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.