Weekend at the Farm September 26 - 27, 2015

Up on Friday evening after a very long, difficult week at work.  Went home on Sunday morning to prepare for a family dinner since Max is in town.  Haven't been here for a couple of weeks.  Everything looks beautiful since the weather has cooled off a bit.

• My Cypress Vine is in full bloom.  Its red flowers are being swarmed by the hummingbirds.  Very amusing to watch.  Gorgeous blue wands of Mexican Sage are blooming right next to it.  And the Pringle Aster is in full bloom, it looks like a huge snow ball. 
•  I spent time in the Star Garden first, cutting away Almond Verbena branches leaning into the paths.  Pulled up spent zinnias.  Cleaned up a few beds that had been turned over by armadillos.  Replanted some Montbretia and iris the armadillos rooted up.  Hauled a couple of wheel barrows full of debris to the compost pile.  I collected about 30 Montbretia that I am not going to replant in the same spot.  They tend to lean over, and they are currently planted right next to a path.  
• Watered in the Rose Garden and the dry end of the Long Border for a couple of hours.  It was pretty dry, and I'm not sure that some of the iris I planted 3 or 4 weeks ago are going to make it.  They are pretty resilient, so maybe they will pull through.  I didn't have to weed much, it's pretty clean in there.  
• The number 1 sprinkler in the Infinity Garden isn't working.  It's pretty dry over there. I put the dripper on my azaleas, gingers. and Dame's Rocket.  The shrimp plant seems to be fine without any water.
• I drove to the Rose Emporium about noon and bought two roses to replace my dead Bermuda's Kathleen and Lafter.  I planted Carefree Beauty where Kathleen had been, right at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  Carefree Beauty has an interesting history.  It was found growing on Katy Road near Houston.  Cuttings were shared with the Rose Emporium.  It was sold under the name of Katy Road Pink for a long time, and then it was determined to actually be the Dr. Griffith Buck rose still being sold under patent called Carefree Beauty.  She has hot pink, large, semi-double flowers.  She is a good bloomer.  I have grown this rose before, and I really like her.  I killed her and about six other roses seven years ago when I over-fertilized them.  Carefree Beauty's genes are used in the famous Knockout Roses.  I planted Maman Cochet where Lafter had been.  Maman Cochet is a tea rose, introduced in 1893.  The flowers are a pink blend.  Buying Maman was a nod to Eudora Welty.  She mentioned this rose in some of her writings.  I recently bought a book about the restoration of Eudora Welty and her mother's garden in Mississippi.  I watered them in very well and set the sprinkler up so it would hit Maman.  The other rose is located in a place that should get some water as well.  But I will have to be careful with them or they will suffer, no question about it.  I have one other spot where a rose needs to be replaced.  And I can't decide if I should just dig up my Chrysler Imperial and start over.  It's pretty pathetic looking.  
• I watered some of the beds in the Star Garden and the beds along the front of the house.
• Weeded here and there.
• I saw a Monarch today, only the second one I have spotted this summer.  They have become really scarce.  I am Monarch-Friendly.  I have milkweed growing here and there.  If it sprouts, I let it grow.  Milkweed makes big pods that split open and the seeds float through the air attached to silky threads.
• The mosquitoes seem to be dying back, so I spent a lot of time in the garden Friday night.  The Almond Verbena smelled wonderful, and the air was moist and cool.  Bert and I took a ride around the property while I shined the spot light into the trees trying to see an owl.  But no luck. 
• Sunday morning I was up before the day light.  I walked around the Star Garden watching the hummingbird moths flit from flower to flower, their weird eyes glowing when the light from the porch shone on them just right.

Pringle Aster September 26, 2015

The problem with Pringle Aster is that it leans over.  It cannot support itself.  You have to stake it or it will fall over other plants and smother them.  But, wow, how spectacular it is when it is in full bloom.  Of course it's only in full bloom for a few weeks each year which brings me to the second problem with Pringle Aster.  It's a lot of trouble for for only two great weeks per year.  But I'm a sucker for trouble makers.

Weekend at the Farm September 12 - 13, 2015

This is Black Seeded Muhly grass.  I really like ornamental grasses, in fact I had a huge flowerbed with nothing but ornamental grasses for a while.  Unfortunately, voles love the roots, so one by one they gnawed off the roots of every plant right at the soil level. This is the only one I have left from that original planting.  Grasses really come into their own in the fall when the seed heads bloom.  So pretty.

Saturday morning Bert played golf with Josh, and I spent the morning with Blake and Sammy.  Arrived at the farm in the later afternoon.  Temperature was wonderful all weekend.

• The armadillos have been destructive this week, and lots of my plants have been uprooted.  I hate the nasty animals, and I am once again reminded how interesting nature is:  armadillos eat grub worms (which are very bad for plants) but they have to turn all the soil upside down to get at them.  I see examples similar to this one all the time, amazing things in nature that have both good and bad consequences resulting from a single action.
• Saturday evening Bert and I drove around the property.  The air was so fragrant and the stars were so bright.  We came back to the house for a blanket and some pillows and parked in the cul de sac to star gaze.  We laid down in the back of the cub cadet and looked at the sky for a long time.  We were rewarded with a shooting star, only the third time I have ever seen one.  Beautiful evening. 
• Sunday morning was cool, in the low sixties.  The hummingbirds were buzzing around everywhere.  A more contentious lot I have never encountered in a species.  It's like a million Napoleon complexes zipping about your head.
• I weeded in the Star Garden and cut away Vitex branches and Four O'Clocks that were leaning into the paths.  Continued trimming back iris leaves to about 8 inches.
• Watered and worked in the Rose Garden for about two hours.  Pulled up Day Flower weed seedlings.  Deadheaded the roses.
• Planted six iris that I ordered from Royal Dutch Gardens.  I planted three Copper Classic iris in the bed at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  Copper Classic is a very unusual iris color - copper as the name suggests.  I planted two Wench iris in the bed with the half-dead Duchess de Brabant, and one Wench someplace else in the Rose Garden (already forgot).  Wench has a pink standard and purple falls.  Very pretty. 
• I worked in the bed where the Pearlbush is planted.  The runners of Tuber Vervaine make the whole thing look messy.  I yanked up as much as I could.
• Watered in the Star Garden for a long while.
• Sprayed herbicide on the driveway, the Vegetable Garden, the Infinity Garden, the Orchard, and the Rose Garden.  I won't be here next week, so I want to leave everything as clean as possible.
• Left about 6:30.

Re-seeding Ageratum September 13, 2015

This variety of ageratum is a fall bloomer and a vigorous re-seeder.  This is not the bedding plant that one often sees in subdivision landscaping.  It is at its peak this weekend, so pretty, and a real butterfly magnet.

Goat Wire Arbor at the Entrance to Max's Garden September 13, 2015

Cypress Vine, Hops Vine, and Coral Vine cover the arbor that my husband made from goat wire. 

Roses September 13, 2015

Mlle. Franziska Kruger September 13, 2015

Franziska Kruger is a tea rose with flowers that are a blend of peach and pink.  She is one of my best bloomers.  The buds are mostly peach.  When they open, they are a pink-peach color.  When the bloom is fully open the petals reflex and the flower is a dark, mottled pink.  The wonderful color change is only apparent in the spring and fall when the weather is cooler. 

The Approaching Fall Season

Best I love September's yellow,
Morns of dew-strung gossamer,
Thoughtful days without a stir,
Rooky clamors, brazen leaves,
Stubble dotted o'er with sheaves-
More than Spring's bright uncontrol
Suit the Autumn of my soul.

- Alex Smith

Zinnias in the Rose Garden at Dusk September 6, 2015

 Below in the Long Border which is along one side of the Rose Garden: zinnias, cypress vine is growing on a trellis, crinums, Four O'Clocks, and Lady Banks rose

Mexican Bush Sage September 6, 2015

I really like this plant, but for me it spells death when it starts to grow in early spring and then we have a late freeze.  I find that it will not come back in those instances.  I consider it a tender perennial.  This a fall bloomer.

Weekend at the Farm September 5 - 6, 2015

 These are Moonflower buds.  The buds are twisted and they untwist as they open.   

 The same bud, slightly unfurled.

Henry's second birthday party (Mr. Potato Head theme, smile) on Saturday.  To the farm after that, we arrived in the early evening.  Back to Houston very early on Labor Day Monday.  Blake, mom and dad and I went to the lake to visit Josh, Amy and new, tiny baby Koy.

• It had obviously rained very hard some time this week.  It's very wet, and some of the iris I planted last week have been completely washed out of the soil.  That will easy to rectify, though.  It was great for the roses, and many of the shrubs are blooming their hearts out.  The zinnias in the Long Border and the Rose Garden look cheerful and bright.  Beyond a little weeding, the only thing planned for the weekend is to stake various plants and small trees and cut back plants that have gotten too big for their britches.  My Senna trees, my Castor plants, my Pringle Aster for starters need to be staked.  Some of my morning glory and Cypress vines have gotten out of hand and must be cut away from whatever they are climbing into.  My gingers need a barricade-like structure erected because they want to lean over into the path.  And my Four O'Clocks need the same - they want to flop over into the path. Bert built a barricade for me in the Rose Garden with cedar about 4 inches thick to contain my Noisettes - they have a waterfall-type growth habit if they are not trained up a pillar - and that will be just the thing for my gingers and Four O'Clocks.  
• I rose with the sun Sunday morning and began weeding in the center bed of the Star Garden, this bed is the very first bed I built after the house was finished.  I built it on top of the burn pile because nothing else would grow there.  After that I built triangle beds around the center to form a star, hence the name of the garden.  Since then I have put in many beds so I can continue to grow plants that capture my interest.  I pulled up all the Obedient Plant.  The runners never come up with the roots, so I still have hundreds in the bed.  But it looks much neater now, and Obedient is finished blooming until late summer next year.  Now my Butterfly Rose has more room to stretch, and it is almost time for Pringle Aster to begin blooming.  So all the attention is on those two plants now.
• Raked up the fungus growing on the gravel in the Vegetable Garden and threw it into the woods.  Horrible stuff.  It spreads when I walk on it.  I raked some up in the Star Garden too.
• Cut away Anisacanthus that was growing into the paths in the Star Garden.  That will being blooming very soon, it is a fall bloomer.  Cut away low-growing branches of Pink Vitex that were growing into the paths as well.  Trimmed away Almond Verbena that was in the way when you walk by it.
• Repaired iris rhizomes in the front bed that had washed up in the rain.  That is caused by run off from the roof.  We need gutters.  Did some weeding and cut back the leaves on all my iris to about six inches, pulled away dead leaves, and generally cleaned up around them.
• Spent some time in the Rose Garden.  It is very pretty in there right now.  Valentine, Lady Hillingdon, and Chorale in particular are in full bloom.  I pulled up some Day Flower weeds that had sprouted since last weekend, but I'm definitely making headway on getting rid of them.  I deadheaded zinnias in the Long Border and the Rose Garden.  I spread seed from the zinnias in various places in the Rose Garden.  I pulled weeds in the Long Border and cut away Cypress Vine that was crawling all over my Antoine Mari rose.  
• Cut away hops vine around the goat wire arbor in the Star Garden until it was passable.
• Came in during the hottest part of the day and made some soup.
•  Pulled up Mexicali Rose that has spread everywhere throughout the Boardwalk gardens.
• Went down to the Orchard with the wheelbarrow and pulled up 50 or so salvia plants.  I'm sick of looking at them.  Deadheaded zinnias and spread the seed of the dried ones.  I have lots of zinnia seedlings, but I don't think they will make it to bloom before the first freeze.  It hasn't been a good year for my zinnias.  I haven't had very many.  I'm not sure why because I have seeded as many this year as I have other years.  Raked up fungus and threw it into the woods.
• Adjusted the sprinklers.
• Sprayed herbicide on the driveway and a spot in the Star Garden that I missed last week.
• My husband built my ginger barricade.  Much improved over there.  The paths are passable. 
• One of the gingers that I bought at the bulb mart last year is blooming.  It is not a very impressive flower.  That's what I get for buying an unnamed variety for a cheap price.  That was probably in some member's back yard and they wanted to get rid of it so they dug it up and donated it to the plant sale.  Or I could be just really spoiled.  The gingers that I have growing throughout my gardens, all the same variety, have blooms that are a foot tall, and they spread really rapidly.  Really spectacular.

Carnevale de Venezia Morning Glory September 5, 2015

 I don't really like this morning glory, it's not big enough and the color is not vivid like the Heavenly Blue variety.  But they sure are persistent.  I haven't deliberately planted these in years, but seeds keep sprouting.  And it's always the pink striped ones, never the purple striped variety.