Sweet Pea of Mid-Season Succession Stretch

It can’t be the 7th inning stretch - because thats close to the finish & we have a LOT of growing season yet.

And that means - time to settle roots for that establishment growth of new additions that were already IN the ground for Spring, get those succession crops & last starts going, even Momma Nature may not know when that first real frost/freeze is, so grow, grow, grow for it.

And, maybe plant a humming bird feeder for next year, like my home grown Perennial Sweet Pea Vine.

A true grandma flower, like larkspur & hydrangea - with the benefit of being loved by those beautiful hums:

Since I don’t have plant tags with photos, I thought I’d share a treasured planting project, from where Kristin’s Flowers & started in the Northeast Kingdom and I hope if you have one of those… hmmm maybe just maybe…. that you’ll let yourself get round ‘tuit.

Introducing the totem pole tree:

I called my old home “the totem pole tree house” until I named her Cassidy, for this de-limbed tree that the prior owners left up.

And I was excited to discover upon arrival, yes its solid, it can stand a good long while, so let’s get it happy & full of life, the way a tree should be.

It took until almost August to find the time to take it on, and I started with a climbing rose that supposedly topped out at 12’ (that won’t be enough height…), and then stumbled across a perennial sweet pea at Gardeners - yup that’ll work!

I drilled holes in trunk & took the curly cue part of some plant stakes off their strait bases, for silly color & extra stretch structure for the vines.

And boy they got growing. The sweet pea topped out the climbing rose 1/2 way up the tree in only a month or so. And then I realized, if I was going to retire my original songwriter guitar - I better put that good wood back to nature (before the plants outgrew my idea).

I pulled the pegs, let the string dangle for the vines to grab & added a few wood dividers inside I thought my birdie friends would like.

& then of course, within a few weeks winter came roaring in, going to have to wait for spring to see the guitar grown over… 🙄

And then spring came, and my incredible columbine babies kept me quite busy. Some Vermont style spring fresh cuts:

And next thing I knew…

Boy they grew

ALL the way up!

& the hums loved it, and some yellow warblers hung out in the guitar, and folks driving by on the way to the ski resort really took notice.

My re-tree the tree actually almost caused an accident the summer of season 2 when an older gentleman came to a quick stop, partially in my ditch, from the distraction.

Yup - grower on vacation. I sent him with some extra seeds from the ones I had started that season. You know, after we had that about an hour farmer chat. 😂. I don’t even think we exchanged names - but it was a lovely moment.

Its always by the Grace of God, if Momma Nature allows, when you work outside - and it takes longer & more plants grown in happy to look the way we visualize in our minds.

But always worth the work.

Feel free to print this photo off, originally made by my father Tom onto a magnet.

Just in case YOUR totem pole tree or field of dreams, whatever it may be, is just a matter of getting a’round tuit.

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I’m going to attempt to make some wood ones too - you know, in all my free time. 😂😂

Hopefully see you outside, few more times, before the snow flies - and don’t forget to stretch.