Loving the weather!

I love this weather we are having. I can't remember a summer like this, with so much overcast weather.

It suits me perfectly - pleasantly warm, but not too hot. I am in paradise!!

How about the rest of you?

Well, this is definately not a great tomato year, at least in my area (east of Seattle).
I like it when the high is about 85°.
However, this has been fantastic weather for creating & planting new borders.
Reasonably warm = less stressful on the baby plants. Easier to work in, too.

Hi Katye,

Reasonably warm = less stressful on heat intolerant humans like myself :)

My tomatoes are thriving, and if that were not so, I would not be so happy.
If tomatoes ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

Here's a picture of me with my tomato plants, taken a little over 2 weeks ago.

essentialplanet....Wow your tomatoes look fabulous. I wish mine looked like that. Our summer here has been to cool for tomatoes and peppers. I have put my jalapenos in the greenhouse hoping they will produce. I also potted a tomato in hopes of some nice red ones.
I am hoping for some hotter weather soon, these 54 degree nights are just to cool for the veggies.
Happy gardening, Carla

EP - nice maters!
As Carla said, it's been too cool here for tomatoes/peppers and the like.

One thing to keep in mind is that both of us live in an area that has a more pronounced marine influence. Because of this, the heat units do not build up here as they do in so many other areas. Composting can take longer here as well, for this very reason.
You may live in a more sheltered situation, which would tend to heat up.

I don't like it too hot, unless I'm holding a hose. It is difficult to work hard when it's hot, and the prep work I have been doing for landscaping falls into that hard work category. So I definately empathize with "heat intolerance".

Most likely, we will have another week or two of very warm, but this summer has not panned out temperature-wise for many of our plants.
However, I'll take this over temps in the teens anyday...

It's not always the marine temps. I've lived in Woodinville, in the foothills east and north of Seattle, for about 4 years now, but before that, lived in Ballard, just north of downtown Seattle. Woodinville has lots of trees and, though I live in a clearing, I don't get the hot, late day sun as it goes down in the west. Being that I don't like the heat and being directly in the sun, I like this, but it doesn't bode well for ripening tomoatoes.

In Ballard, I was several miles closer to the water than my brother and sister-in-law and my tomatoes ripened a couple of weeks earlier than theirs did. I attributed this to the fact that I had absolutely no shade - the tomatoes got every bit of sun available all day long.

Kathy

I have a gazillion tomatoes, but they are not ripening yet. This year DH built a container for them and we put them in the driveway where they would (hopefully) benefit from the warmth of the concrete. There's still time, but I'm getting anxious.

Kathy, I grew up in Ballard (NW 64th & 28th Ave. NW) and raised my kids in Greenwood (3rd NW & NW 78th).

Contrary to something I heard on the radio recently, this has not been a normal summer - I don't think we've had more than a few days at a time where the sun shone continuously and it was quite warm. I also do not like high temps (right around 70 is perfect for me), but it just hasn't felt like summer to me.

I was at 70th and 80th in Crown Hill. It was very nice; I love living in the city, but I really need to have trees around me. Not much success with tomatoes here, though.

Interesting news about the summer temps. I'm smack dab in the midde of "my own personal summer", so I prefer it to be at around 65 - t-shirt weather. Nice for winter . . . not so nice for summer. LOL

I used to live in both Ballard and Crown Hill too LOL. NW 73rd St, then NW 92nd and Dibble. How popular that area is/was.

I would like to put in a request for more of a summer. These cool temps and rains are death to dahlias. It seems more like early June here than late August. I had the furnace on the other night to take off the chill and dank. I say, bring on the low 80's with some sun, please.

Sounds like that's what we'll get tomorrow, if only for a couple of days. I like the 70's, but need the sun to remind me that it's not fall yet. I love fall, but in its own time.

Poochella, I'd love to see you dahlia garden - any chance that you'll post a picture? My neighbors have a great dahlia garden and it's such a pleasure to drive by. Someday I, too, hope to have nice dahlias. I just need to figure out where on the property to put the bed. Do the deer eat them?

Kathy
Woodinville, WA

YES THEY DO!
One year, they pruned every single one of my dahlias to the same height. Maddening!
The next year, I had a fenced garden.
They are very brazen - so much so that they thought nothing of munching whatever they could while giving the "yeah, so what?" look.
Love them - on the other side of the fence!

Oh dear, on the deer Katye. I was going to answer 'no,' I've never lost so much as a dahlia leaf to deer who pass through regularly. They have swiped blueberries just adjacent to the dahlias and feasted on nearby phlox or hosta, but never so much as a bud on my dahlias. Perhaps they know better than to incur my wrath! I used spray on the other beds when I remember, but not on the dahlias.

I'll try to post a current photo or two later Katie. The one below is from 05 or 06 from the garage roof LOL. Today is cutting day so a good day to snap before I snip what is blooming. It is a slow year with our cooler temps.

Our neighbors have a fine veggie garden fenced and electrified to look something like a maximum security prison. A doe and her two fawns have been seen regularly visiting them, walking right up onto their patio and munching potted plants! Audacious.

Gorgeous, Poochella!!

So, there's lots of us former Ballardites, eh? I'll bet I'm the only Ballard High School grad, though!

Poochella, your dahlias are fabulous. So healthy looking and so many good ones for cutting. Thanks for the inspiration. I checked with my neighbor and the deer don't mess with her dahlias, either. Katye, maybe the Sammamish deer have different tastes? LOL My deer are brazen as well, they will eat in the front yard while the dog has his nose stuck out the window barking.

This morning I saw a young female deer that is thin and looks like she might have been hit by a car. She isn't using one of her legs and it's very swollen by her knee joint. It breaks my heart. As much as I don't like these guys eating my plants, I love having them around and can't stand to see them suffer.

I called Fish and Game a couple of weeks ago about a sick and starving deer around here that I had seen a couple of times. They never called me back. Don't know what they can do, but I would think they'd at least call me back. I'll try Sarvey Wildlife Reserve today and see if they can give me any idea whether there's something they/I can do.

Kathy

My experience with them is that they eat what is available with obvious preferences. They are selective, but will eat whatever they need to stay alive, including that which is listed on the "deer don't eat this" list.
As soon as I put wire cages around my baby fruit trees & roses, they went for the Dahlia's.
I wasn't very happy.
I wonder if people that provide food for the deer have less problem with this.

Hmmmm. That makes sense. Tough decision . . . fruit trees, roses or dahlias. Maybe you should put alfalfa out in self defense?????

Kathy

I fenced my entire property - problem solved. But one of my neighbours has regular visits from the local deer and battles with their yearly stripping of new growth on her dwarf fruit trees. I don't know if she would even be willing to feed them, but I think it's an idea worth exploring.
I was told that the reason they have a preference for roses is due to some nutrient they need that is present in new rose growth. The Dahlias might have been the dessert course! Looking back, it was somewhat of a stunner to walk out & see the Dahlias totally disbudded. And the deer had that "who, me?" look...
Frankly, I am still conflicted about feeding them. But it's hard not to want to protect what falls into the "innocent" category: they are just trying to survive. And when I see them injured or dead, it really bothers me. The fence was the best way for me to deal with protecting the plants and included the bonus of providing "trellis" material for the vines I like.
The deer started feeding at the surrounding homes, and have continued to do so. There is a Blueberry farm just past my property, so they tend to hang out there as they are quite protected. What else could one feed them besides alfalfa?

You know, I don't know. Of course they'd eat the native plants. I've seen them eating vine maple. And I know they love the blackberries. My neighbor lets them have her apples and blueberries just so she can watch them. I suppose the philosophy of planting some for them, some for you (if you have a big enough property) wouldn't be a bad idea. But, of course, you might not want to have them start bringing all their friends out. And then, they'll eat their favorites, as we all will, but knowing what plant they prefer over another is tough.

And then there's the "balance of nature" think. I agree with you. I'm conflicted about interfering with Mother Nature. I just can't stand to see/make creatures suffer. I searched on "feeding deer" on Google and there are lots of articles out there on why you shouldn't feed them in the winter. If I find anything about coexisting and sharing, I'll post it.

Anyway, the picture you just posted on the plant combinations thread is lovely. I love to see the heads of the flowers in the bed in the distance behind the grass.

Kathy