A Day at the Farm 09/22/2011

Went up for the day to water the roses and plant a few things. Going to Norman for the weekend - OU and Missouri - big game!

• Watered the roses. The moles have created a maze of trails under the roses. I suspect that's why I've lost 3 of my roses. When I was watering today I started sticking the hose into the soil and the soil started falling away leaving huge holes that seemed to go on forever. When the roots have no dirt around them they die.


• Planted 3 Flame Acanthus in the Star Garden.


• Planted a flat of parsley in the Infinity Garden. I really like parsley as a front of the border plant. It's a pretty, emerald green color, low growing, useful to eat, and the larval food for butterflies.


• Planted 6 small Mexican Bush Sage plants in the Long Border.


• Cut away dead debris in the Star Garden.


• Sowed some spinach and baby carrots in the Vegetable Garden.
  

What's Blooming Now - Coral Vine 09/17/2011

Coral Vine is so pretty. The flowers remind me of a wedding. Coral Vine is a fall bloomer. There is also a hot pink flowered variety. This vine is really drought tolerant. The roots have very thick tuberous roots. The roots resemble potatoes. The fleshy tubers help it to survive long periods of drought. Bees of many varieties are attracted to the flowers. This vine is covered with bees which makes it a little intimidating to duck under right now.

What's Blooming Now - Black Seeded Moudry Grass 09/17/2011

I love grasses! The flower heads are so pretty and complex when the light strikes them. Strategically, it is smart to plant them in a spot where the sun will shine through them from your viewing vantage point.

What's Blooming Now - Turk's Cap 09/17/2011

Turk's Cap is wonderful. It colonizes rapidly. It is what is known as a "passalong plant". It has been in gardens forever, passed from one neighbor to another. The red flowers are very vivid. This plant need some shade, and it is one of the few plants that blooms profusely in the shade. Butterflies and hummingbirds love it. Bees are not a fan of the flowers. There is a pink variety called Pam Puryear's Pink. It has, as the name suggests, pink flowers. I have the pink variety growing near the red variety. But, so far, I do not find it to be as profuse a bloomer as the red plants.

What's Blooming Now - Candida Rain Lilies 9/17/2011

Candida Rain Lilies are fall bloomers. They multiply extremely fast. Last year I was literally looking for places to stick bulbs after they became too crowded in this spot next to the front door.

A Day at the Farm 09/17/2011

This is Mojito Colocasia. I love the leaf coloring. I'm interested to see how well it returns after a winter season.

• Watered all the roses and fertilized them with liquid fertilizer.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard, the Star Garden, and the Vegetable Garden.
• Planted Golden Beets, Cherry Belle Radishes, Hollow Crown Parsnips, Dill, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, and Mesclun Salad. Also planted some edible flowers - Empress of India Nasturiums and Zeolight Calendula. Also planted some Nema-gone Marigolds.
• Watered here and there.
  

A Day at The Farm 09/11/2011

Still no rain. Arrived Saturday night. I lost one of my large rose shrubs, a Belinda's Dream, in the Rose Garden. That's 3 roses this summer. I've lost 2 gardenias, the Sweet Olive, 2 butterfly bushes, my rock rose, my Veronica Speedwell, 5 blueberry bushes, lots of herbs in my Infinity Garden, and lots of miscellaneous perennials. It's really sad and getting very expensive.
We spotted some amazing birds today! Gorgeous Baltimore Orioles. They are a deep orange with an all-black head and black wings with distinctive white stripes. I attached a pictures at the bottom of this page. At one time I saw three at one time. They were drinking the sugar water in the hummingbird feeders. And they were drinking from the bird baths. Texas is in their migratory path, but I have never seen one!
I planted 3 Kerria Japonica plenifora (Japanese Rose) that I ordered online. I've never ordered live plants from the internet before. Japanese Roses like some shade. I planted them in the gardens along the boardwalk.
I also planted 2 Amorpha fruticosa (False Indigo) which are native. They have purple flowers, they grow about 10 feet tall. They are airy plants with thin bladed leaves. They are the larval plant for Lepidoptera butterflies.
I planted 3 Helene Von Stein Lambs Ear in the Long Border and 6 in the Infinity Garden.
I planted 8 Blue Spruce Sedum in the Long Border. They are pretty silver-grey succulents. They bloom yellow flowers in the spring.
I planted 2 Provence Lambs Ear in the Infinity Garden fr some silver effect.
I planted 4 Ne'we Ya'ar Sage in the Infinity Garden, also for the silver effect.
I planted 6 Orange Thyme in the Infinity Garden, trying to replace some herbs that have died during this horrible summer. This thyme variety is also silver-grey.
I watered all the roses in the Rose Garden. That effort takes hours, it is no fun. But they are all in distress.
I watered around the Greenhouse.
Sunday morning was really nice. Fall is beginning to be in the air. It can't come soon enough.


These pictures don't do these birds justice. They are a brilliant orange color!

What's Blooming Now - Maximilian Sunflowers 08/25/2011

Maximilian Sunflowers are multi-branching perennial plants. They grow to about 6 feet tall. I grew these from seeds. I guess they like this spot because I've tried to grow seeds for the last two years and this is the first time I've had success. They are good plants for the wildlife because they have seeds just like all sunflowers. If the deer eat the flowers off the plants they will still come back next year (unlike the annual sunflowers which will promptly die). I planted these at the back of the grass garden.