Friday was the first day in a long time that the weather has been comfortable – not too hot and not too humid. And it looks like the trend will continue for the weekend.

I am looking forward to that. The vegetable garden needs weeding, and there still are raspberries to pick.

I had noticed that fewer Japanese beetles are present this year. I read a posting at awaytogarden.com that the dry season has something do do with it, but also that there is a new natural pathogen being worked on. I have reported befoe that parasites have been introduced and that if there are white bumps on the beetle's back, the beetle is infected and will die soon.

The garden is looking gorgeous, and I will show you three quick photos.

The first is the Monarda, or bee balm, which has been wonderful for about five weeks, and it looks like it is sill going strong. This is a great plant that spreads well.

The second is some of our daylilies, which are looking great this year. They started early and just kept going – although some of the Stella d'oro type repeat bloomers are in a non-flowering period right now. But these regular types are doing well.

And the third shows some hostas and daylilies together.

Anyway, have a great weekend. My column Sunday  is about a new garden being installed at a brick John Calvin Steven apartment building on Woodford Street in Portland.

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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