Peachie's Pick Asters in Bud May 25, 2018

I planted two of these this spring and dug one up from a spot where it was getting smothered.  They are about to be in full bloom, loaded with buds.

Some Pretty Flowers Blooming Now May 25, 2018

Below, my wonderful Rudbeckia Maxima.

 Below, rose colored crinums.

Inwood and Easy Ned Daylilies May 25, 2018

These Easy Neds are some divisions that I divided 2 years ago and planted here in the front.  I have them growing in the back bed as well.  And I planted some of the divisions in the La Marne bed.  I have decided that I like the solid colored daylilies  more than the ones with the colored eyes.  Of course, now I have zillions of both, too late to change things now.
The Inwoods are growing in a bed at the entrance to the Rose Garden, so they are not really established yet.  The next counple of years should be really fine for Inwood.  In 4 years or so I will have to divide them. 

Jacob Cline and Perter's Purple Bee Balm May 25, 2018

The bee balm is in full bloom right now.  It occurs to me that I should have included pictures of the native monarda that grows in my meadow and my Rose Garden.  The native variety has a very special flower, but not nearly as showy as the domesticated varieties.  The Jacob Cline is growing in the Long Border and the Orchard.  The Peter's Purple is growing in the back bed amongst the Black and Blue Sage.

Blue Vitex May 26, 2018

My blue vitex looked pretty this weekend.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, though, I recently saw some vitex that was properly pruned, and it was so beautiful.  I will prune much harder next winter.

Weekend at the Farm May 25 - 27, 2018

Arrived Friday evening.  Bert was already here, working hard as usual.  Blake and the boys came up on Saturday morning and spent the night.  Ashley, Allan, Nick and a friend, Nan, Lisa, Mom and Dad came up on Sunday for the day.  We swam and played.  Ashley and family spent the night on Sunday.

• Friday evening I did a lot of walking around.  Picked some plums.  The blackberries are so sweet.  
• Saturday morning while I waited for Blake and kids to arrive, I pulled weeds.  I spotted a copperhead as I was reaching down into a tangle of plants and weeds.  Bert shot it.  We spent the day swimming and riding on the "mower" - a new electric vehicle I bought for the grandkids.  They left on Sunday morning.
• Sunday the rest of the group arrived.  More swimming.  Nice day.  Ashley and family left around noon on Monday.
• I spent part of Monday afternoon cleaning up the Rose Garden.  I cut away all the Ox Eye Daisy seed heads, staked some Brown-Eyed Susans that were leaning into paths, trimmed ground covers so they weren't leaning into paths, weeded, and watered.
• I spent some time in the Orchard as well.  I trimmed verbena out of the paths and weeded.  I spotted a short, fat black snake with very subtle dark markings under some flowers where I was working.  Yuck.  I picked some plums and called it a day. 
• I noticed the metal cable on which we have the grapes trained has fallen down on one side.  I showed Bert so he could fix it next weekend.

Pink Chaste Tree May 20, 2018

My pink Chaste Tree looked really pretty this weekend.  But, I think I need to prune more aggressively than I have been.  I saw some Vitex growing in front of a movie theater the other day.  They were pruned really tightly, and they looked so pretty, really floriferous and compact.

Mophead Hydrangeas May 20, 2018

Below are some of my hydrangeas.  I love them, especially the blue ones.

St. John's Wort May 20, 2018

This variety is a decorative, not the medicinal strain.  So pretty during the few weeks of its bloom time.  I have it growing in my Medicine Garden.

Weekend at the Farm May 18 - 20, 2018

Arrived at the farm on Thursday evening for a long weekend.  Saturday was Meghan and Harry's wedding .  I watched the whole thing.  Bert's birthday was Sunday.

• Friday morning I worked in the Vegetable Garden for an hour or so.  I picked a gallon baggy-full of Dragons Tongue beans.  I did a lot weeding and pinched back a lot of zinnias to make them fuller.  I also cut the tops off a lot of Mexican Sunflowers to make them bushier.
• Watered in the Rose Garden throughout the day.  
• Watered the pots around the pool.
• Sprayed herbicide in paths in the Vegetable Garden.
• Spot sprayed herbicide in the Prairie Meadow.  I pulled up a bunch of some plant I don't know the name of, but the flowers are very weedy-looking and spread their seed like crazy.  I pull some up every time I walk the area.
• I trimmed the grape vines.  This is my new method for hopefully getting some grapes off my vines.  I'm cutting away the vines that go every which way and shade the grapes.
• The day lilies in the Orchard look so pretty right now!
• Swam in the pool with Bert.
• The sprinklers in the top section of the Boardwalk were not working.  Everything was really dry there.  We fiddled with the wires inside the sunken boxes and got them working again.   
• Rested in the heat of the day.
• When evening set in we drove out to the cul de sac and watched Venus rise.
• Saturday morning I watched the royal wedding.
• I weeded in the Orchard, the Star Garden, and here, there, and everywhere.
• Watered in the Rose Garden some more.
• I went to a plant swap.  I brought some of my poppy seeds, my Purple Phacelia seeds, and some of my wonderful gingers for the swap.  I picked up some San Antonio Rose Amaryllis and a variety of very tall blue mist flower that I've never heard of.  Connie also gave me a Burr Oak seedling which I'm very excited about.  I am beginning to recognize people as I go to various events in the area.  We are all very friendly, I just need to get to the next level of remembering names!
• Cleaned the guest bathroom, leather furniture, the vent hood, the ceiling fan in the living room, kitchen sink, counter tops, glass tables and the lights above the bar.
• Picked some plums - the bees were acting crazy!  At first I thought they were doing their usual thing - sort of clustering across the front of the hive waiting to get it.  But when I looked closer they were swarming around like crazy in front of the hive. Interesting and disconcerting.
• Sunday morning I vacuumed and mopped.  
• Mom, Dad, Nan and Lisa came for a visit.  We picked plums and made plum jelly.  We had a nice day! 
• Did some weeding.  The crab grass is winning the battle.  Hopefully I will win the war, though.
• Drove in to work on Monday morning.

A Few Pictures of My Giant Rudbeckia May 12, 2018

This is one of my favorite plants.  It is interesting all year long, evergreen, pretty flowers, and the little chickadees love to eat the seeds.

Re-Purposing a Watering Can

This old metal watering can was coming apart at the bottom seam, so I filled it with dirt and planted a fennel plant in it.  There is a caterpillar chewing away on it (which is exactly why I grow fennel).

 

Weekend at the Farm May 12 - 13, 2018

Arrived Friday afternoon after taking my mom to get carpal tunnel surgery.

• Saturday morning I picked a gallon baggy of Dragon Tongue beans.  They are yellow streaked with purple.  You cook them like green beans. 
• I dug up some potatoes as well.  I'm not getting a lot of potatoes this year because of the voles.  They keep pulling my potato plants under the ground so that no potatoes have time to form. 
• The Vegetable Garden looks good.  The corn is coming along.  Flowers are blooming.  The birdhouse gourd vines are reaching the top of the arbor.  The onions are bulbing.
• I walked the prairie.  Bert cut down two cedar trees so we get a lot more sun in there. 
• I put a wheelbarrow of manure down in the Rose Garden.  And I pulled up some brown eyed susans that were crowding my roses.
• Spent a lot of time watering in the Rose Garden.
• Any Thomeson had a group come by on Saturday to walk the prairie area.  Timing was good.  Now I know I need to cut away a bad grass before its seed heads ripen.  And I got answers on some of the plants I was wondering about (are they good or bad?).
• I sprayed some herbicide in the prairie, just spot-sprayed here and there. 
• I sprayed herbicide in the Star Garden. 
• Staked some Montbretia.
• I pulled out the ladder and picked plums.  Very exciting.
• Trimmed grape vines a bit so that they don't get unruly.
• Drove to Blake's house for Mother's Day on sunday.  Josh, Amy and the kids couldn't make it because Cleo was sick.  But everyone else was there.  We swam in the pool and had had hamburgers.