, we should at least eat well.
Happy Monday, and I hope you have a great week. π
Lovely flowers! And wow, well done on the groundhog matter! Our enormous woodchuck moved across the street, but she left our yards to her child.. do you do house calls? π
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If you were a little closer, yes, I’d gladly come help. π
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Lol! Thank you! I am hoping the presence of daughter’s dog will change things, but if not, we already fenced in the raised bed and the tomatoes area, lol!
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Wow! Your flowers are looking absolutely gorgeous…they are just singing summer from the roof -tops. It inspires me to start planting soon for spring/summer. And you trapped your groundhog! You’ve achieved a lot despite the hot weather.
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I have to admit I had a minor adrenaline rush when I saw that guy ‘inside’ looking out. π
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Good job trapping the groundhog, Judy. I hope he likes his new home. Your flowers are beautiful. I hope you have a nice week, now that the heatwave appears to be over.
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I let him go in a wooded area so hopefully he finds plenty of grub and doesn’t bother anyone else. You enjoy the cooler weather too. π
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Goodbye groundhog!! Woohoo! But he does look like he’s giving you the evil eye! And the Japanese Beetles are here too. π‘π‘
When I was a kid, a bunch of us used to play “grocery store”. We’d pull weeds out and use them for our vegetables. Queen Anne’s Lace was cauliflower! Lol.
Your gardens are incredibly beautiful Judy….a testament to how great a gardener you are and how much time and effort you devote to maintaining them. Love the butterflies. Haven’t even seen one here yet. πͺ
Temperature in 70’s today. Too good to be true. But I’ll take it! Hope this is the start of a terrific week for you.
πΎGinger πΎ
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Just call me Trapper Judy. π I love the idea of Queen Anne’s Lace being cauliflower. That’s a hoot. We’re getting up to the mid 80’s, but that still 20 degrees less than this weekend so it will be a good start.
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What a gorgeous bouquet in your post! The Queen Anne’s lace sets off the collage just like the doilies used to do in our May bouquets. The blooms are so uplifting! As is all your good news — that is wonderful about the groundhog, and, yes, may he live long and prosper — somewhere else. Yep, beetles here too. Apparently it’s never too hot for them. A happy Monday and great week to you, too, Judy!
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I know Queen Anne’s Lace is considered a weed, but I’d have a whole bed of it if I could get it to take. I’ve tried transplanting and seeds with zero luck yet it will show up in sidewalk cracks. Very humbling. π
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Beautiful, beautiful! And hooray for trapping the goundhog. The weather was beastly hot in Maine, too, but today—Monday—it is perfect. In the 70s and low humidity. May this continue right through August.
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From your lips to Mother Nature’s ears. Enjoy the more reasonable weather because I sure am. π
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What relief! A lovely light rain today. Just perfect for the gardens.
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Yay! Yay! Yay! The ground hog is on his way to new green pastures!
I too am battling the Japanese beetles! And weeds! Today is the first cool day so Iβm heading out to the gardens to ATTACK the weeds and some overgrowth. My main garden looks like a jungle.
Your flowers are so pretty!
The cool weather is coming!
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I could have done a happy dance when that little guy took off in a new direction. π Happy weeding and good luck with moving a few of those Japanes Beetles out. π
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Love all of the color in your garden this week, Judy! The butterflies love it, too! The Japanese Beetles have arrived here, as well. After a few days of extreme heat here in the Midwest, we woke up to an energizing 65Β° this morning! So, Iβm heading out to cut the grass and take a long βweed walkβ through my perennial beds. Great job on moving your groundhog to a new Home Sweet Home, Judy!! ππ»ππ»
Sending cool breezes your way, my friend! π
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Hooray for the break to give you time to enjoy your garden. π
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Congratulations, Trapper Judy! Very well done! π
Your flowers are stunning – glad the bugs don’t have a taste for them. Btw, even though I freely use the term “bugs,” I do so while cringing a bit inside. Our high school biology teacher, Sister Clarine, firmly admonished us (frequently!) that the correct term is “insect,” and to use the slang was to appear boorish and uneducated! You know my age and, therefore, how many years I’ve dealt with that guilt each time the toxic word slips my lips or appears in print from beneath my fingertips! (many!)
In the 70s and 80s it was popular to dry Queen Ann’s Lace and use the heads as Christmas ornaments. They looked like snowflakes on a tree. I never got around to trying the craft and have no recall how it was done, but I’m sure the instructions are out there.
Awful heat here, too. What just occurred to me is that we’ve had no span of time in spring and early summer where the windows were opened to a pleasant breeze. We went from cold rain to oppressive heat and storms…..furnace to AC. Not happy!
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You made my day with the insect vs bug memory. Too funny. When I’m writing something, I’m sitting here looking at words like they are a sentence to be diagrammed and worrying about how each adjective, adverb, noun, verb and preposition fit together. Years of diagramming sentences for various nuns and being scared to death of being called on because I’d made an error. And, don’t even bring up cursive because I still watch as I write to make sure it looks good. Those nuns had no idea how they influenced us. π
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LOL – omg “diagramming!” What kind of monster invented that? I don’t think my nuns were fans either because it was only lightly touched on. (whew!) I have heard horror stories from others, though – and I guess that may include you π¦ Oh well, the upside is that your grammar and sentence structure is always flawless and your opening sentences are engaging – with concluding ones that nicely wrap up your topic. These days, most kids don’t learn that stuff til college!
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π
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GREAT POST AND PHOTOS! It was very hot here this past week but we finally had rain yesterday and during the night. It cooled things off a bit. I have several Japanese Beetle traps that are working well. There were some issues with the traps at first because they were an old style. I contacted the company and they sent two of the new design. Then the hanger broke because of the weight and wind. They sent two more. You have to be careful where you put the traps because when they are lured to the traps, they can find other plants they find they also like. I am happy you caught the ground hog. π Thanks for sharing!
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I have read about the traps and that it is better to hang them away from the plants you are concerned about. I need to try one. I’ve never used one of those traps, but it worked pretty well for both of us. π
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It was pretty oppressive this weekend, wasn’t it? I can’t imagine what the beach traffic looked like. Whew!
Beautiful collage of your flowering beauties, Judy. And congrats on getting your whistle pig – may that be the last one, ne’er to return!
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It was HOT this past weekend, and I’m so glad the trap worked. π
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You’ve definitely gone from winter to summer! Great job catching your unwanted visitor. I hope he stays well away now.
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Congrats on the groundhog capture, Judy. Your flowers really are strutting their stuff and I was thinking they were the best part of the post (except for the mention of raspberries)…until I came to the farmer’s market purchases. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!
Wishing some cool days for you soon!
janet
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I’m a sucker for fresh summer fruit. I see it, I buy it, I eat it. π
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I’m with you there, Judy!
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I have never seen a Japanese beetle, and from what I see others posting about them, I really do consider my self to be fortunate.
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That’s right – safer to read about them. π
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I like your send-off message to the groundhog. It rings true to me. I’m impressed that you caught one, truth be known. Good job.
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I hope he enjoys his new woodsy area and stays right there. π
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So if you catch a groundhog in July, does that mean summer is extended by an additional six weeks? π Your flowers are so beautiful. – Marty
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Thank you so very much for that wonderful laugh. I’ll be chuckling about this for a while. π
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Glad to be of service! π
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Isn’t it amazing how quickly the temps cooled off? It’s almost chilly here this morning! My days have been much like yours–sweating, weeding, murdering Japanese beetles with gusto. But no groundhogs! I do wonder what’s been eating my raspberries–I’m betting it’s a tag team effort between raccoons and birds . . .
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Here, the birds haven’t bothered mine too much. The chipmunks use to grab the low hanging fruit. But, since the heat wave I’m losing some to white drupelet disorder which turns parts of them milky white from the UV rays. This gardening is hard work. π
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The Summer flowers look wonderful. Good job capturing the Groundhog! I hope it doesn’t come back.
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WE’RE HAVING A COLD FRONT! I’ve slept with the windows open two nights in a row! Whooshing interstate and bug calls for the win!
I do not have flowers to rival the beauty of yours. Lovely, gorgeous blooms, Judy! π
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The temperatures are pretty good here, but the humidity when I headed out to weed this morning was 94%. It’s like a swamp here. π
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Gross! I was out this morning, off and on from 6:30 to noon and it wasn’t too humid. At first it was only in the 70s π I did not weed, having overdone it on Monday.
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Your daylilies look fantastic. After capturing the wily ground hog you deserved a treat.
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I have been enjoying every single bloom since that guy was relocated. π
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Beautiful flowers, Judy. We have Japanese beetles awful here as well—Arghhh. Enjoy your blog. Thank you for stopping by mine and your great comments. π
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I’m a farmer at heart. π
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Yes! Youβre a garden farmer.π
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My grandparents had a small dairy farm, and I spent every summer with them. I also live on a very small farm even now. I love the life associated with a farm. π
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How wonderful. Our one grandson loves our farm too! π
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Hot hot hot everywhere last week Judy! Thank goodness the weather has broken. I absolutely love your collage and your flowers are glorious. Hope your little visitor stays away – cantaloupe??? Who knew?!
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I never shopped for fresh fruit for a critter I wanted to get rid of before, and I hope never again. π
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hehehe! Trapper Judy π Congratulations on your successful relocation exercise. I hope your uninvited guest doesn’t manage to find her way back!!
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Me too. π
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Congrats on the capture of the groundhog! I am about afraid to say this, but we have not been seeing many Japanese beetles in recent years. I know that can always change.
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There’s nothing wrong with having a little gardening luck. π
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