The rain is always welcome as it saves me a lot of time from watering the garden by hand. The flowers and the weeds are also loving it.
The daily chores never end but you get a lot of health benefits for all that according to the following site:
1. Boosts vitamin D levels and strengthens immune health
2. Helps you live longer with health-boosting exercise
3. Exposure to gut-boosting probiotics
4. May help you sleep more soundly
5. Supports heart health and may reduce obesity risk
6. Reduces stress and has a 鈥済rounding鈥� effect
7. Protects your mind and memory
8. Mood-booster and good for mental health
9. May provide support for addiction recovery
10. A greater feeling of connection
11. Cleaner, healthier food
12. Good for the environment
The hummingbirds are very busy with all the columbines in the garden. The bumble bees are working hard in the raspberry patch. They are so many of them I can hear them when I am weeding there.
We all like to cut some fresh flowers from our gardens and sometimes little tricks help make them look better.
The followings comes from this book 1,001 Gardening Secrets:
#1 Keep cut flowers beautiful. Add two tablespoons each of sugar and vinegar to a quart (litre) of water. Pour the mixture in a vase and put in your flowers. The sugar will feed your blooms and the vinegar will keep them fresh a long time.
#2 Cheap and easy flower 鈥渇rog.鈥� To hold flowers in place, trim off the sharp edges of a small piece of chicken wire and crumple it loosely so it fits in the top of your container. Stick your stems between the wires, and your beautiful creation will stay put.
#3 Trim leaves to prolong flowers. To savour your bouquet for as long as possible, get your clippers out and cut off any leaves that are under water. These soggy leaves will rot and encourage bacteria to grow, which can mean a short life for your beautiful arrangement.
#4 Clip stems to keep bouquet bright. When you bring flowers home from the market, trim off a half inch (1.3 cm) of each stem with a sharp knife. Then plunge the stems in room-temperature water. Make sure you cut on the diagonal and keep the ends under water at all times. This prevents air bubbles from getting stuck at the end of the stem and blocking the water travelling up.
#5 Protect furniture from water spills. Never set a bouquet of flowers or a potted plant directly on wooden furniture. Water spills can damage the surface. Instead, set vases and flower pots on decorative trays, mismatched saucers, or shallow bowls filled with pebbles.
#6 Help flowers live a long life. Prolong the life of your blooms by keeping them shaded and cool. Instead of placing them near a television or heat source, set them in a cool spot away from windows and drafts. Keep flowers out of direct sunlight too or they will wilt.
Cut your flowers, smell the roses and have a very safe and beautiful harvest season.
For more information: 250-558-4556 jocelynesewell@gmail.com
