Some good, some not so much

Summer days are speeding past, time to take a good hard look at the hits and misses in the gardening department.  Have to cut myself some slack for first year, with no proper soil building having taken place yet; and I do have tough-ish conditions with marine offshore winds which bring really cool temperatures to our already late summer start.

First, the good news.  Dahlias from seed, (not blooming yet) are looking good. Those in pots are, that is, the ones in the ground are losing the battle with slugs.  Morning glories and gerberas are giving a nice show and the little fuzzy tomentosas look happy in one of the few sheltered, out-of-the-wind spots I have.

 

White star creeper is a new favorite. Next year I think I'll pack  hanging wire baskets with it along with some teeny tiny conifers.
Bonsai for dummies! We are lucky to have nurseries stocking many mini versions of evergreens that happily sit root-bound in pots for years on end.

Next up, a pretty grass called tetra gold, flanked by some sort of santolina and some conveniently fuzzy nastursiums just out of focus.
(My ipad photo skills are so-so and fear of dropping it I think adds tremor to my shot.)
Be Nasty To Your Nastursiums is a well known nostrum but in my case it doesn't seem to help; not for me the blowsy thigh-high mounds that I covet in other people's gardens; my nastursiums are always tentative, a bit frowsy with yellowed foliage and eventually succumb to aphids. sigh.

And, don't laugh… a section of my vegetable patch that was planted MONTHS ago. Swiss chard and spinach used to grow for me in the winter at my old garden. Maybe blog title should be Bad Gardener.