Amy's baby shower on Saturday. I went to the farm on Sunday morning. Bert went up on Friday evening.
- As soon as I arrived I started watering the Rose Garden with the hose. I spent about two hours doing that.
- Went down to the Orchard and forked up some of my Victoria Falls bearded iris. I re-set some of them down there and brought the rest of them up to the house for planting in various places. I planted some of them in the Rose Garden next to Madame Joseph Schwartz, Vesuve, and Perle de Or.
- I cleaned out one of my newest beds in the Star Garden that has a clump of Pink Muhly grass and some dead Ox Eye Daisy clumps and some weeds. I planted some of the Victoria Falls bearded iris.
- I cleaned out another one of my new beds in the Star Garden that had nothing growing in it but dead Salvia. I planted a small mop head hydrangea plant that we bought to adorn the table for Amy's shower. I also planted some of the Victoria Falls bearded iris.
- I watered in the Star Garden for a long time - several hours. Watering has positive and negative impacts. Obviously it is good for my poor, thirsty plants, but moist earth attracts the armadillos. They have rooted up most of the flowerbeds in the Star Garden that have ample access to water from the sprinklers. Bert connected some hoses together, so I can water throughout the Star Garden.
- Weeded, weeded, weeded. Laid down some mulch in the Star Garden.
- Watered the flowerbeds along the front of the house. Some of the Galactic Gold bearded iris were crowded out of the dirt, so I pulled them up and reset them in various places in the front beds.
- Watered in the Infinity Garden, in the bed with the Thryallis, and the pots around the pool.
- Surrounded as many of the beardeds with chicken wire as I could before I ran out of stakes. The armadillos will try to root them up. I had to leave some unprotected.
- Swam in the pool throughout the day. The water actually felt pretty good, not too warm.
- Sprayed herbicide in the driveway, the Orchard, the Rose Garden, and the Star Garden.
- Several of my large rose shrubs have died. I'm convinced that I'm pruning them too severely. I had a beautiful Bermuda's Kathleen growing at the entrance to the Rose Garden - huge shrub rose that had gotten too big for its location. I cut it back severely in February, and it died little by little throughout the summer. Last weekend I cut away all the dead canes, there was only one cane left that was alive. This weekend when I arrived I saw that cane was dead too. Same with my Duchess de Brabant. I pruned it severely last February. Almost all of it died as the summer wore on. I cut away all the dead canes last weekend and this weekend the few remaining canes that were alive were completely dead. I thought I was going to lose my Mrs. B.R. Cant for the same reason, but it looks like she might forgive me. In addition to replacing the two roses I lost, I am going to replace my Chrysler Imperial rose. It is still alive, but it isn't thriving. So I have three, possibly four roses that I'm going to replace this fall. I will likely get another Chrysler Imperial because it is the best smelling rose I've ever owned. And I will likely get another Duchess de Brabant because it is a floriferous, chunky rose shrub with a good scent. But I won't get another Bermuda's Kathleen - I like the rose, but it does not have a scent. I am thinking about getting Maman Cochet or Carefree Beauty. I have one empty spot (my new Madame Wagram didn't make it through the hot summer) but I am thinking about leaving it empty and planting bulbs.
- Went inside to rest for 30 minutes or so before I drove home. The weather clouded over and it started pouring rain. I wasn't expecting that! Between the watering I did today and the rain, everything should be pretty happy.
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