It seens like forever since I have posted. I'll just say it has been a busy summer. For the garden part of it, you can look at Sunday's column It really has been a strange year.

Since I wrote that column, more than a week ago now, the raspberry production has gone wild, the blueberries are producing well in Nancy's mother's yard and we have just about finished the second planting of peas. But the summer squash is doing very well and cucumbers are only a little bit away.

But what I couldn't do in Sunday's column is give you a look the flowers. The flowers in our garden are tremendous. And while part of that is the weather, another big part of it is Nancy's magic touch.

The first two photos feature hydrangea. The first one has a paniculata grandiflora, or PeeGee, hydrangea behind some lilies, which we got either from Maplecrest Lilies in Maine or the catalog company Brent and Beckies Bulbs. If you are willing to use the systemic Bayer's Advanced All-in One Roses and Flower care, and make sure you hit every lily, you can still grow lilies. And they have looked gorgeous this year. And when Nancy cuts them and brings them inside, the house is filled with perfume.

Anyway, this PeeGee is fairly new and understated, but it will get bigger over the years.

The second photo is Annabelle, an arborescens, which is big and blousy. I like it but a lot of people don't. There is a new pink arborescenes, called Invincibelle Spirit. I haven't actually seen it in bloom, but it is supposed to be fantastic.

The third photo I just like – showing echinacea and rudbeckia in a line along the fence to our garden. This part of our property was at one time a paper street so it is treated as a right of way and it is a shortcut from a Cape Elizabeth subdivision to the town school complex. During school we have a crossing guard at the end of our driveway. But the people walking by now at least get a good view.

It took some other photos, as well. I hope the work schedule lets me post again later this week.

About the Author

Tom Atwell has written the Maine Gardener column in the Maine Sunday Telegram since the spring of 2004. He has worked at the Press Herald/Sunday Telegram since 1974, about the same time he started gardening with any seriousness.

He gardens with his wife, Nancy. She not only is the better gardener of the pair, but also knows the botanical names of plants. They have two grown children and four grandchildren.

Tom was born in Skowhegan, grew up in Farmington and graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in journalism. His goal each year is to have continuous compost from his three compost bins, continuous bloom in his low-maintenance garden and more fruits and vegetables on his family table than the garden pests eat in the field.

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