Candida Rain Lilies September 30, 2018

Below, see my rain lilies coming up amongst my Country Girl mums.  The mums are loaded with buds.

Weekend at the Farm September 29 - 30, 2018

This is Shenandoah canna.

I arrived on Saturday morning, Bert drove up on Friday morning.  Rainy and grey.

• Rainy and grey was perfect because I needed to sow my wildflower seeds.  Last week Bert mowed the section of meadow that is between the Vegetable Garden and the tree house.  I scraped the soil with my boot here and there throughout the area and liberally sprinkled Standing Cypress, Moss Verbena, and Tall Poppy Mallow then stamped it in firmly.  I had a pound of each seed, and I used the better part of all three pounds.
• I have a pound of mixed wildflower seeds, a pound of Red Drummond Phlox, and a quarter pound of Bluebonnets that I will sow eventually.  Nathan and the boys came for the weekend, so I tried to work around their visit.
• I also bought a quarter pound of echinacea, and I worked a bunch of it into the soil in various beds in the Orchard. 
• Nathan and the boys arrived about 11:30.  I pushed the boys in the tree swing for a long time, we played with toys, and we walked in the rain with umbrellas.
• Sunday morning Bert, Nathan and the boys went fishing in Carol's tank.  I pulled up a bunch of floppy zinnias and sowed parsley in the bed next to the dining room window.  And I sowed Standing Cypress in the dry beds around the center part of the Star Garden.
• Pulled some weeds for a while and carried a Mexican sunflower to the trash pile that had toppled over.  That's about all the time I had before they returned from fishing.  They didn't catch any fish, but our friend the turtle came swimming over for a snack.
• Right before the boys left, Bert mowed a swath through the meadow.  And after the boys left I forked away the native hay that I laid down last fall and sowed more Standing Cypress, some Red Drummond Phlox, some bluebonnets, and some Moss Verbena.
• I sowed another couple of rows of parsnips and gold beets in the Vegetable Garden.  And I sowed some lettuce seeds.
• I weeded for a bit in the Daffodil Bed.  My Sweetness daffodil bulbs will arrive shortly and I'm going to plant most of them in that bed and the rest in the adjacent bed.
• I weeded for a bit in the Rose Garden.
• Headed home to Houston about 4:00.

Day at the Farm September 23, 2018

The whole family went to an Astros game on Saturday night.  Bert and I drove to the farm separately on Sunday morning.  He will stay until Wednesday.  I drove home Sunday afternoon and flew to Denver Monday morning for an Allegro user group meeting.

• It's been pouring rain here, and that always creates a situation where all my seeds don't sprout (the soil gets too compacted).  However, some seeds have sprouted here and there.  Next weekend I will have a better idea what my bare spots are, and I will sow more vegetable seeds.
• I had two bags of potting soil, and I spent the day filling up all the big buckets in the Vegetable Garden.  Through the course of a season the soil in the buckets gets compacted, plus you lose some when you pull the plants out of the pots at the end of the season, so all of them have to be topped off.  I spread dill and parsley in all the buckets except for two.  
• I planted a mustard green and a collard green in two of the buckets.  I planted 3 mustards and 2 collards in the new bed that I turned over last weekend.
• I added some potting soil to all the pots in the Star Garden and sowed dill and parsley.  I planted a collard in a pot in the Star Garden.  I sowed catmint in the big pot in the Star Garden.  I used to have some growing in there, but after 3 years or so it has disappeared. 
• I did a little clean-up in the bulb bed around the oak tree in the Star Garden.  It didn't need much work.  I raked the soil to loosen it, then I spread an ounce of Corn Cockle seed over it and pressed it in.
• Loaded the cadet with a truckload of mulch and laid down mulch around the greens in the buckets and the ones in the bed that I planted earlier.  I also mulched the sixteen by two bed.  I'm going to let that one rest this winter, and I don't want to wrestle with weeds.
• Bert and I took a long piece of goat wire down to the Orchard and surrounded the Swamp Sunflower with it to try and stake that monster as best we could.  I planted a small plug of it two years ago, now it is massive and unruly.  I don't know how people use this plant in their gardens.  It can't stand up on its own, it grows six feet tall and flops everywhere right when it's setting its blooms. This year after it blooms and sets its seeds I'm going to dig it up and plant it in the wet part of the meadow.  It's a native, so it belongs there.  It can flop away out there.
• I did some weeding.  
• I spread sevin dust on the greens. 
• Drove home around 4:00. 

Black Seeded Moudry Grass September 23, 2018

I love grasses.  I love the wonderful seed heads waving in the breeze.  I tried to build a grass garden about 6 years ago.  It seems that voles love grasses too, and they ate almost all of them - the roots right up to the soil level.  But Black Seeded Moudry didn't seem to be something they liked to eat, and it has multiplied until I have a really lovely stand of it.

White Fall Flowers Septe,ber 16, 2018

Diane Althea

Pringle Aster 

Candida Rain Lilies

Rose of Sharon

Weekend at the Farm September 15 - 16, 2018

 Arrived Friday evening, Bert was already here.  I went to Koy and Cleo's grandparents ice cream social, grocery store, then here around six o'clock.  Josh, Amy, Koy and Cleo arrived early Saturday afternoon and spent the night.  Their kitchen is going through a re-model.

• Saturday I spent the morning clearing out the Vegetable Garden, prepping it for my fall garden.  I turned over and smoothed out the soil in the 30 foot bed, two of the four x four beds, and the 16 foot bed.  I pulled up all the okra (I didn't even eat any okra this year, I should stop growing it because it is a host plant for nematodes.).  I pulled up both of my Ichibahn eggplants growing in buckets.  They are still producing beautifully, but time to move on.  I pulled up weeds and dead Mexican Sunflower.  I also pulled up some Coreopsis - it would be pretty in the spring, but it is in the way.  I raked the paths here and there.  That was quite a lot of effort, my heart was pounding from the effort for some reason!
• I had Bert come out and shoot into the armadillo hole in the back of the Vegetable Garden.  The dirt dug out of the hole looked fresh, so hopefully the little bastard was in there.  Bert filled the hole with rocks and decomposed granite that he dug up from the road. 
• Josh and family arrived, and the girls and I played all afternoon.  Josh and Amy went to dinner, and we babysat the girls.
• Sunday.  More playing dolls and swimming and just generally being outside.  Josh and family left about 3:00.
• I sowed seeds in the Vegetable Garden:  Giant of Italy Parsley, Cruiser Cilantro, Allstar Gourmet Lettuce Mix, Touchstone Gold Beets, Javelin Parsnips, Bright Lights Swiss Chard and Napoli Carrots.
• Did laundry and headed home.

Weekend at the Farm September 8 - 9, 2018

Pretty garden spider.

We came up on Friday evening after dinner and the traffic had died down.  On Saturday evening we met Mom, Dad, Nan and Lisa in Washington on the Brazos at Dos Brisas for dinner.  They drove to Burton after dinner and spent the night.  Lovely evening.  We made our reservations for our Alaska cruise in July.

• Saturday I spent several hours in the Star Garden pulling weeds and staking ageratum.  I trimmed the Almond Verbena.  Watered dry places in the La Marne border.  Hauled away a truckload of debris and weeds.
• I spent several hours in the Orchard pulling weeds and generally cleaning up.
• Saturday afternoon we got some good rain and it continued to rain throughout the evening and the next day.  We really needed the rain, everything was very dry. 
• When we got home from dinner with my folks and sisters, Bert saw an armadillo outside.  He shot it.  Yay!  Those little monsters are ruining my gardens.
• Sunday, breakfast and Alaska trip-planning.  Home to Houston after that. 

Pretty Wildflower September 2, 2018

I noticed this pretty stand of wildflowers growing along a path in a low area of the property.  I've never noticed it before.  It's quite showy.  I looked in my book, but I don't think it is in there.

Day at the Farm September 1 - 2, 2018

Saturday evening, William and Kim's house.  Sunday, Koy's 3rd birthday party at Mark and Jere's house.  We drove to the farm after the party.

• I did no work on Sunday beyond watering in the Rose Garden.  We have had some good rain in Houston, but none here unfortunately.
• Monday.  It was quite humid, and I sweated buckets while I was working.  I got rid of all the bad toxins!
• I set about working in the Greenhouse Gardens.  I trimmed Elderberry out of pathways.  I pulled zillions of weeds.  Cut away gingers leaning into the paths.  Watered in the whole area.  I raked the paths - lot of debris (leaves, twigs, acorns, etc.).  I pulled up lots of Gotu Kola that was looking really ragged.  I cut away Hojo Santo that was leaning into paths.  Threw most of it into the compost pile (those huge leaves make good greens for the compost pile).  I also laid a bunch of it down in the flower beds to rot.  Yanked up lots of horsetail reed.  I made good progress, it looks much better.
• There was a pile of African Hostas in the Medicine Garden that had been turned up by armadillos.  I moved a bunch of them to several places to start new stands of them.  They multiple so vigorously and they are really pretty.  
• Watered in the Rose Garden throughout the day.  Bert and I erected a scarecrow in the Rose Garden.  The deer have eaten every leaf off my roses.  It's a garden of sticks.  Maybe the scarecrow will help.  Bert pee'd on it.  I've read that deer don't like human smell, so I told Bert to pee on it.
• I sprayed herbicide here and there in the Rose Garden, the Star Garden, the Greenhouse Gardens, and the drive way and the Vegetable Garden.
• Deadheaded the zinnias in the Rose Garden.
• I pulled up all the spent zinnias in the Long Border and threw the seed heads in the bed to start more flowers. 
• Bert and I pulled up the goat wire arbor in the Vegetable Garden to get rid of the remnants of the birdhouse gourd vine.  
• That was all.  Headed home.