Dividing my Easy Ned Daylilies September 26, 2016

My Easy Ned day lilies didn't bloom well this summer so I decided it was time to divide them.  They can be divided right after they bloom all the way through the fall.  Here in the south I see no reason to hesitate dividing in the fall since this is our best garden season, even better than spring.

First, dig around the clump and pull it up out of the dirt.  Be sure to direct the shovel straight down and not at an angle or you might gut the tubers.  I sliced a few on my first thrust of the shovel.

 Shake off all the excess soil - soil is precious!

Next, I wash away as much of the remaining soil so I can better see where I need to cut.

Below, I could have separated the clump even more than I did, but I'm not trying to increase inventory and sell them, I'm just trying to get more blooms.  When separating them just make sure you have at least one fan and some root.  Cut through the mass of roots and tubers with a knife.

Then, cut off most of the green tops (the greenery won't live after all that shock, so you don't want the plant expending energy on the effort of trying to keep it alive).  If you have a lot of root mass you can cut some of that away as well.  Throw the greenery in the compost pile.

I dug up two clumps of daylilies and I planted twelve plantings in the garden along the back of the house, in the beds at the front of the house, and in the Star Garden.

Views of the Star Garden September 25, 2016

Weekend at the Farm September 23 - 25, 2016

Got to the farm about 6:30.

Bert pushed me in the tree swing in between tending the fire in the grill.  I watched the fire flies flash as the sky turned pink.

Saturday morning up early.  I couldn't get back to sleep after 5 so I got up and watched Game of Thrones on my IPad.

I began watering my roses first thing.  I put the sprinkler on the smallest setting and began watering each rose bed for 15 minutes.

My newest roses, Beverly and Mrs B. R. Cant look good, not suffering from lack of water.

I deadheaded my Belinda's Dream roses and my Heritage rose.

I cut away Indigo Spires Salvia that was leaning out into the paths.

Worked in Josh's Garden for a while cutting away anything leaning into the paths.  I also raked the paths, they were littered with fallen leaves and little branches.  I pulled up Snakeroot that was crowding out my ferns and gingers.

Napped for a bit.  I felt a little feverish and sore throatish.

Went back outside to the Medicine Garden and cut away elderberry branches that were leaning into paths.

Sprayed herbicide in the paths of the Medicine Garden and in a few spots in the Star Garden.

Sunday morning I dug up several clumps of Easy Ned day lilies, separated them into smaller clumps and replanted them in various places.  I planted 8 small clumps in the bed along the back of the house.  I planted 5 or so in the front bed and one in the Star Garden.

Continued watering individual roses in the Rose Garden.

Deadheaded roses while I watered.

Puttered around from one garden to another pulling weeds and admiring the flowers.

Loaded a wheel barrow full of mulch that I scraped together from the remnants of my mulch pile and spread it between two La Marne roses.

After lunch I went down to the Orchard with hedge trimmers and a rake.  I sheared my big group of red and pink annual salvia.  I'll get a big, final show of bloom for fall.

As I'm writing this I am on the front porch watching the rain.  It's a pretty good little shower.  The rain is pouring off the roof and filling our rain buckets.  The sky is completely covered in dark clouds, so the sunshine has been replaced by twilight .

Caldwell Pink and Belinda's Dream Blooming in my Garden September 17, 2016

Weekend at the Farm September 16 - 17, 2016

This is Pringle Aster.  One of my favorites.

Arrived Friday evening.  Left on Sunday morning to babysit Zelda and Henry in Houston.

• It was the Harvest Moon on Friday night.  We drove out to the cul de sac to look at it.  Amazingly beautiful.  There were lightening bugs everywhere, more that I've ever seen.  We drove around the property in the dark and watched their little lights pop up all over the place.  We could see lights deep in the woods, next to us, and ahead in the trails.  Really a memorable experience.
• Saturday.  I spent the entire morning digging up Hurricane Lilies in the original bed where I planted the first ones I ever got for this place.  This year I didn't get very many flowers, and I know the bulbs are crowded.  Do I forked them up and separated the clumps.  I stopped counting after I dropped 100 into my bucket.  I re-planted some of each clump and put the rest in my bucket to plant in other places.  I had so many that I called my neighbor, Debra, to see if she wanted any.  She did, they cost about $3 each, so getting free ones is great.  I planted them in so many spots that I can't remember everywhere I planted them.  I planted a bunch around an oak tree that has landscape edging around it.  I planted some in the Greenhouse Garden, the Star Garden, and the Rose Garden.
• Cut away Hojo Santo in the Star Garden that was crowding the paths.  
• I staked an amaranth in the Orchard that was leaning over.
• I put on my rose gloves and went down to the Orchard to cut away blackberry vines that were stretching into the red cannas at the front of the Orchard.  I had to crawl in there to do it, watching for snakes all the while.
• Swam in the pool, the water is really cool.
• I bought a Mrs B.R. Cant and a Beverly rose at the Arbor Gate on Thursday.  I planted them in the Rose Garden.  I planted the Beverly in the spot where Bailey Red was, and I planted Cant where the old Cant had been.
• I planted a Country Girl mum that I bought at Arbor Gate next to Madame Joseph Schwartz rose.  Country Girl is an old fashioned mum.  It spreads by underground runners.  It's a fall bloomer, pink flowers.  I'm very excited about it.  I've seen these growing at the Antique Rose Emporium in the fall, very beautiful.
• Moved the sprinklers around in the Rose Garden.
• Debra and Ray came over to get the bulbs and stayed for about an hour.
• After they left I sprayed a little herbicide and planted a Lindleyana Buddleia between two La Marne roses.
• I gathered up all my tools, threw some weeds in the burn pile and called it a day about 6:00.

White Coral Vine September 16, 2016

Coral Vine can be hot pink or white.  To my way of thinking the white is the prettiest.  It always reminds me of a wedding bouquet.  My mother gave me my start of this vine.  I have it growing over an arbor in the Star Garden and over an arbor leading into the Orchard.
Below, this goat wire arbor, leads into my Rose Garden.

 Below, Cypress Vine, Coral Vine and Hops vie for dominance.  Hops always loses.

 Below, the Coral Vine flowers are some of the prettiest in my garden.

 Below, this is the entrance to my Orchard.  I cut away all the vines last weekend and they have already blocked the entrance!  I will have to clean it up tomorrow!  Just beyond you can see my gingers and Colocasias leaning into the paths.

Autumn Blues, Purples and Pinks

Gorgeous!

 Above, this is Homestead Purple Verbena.  It is growing in my Rose Garden.

 Above, ageratum growing - basically wherever it springs up.  In this case it is growing in the flowerbed nearest to the dining room.

 Above and below, Mexican Salvia, a fall bloomer.  In my garden it is hit and miss whether it will come back in successive years.  I replant some of it every year with tiny little transplants.  It gets huge in a single season.

 Below, Moss Verbena.  Very easy to grow from seed, and the seeds make plants pop up everywhere.

Below in the Long Border:  perennial ageratum, rosemary, spent anise hyssop, Martha's Vinyard rose, and Butterpat mums (not yet blooming).
Below, another pretty scene of ageratum.

 Below, old fashioned pink phlox.

The below three pictures, all  pink Four O'Clocks

 Below, one of the paths in the Star Garde:  ageratum, salvia, Mexican salvia, zinnias, Rudbeckia Maxima, and various other plants.

 Below, Ageratum.  So pretty.

Wayside Perennial Ageratum September 11, 2016

I have this fall bloomer growing all over the Long Border and the Star Garden because is a heavy reseeder.  It does well in shade and sun.

Weekend at the Farm September 10-11, 2016

More pink Oxblood lilies popped up since we were here last weekend.

We went to Henry's 3rd birthday party on Saturday and went to Burton after that.

• Sunday morning the first thing I did was spray fungicide on my roses.  The rose garden looks so good, I don't want black spot showing up and ruining everything.  Thanks to all the August rains the roses are blooming and all the zinnias, moss verbena, homestead purple verbena, Candida rain lilies, and oxblood lilies are blooming alongide them.  So pretty.  And nearby in the Long Border the salvia, ageratum, zinnias, cannas and anise hyssop are blooming .  Everything looks lush and green, so hard to believe in early September.  Usually everything is emerging from exhaustion due to a dry hot August.  I did a little weeding (not much required), raked and sprayed herbicide on the paths.
• Weeded and laid down two wheel barrows of mulch in the Long Border.  Looks good!
• Drove one truck load of mulch down to the Orchard (the last of my 15 yards, so sad) and spread it across the last bed.  It didn't quite cover the whole things, but I'm calling it done.  The Orchard looks wonderful, weed-free and blooming - zinnias, moss verbena, amaranth and anise hyssop.  Sprayed herbicide in the spots that I missed last weekend.
• I sprayed herbicide on the driveway, in the Shade Garden, the Greenhouse Garden, the Vegetable Garden, the Medicine Garden, the Star Garden, and along fence lines.  I have to stay ahead of the weeds as we come into cooler weather.  Herbicide doesn't work in cold weather.  Once it's cold the weeds just stay there and look ugly.
• I mulched around and between the five La Marne roses along the driveway.  They were covered with morning glory vines, so I cut away and pulled off all the vines and pulled up the vines so they wouldn't grow back.  I forgot to fertilize them, so I will have to do that next week. 
• I spent some time in the Vegetable Garden staking amaranth and pulling of Tabasco pepper plants.  They reseed like crazy, and I have about 20 growing in the beds.  I pulled morning glory vines off my Joey Avocado tree.  I also pulled some weeds, but I didn't do much else, too hot.
• My Cardinal Climber, Cypress vine and white Coral vine are all blooming.  My mother gave me the Coral vine.  It is a fall bloomer (most vines are best in the fall because they spend the spring and summer establishing all their growth) and I love the pretty white flowers.  They remind me of a wedding bouquet.
• Everything looks really pretty.  The Star Garden is in full bloom too - cannas, ageratum, roses, zinnias, rain lilies, salvia, purple lantana, butterfly weed, and althea.
• Watered the pots around the pool.
• I cut away all the dead debris from the Montbretia bulbs that I dug up last week and didn't plant.  I'm storing them (about 50 bulbs) in a basket in the house until I can figure out where to plant them.
• I notice that some of my Russel Manning rain lilies were above ground and exposed, probably they multiplied on top of each other and got pushed out of the soil.  I gathered them up and replanted them in two of the beds in the Rose Garden.
• We left late - about 6:00, I didn't want to leave because everything looked so pretty.

Amaranth September 11, 2016

Amaranth is a grain plant.  It is also a very striking plant that comes in many different colors of both foliage and seed heads.  This plant is an ancient source of grain for making beer.  These plants get extremely tall, 8 feet and even taller, some varieties are shorter but most are very tall and must be staked.  I have some gorgeous amaranth growing right now with seed heads that are vivid red, but I didn't stake them and they have all fallen over.

Anise Hyssop September 11, 2016

Anise Hyssop is an herb, valuable for its aromatic licorice scented leaves.  It was used in beer making in olden days.  The bees are very attracted to the blue flowers which is why I have it growing in my garden.