Debutante Camellia December 9, 2012

For some reason I am very proud of this camellia.  I planted 3 of them in November of 2007.  Two of them died.  Camellias are famously slow growers.  Several times I have seen elderly couples in nurseries buying tiny little camellias.  I want to tell them that they will both be dead before their camellia is taller than their knee.  But I don't!  

 Camellias have very specific needs.  They need shade and acid soil.  I have alkaline soil.  But I planted them anyway.  Two of them died after a few years, but this one looks like it is fairly happy.  I have visions of it being 20 feet tall, covered in hundreds of blooms.  That is 15 years away, and there are numerous  calamities that can befall this little shrub along the way.  But if it makes it, it will be beautiful.

 Camellias are not only slow growers, but to add insult to injury, they are very difficult to propagate.  That is why, when they were first introduced from China, camellias were plants that only the wealthy could afford.  The Chinese were making green tea from the leaves of the Camellia Sasanqua for centuries before camellias were brought to Europe and ultimately to America.  My camellia is not a sasanqua, it is a japonica, and therefore, not the famous herbal camellia plant.  

A Weekend at the Farm December 7 - 9, 2012

Saturday was traumatic.  My husband went hunting.  He shot a deer, but he didn't kill it.  I had to help him search for the poor thing.  We searched and searched all through the woods, I found some blood several times, but we never found the deer.  We went back to the house to get the cub cadet and drive around hoping to scare it up.  Sure enough we scared it.  It lurched into the trail, both front legs broken.  No gun!  He left it at home.  I raced home to get the gun and raced back with it.  My husband shot him and put him out of his terrible suffering.  I was traumatized. I couldn't do anything for the rest of the day. It was horrible.

I spent most of Sunday shredding leaves with my awesome leaf shredder.  I spread the leaves in the Boardwalk beds.  There are still billions of leaves to shred.

Filled the new bed in the Rose Garden with soil.  Seeded it with Johnny Jump Ups, Sublime Blue Larkspur, and Red Corn Poppies.

Spread seed in the Orchard, did some weeding.

Deadheaded roses.

Planted some Royal Blend Sweet Peas in the Long Border along the mattress spring trellis.

Watered the shrubs.

Watched butterflies.

Mulched both of my new passion vines.

Finished mulching the really weedy part of the Long Border.

Spread seed in the Long Border.

Moved a shovelful of Mexican sedum from the Star Garden to the Long Border.

Pink Firespike Dec 2, 2012

This is the first year my Firespike has bloomed here.  Prior to this year the first freeze has knocked it back before it had a chance to bloom.  Note the Zebra butterfly in the photo above.  

Firespike likes some protection from the sun.  Bright shade or morning sun is best for this plant.  It is a fall bloomer.  There is a red blooming variety as well, but I prefer the pink.  It dies back with the first freeze and comes up from the roots in the spring.  It get quite tall in one season.

Firespike roots really easily.  I took some cuttings from my plants in Houston, stuck them in some water for a couple of days, then I stuck them in the dirt here in Brenham.  They rooted with no problem.

A Weekend at the Farm Nov 30 - Dec 2, 2012

This is a Queen butterfly.  It is one of several milkweed butterflies, the Monarch being the most well known.  They are plentiful right now in my garden, sometimes 4 or 5 at a time hanging off a butterfly weed or a salvia.  This Queen is in the Shade Garden, sipping nectar from a flower of a Giant Ligularia.

It was another beautiful weekend with great weather and no humidity.

• I received four shrubs in the mail from Woodlanders.  Two Sweetshrub (Calycanthus x raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine', a Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu', and a Sweet Olive (Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus.  The sweet shrubs have burgundy colored flowers that can smell very sweet, but scent is variable on these plants, and it's possible to get one that has no scent.  Obviously that would be a blow, I'm buying it for the good smell.  But only time will tell.  They are only sticks right now.  I might not get a bloom for several years.  I planted one of the Hartlage Wines in a bed next to the entrance to the Greenhouse that I made several years ago that currently only has Columbine growing in it.  I had a Sweet Olive growing there, but it died in the drought last summer.  I extended a bed on the other side of the Greenhouse and planted the other Hartlage Wine.  Both spots get regular water now, so they should be pretty self sufficient.  I planted the Fudingzhu in a bed that I built next to the path that leads to the Boardwalk behind the house.  Sweet Olives are evergreen, so they are good plants to locate near the house.  The aurantiacus was placed in a bed that I made last weekend next to the back gate.  I already have one growing in a bed on the other side of the gate, so they are a pair now. 
• Spent time on Saturday building a bed and expanding a bed.  Didn't do much else on Saturday because I wasn't feeling well.
• Repaired the stone edging along the back of the house.  My husband put up a gutter along the entire back of the house to stop the erosion in the flowerbeds, so I reset the stones and filled in the spots where the soil had eroded away.  That took some time.
• Shredded leaves. Leaves!  Leaves everywhere!  I shredded about ten bags of leaves and it looked exactly the same as it did before I started.  That's ok, though, because I love this time of year.  This is how I gather mulch for all my gardens and how I get a huge start on my compost for next summer.  I need the leaves!  It's a lot of work though.  My back muscles get really tired. I love my awesome leaf shredder, the best Christmas present I ever got.  Spread shredded leaves in the beds along the Boardwalk.
• Deadheaded roses.
• Watered shrubs.
• Watched butterflies.
• Cut away dead vine debris off the arbor at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  It was blocking the growth of my daffodils.
• Partially cleaned up a section of the Long Border.  Needs more work. 
• Spread seed in various places - Corn Poppies and Johnny Jump Ups.
• Weeded, weeded, weeded
• Marvelled at all my bulbs popping up.
• Planted some bulbs that I unearthed when I was planting my Althea cuttings several weeks ago.  I don't know what they are.  I planted them on their side because I couldn't tell which side was up.     
• Lovely, lovely weekend.    

My 2011 and 2012 Shrub Plantings

I realize that I cannot keep planting perennials and bulbs - too hard to keep up with the weeding over time.  So I have begin planting shrubs in earnest.  They take up a lot of room and a wheelbarrow full of mulch can be thrown down underneath a shrub pretty easily.  Here are the shrubs I planted in 2011 and 2012, note that they are very small - some no more than a stick - but in two years they will be very big.  Patience is the key.  In this posting I am not including the shrubs I planted along the Boardwalk which include Kerria japonicas, Oakleaf Hydarangeas, Sweetspires, Bottlebrush Buckeyes, Camellias, and False Indigo:

In the above photo:  I planted these two shrubs in November of 2011.  They are Pink Cloud Kolkwitzia amabilis, given to me by my mother.  They have a weeping shape.  They get quite large, and they are covered with pink flowers in the spring. I don't know of anyone that has this shrub growing in their yard.

 In the above photo the large tree-like plant is Almond Verbena which I planted in the spring of 2012.  I have this growing near the front door because it has a heavenly scent.  Really fine.  This winter I will trim it by half to make it more full and shrub-like.  Left unchecked it will get very tall.  Almond Verbena is a very fast grower.

 Above - this is Harlequin Glory Bower.  It is a suckering shrub.  I planted this shrub / small tree in October of last year.  I dropped it and broke it in half when I was planting it.  I stuck the tiny little twig in the ground hoping I hadn't killed it.  One year later it is as tall as I am.  It blooms pink flowers in the fall and makes extremely interesting seed pods that are bright blue and red.  This shrub is deciduous and spreads from suckering roots - kind of invasive.

 So, in the above photo I have 3 Dwarf Flowering Almond shrubs (Prunis glandulosa 'Rosea') growing.  I planted these in November 2011.  These are more slow growing than the shrubs in the other photos above , but I think they will be really beautiful in a few years.  In the spring they flower lots of small pink fully double flowers all along the upright branches.

                                     
 Above I am growing two Altheas - one is still too short to be seen above the blue salvia to the left.  The Althea on the right is a double red.  The Althea that cannot be seen is a Satin Marina which is a single blue flower with a red throat.  Altheas are deciduous.  They can be pruned in the winter to keep them more shrub-like, or they can be left to grow into a small tree.  Altheas are summer bloomers.  They bloom in the heat of the summer - August.  I planted both of these in February 2012.  Altheas were very popular plants at one time, but Crepe Myrtles have far surpassed them in popularity.  Now, I think Altheas are thought of as old fashioned plants, but I prefer them to Crepe Myrtles because they are not as common nowadays.

 The shrub in the photo above is Snowball Viburnum - barely visible next to the trellis, I'm afraid.  I planted it in December 2011.  It was a stick when it arrived from an online order I placed with Martha's Secret.  It is healthy, but it has a long way to go before it is impressive.  Viburnum Macrocephalum Sterile is a slow growing deciduous shrub.  It makes large balls of white flowers - large like a mop head hydrangea.  It will be very pretty one day.

 In the photo above I am growing several shrubs.  In the foreground I have a Pearl Bush which I planted in October 2011.  Pearl Bush is deciduous and blooms pretty single white flowers in the spring.  All along the flower bed I have planted some Altheas that I rooted from cuttings.  They are just twigs right now, so they cannot be seen in the photograph.  White singles, lavender doubles, and a lavender single with a pink throat and a white single with a red throat.  I probably shouldn't have planted them in the ground until after the winter.  Well, you have to be tough to make in my garden.

 Above are two Spicebushes (Lindera benzoin).  I planted these in September 2012.  As do all the others, these will get quite large.  They are turning yellow because it is autumn.  Spicebush is not particularly attractive, but it is the larval food for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly which I find appealing.  And they like a bit of shade.  So this is the perfect spot for them I should think.  The leaves are very fragant when crushed.

Above is a Kerria japonica alba.  I planted it in October 2012.  This shrub is unusual because the flowers are white and they are single.  The double yellow is what is commonly spotted in southern country gardens.  The branches are arching.  The plant is deciduous, but the branches stay a pretty green throughout the winter which gives this shrub some winter interest.  It blooms in the spring.  

Above is a Sassafrass tree, but it can be grown as a large shrub if pruned.  It has very pretty fall coloring as you can see from the leaves beginning to turn red.  This was a popular herb in the old days. Rootbeer is made from the Sassafrass tree.

Above is Madame Isaac Pereire.  This rose gets quite large.  I am pegging it which means I am fastening the branches to the ground so the eyes will beak all along the branches.  It will bloom more profusely.  It is a once a year bloomer.  The flowers smell really wonderful.  Memorable scent.

 Above is a shrub I'm very excited about.  It is Orange Flowered Sweet Olive (Osmanthes fragrans auranticus).  Sweet Olives are evergreen and, yes, they get quite large.  Their scent is really wonderful.  I planted it right next to the back door and the kitchen windows so that the scent can be enjoyed inside the house as well as every time anyone exits the house.  This variety blooms orange flowers, the common variety blooms cream colored flowers.  So this one is quite unusual.

Above is a Purple Vitex.  There is another one growing right next to this one.  I planted both of these in May of 2012.  I  babied them through the summer, but I know they will be fine now.  Vitex leaves are palmate and have a very fine silver cast to them.  Good shrubs in the landscape.  Vitex are deciduous.

 Above is my second purple Vitex.

Above is a Banana shrub.  Banana shrubs are evergreen.  They bloom flowers that smell like ripe bananas.  They are classic southern passalong plants.  I planted it in September 2012.  I saw it in Buchanan's Nursery.  It was small and therefore cheap - only $10 - so I bought it.  My hesitation was that they like acidic soil.  My soil is alkaline.  But for $10 I'm willing to give it a try.

The shrub in the above photograph is a Sweet Olive.  This is the common Sweet Olive.  It has tiny cream colored flowers that are heavily scented.  It is evergreen.  I planted it in September, it was already large when I bought it.

Above is a pink flowered Vitex.  The pink flowering Vitex is uncommon.  I purchased it at the Bulb and Plant Mart in October 2012.

Above is Limelight Hydrangea.  I've been working hard to keep it watered this year.  I planted it in the spring of 2012.  It will make it, but it has struggled a bit this summer.

 This sad looking little shrub is a Sweetshrub 'Venus' (Calycanthus 'Venus').  It is rare, and I'm sure not seen around these parts.  I'm excited about it.  The flower is a very pretty white.  Scent among sweetshrubs is variable, so I can't wait until it blooms to see if I got a good one.

That's all of the shrubs I planted around the house in 2011 and 2012.  They are all treasures.  Over the summer of 2013 I will have to hand water them again, but after that they will be pretty independent unless we have an extended dry period.  My garden is still maturing, and these shrubs are an important part of the evolving look of the garden.  I'm very happy about its progress.

A Weekend at the Farm Nov 21 - 24, 2012

This is Copper Canyon Daisy.  It is a fall bloomer, blooming its heart out right now in November.  The greenery is very pungent, I guess that's why it is said to be deer resistant.  Copper Canyon Daisy needs a lot of room for just one plant - it sprawls a lot!  It is very drought tolerant.  This is a good plant to put in a place that gets a lot of sun and doesn't get much water.  This plant will die to the ground in winter and will come up from the roots in the spring.

It was a long holiday weekend.  Arrived on Wednesday to clean house and cook.  Family arrived on Thursday.  Thirteen for Thanksgiving.  We ate outside under the arbor.  Very good day.

• Late afternoon Nan, Lisa, Nicholas, Nolan, Ashley, Allen, Josh, and Max and I drove to the deserted house that I have been actively obsessing about and went exploring.  At first everyone was nervous because the house looks like it is being lived in.  Creepy!  But eventually everyone got brave and we began exploring.  We went to the big barn first.  It was full of some very cool stuff!  It took my most, best inner person to keep from taking some of that stuff.  Old wooden barrels, a hand cart with a metal wheel, metal spoked tractor tires, an old metal tractor seat, car doors with the windows still in tact, etc.  Next we went to the small barn where we found interesting old bottles, a claw foot tub, lots of wood framed windows, a box filled with old papers, etc.  Then on to the chicken coop where we came upon a dog cemetery with 8 little crosses with the dogs' names spelled:  Peace, Rusty, etc.  Then we couldn't resist - Josh tried one of the windows of the house and it opened!  We went in.  Everything was in tact just as if someone had lived there one day and then was gone.  There was food in the refrigerator, china in the china cabinet, a beautiful quilt on the bed, a shot gun in the closet, photographs on the walls, dishes in the drying rack next to the sink, a beautiful silver brush set on the dresser, magazines from 2002 on the coffee table.  A life frozen in time.  Really poignant and eery.  A real-live mystery. 
• I had soil and mulch delivered on Wednesday so that I could do some work on Friday and Saturday.  

• I expanded the flowerbed next to the dining room window and the flowerbed just opposite of that one - the paths between them were too wide.  
• I expanded the flowerbed where I planted most of the crinums that Janine Snapp gave me.
• I added some soil to a few of the beds in the Circle Drive, just enough to sow the Philippine Lily seeds that I've been holding on to.  It is a dream of mine to have hundreds of Philippine Lilies in the Circle some day.  It is slightly shady there, and it will be the perfect spot for them.
• Watched butterflies.
• Enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
• Pulled up all the salvias and zinnias from the large bed in the Orchard and seeded it with red corn poppies. dark blue larkspur, Johnny Jump Ups, and corncockle.
• Placed a trellis in the middle of it and sowed some Royal Blend Sweet Peas.  
• Sowed some Royal Sweet Peas on a trellis in the Star Garden.  
• Sowed corn poppies in the Star Garden.  
• Watered the shrubs.
• Sowed Shirley Single Poppies in the front beds and around the Seven Sisters daffodils.
• Sowed Johnny Jump Ups in the front bed.
• Moved six or seven shovelfuls of Mexican Sedum from the Star Garden over to the Long Border and along the front of the flowerbed at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  Mexican Sedum is a great front-of-the-border plant.  It is evergreen, a very pretty chartreuse color, pretty succulent leaves, and it blooms yellow flowers in the spring.
• Fertilized all my bulbs that are emerging.  Bulbs should be fertilized just as they emerge and just before they bloom.  
• Watered here and there.

More pictures of Copper Canyon Daisy.

A Weekend at the Farm November 11 - 12, 2012

Went to the lake on Saturday and spent Sunday and Monday in Burton.

• Planted 6 Altheas in the Bulb Bed that I rooted from cuttings several months ago:  2 white singles (cut from a shrub in  my yard in Houston), 2 double lavenders (also from my yard in Houston), and 2 lavender singles with pink throats (from a shrub I saw growoing next to some aprtments on Westheimer).  It will be interesting to see if they survive the winter.  I had to work the soil pretty well - it was matted with cedar roots that form a thick mat.  Added compost as well.  Good luck, cuttings. I've done as much for you as could be expected. 
• Pulled up all the okra in the Orchard.  Some of the stems were two inch thick, so pulling it up was quite a chore.  Bert helped me.
• Pulled up the green beans in the Orchard.
• Spread wildflowers in the beds where I pulled up the okra and the green beans.  I spread the Oklahoma / Texas mix from Wildseed Farms in the bed where the okra was growing.  I spread Johnny Jump Ups, Sublime Dark Blue Larkspur, Red Corn Poppies, and Corncockle in the bed where the green beans were growing.  
• I also spread the Okla / Tx mix in the path next to the Rose Garden and on the outside of the Orchard fences.  My husband won't like that!  He hates when I plant in the spots where he mows.
• I spread poppy seed around the Orchard and the outside of the Rose Garden.
• I spread Corncockle, Larkspur, and Red Corn Poppies in half of Long Border closest to the arbor.  
• Watered the shrubs.
• I set up a trellis in one of the beds in the Star Garden and planted Singing the Blues Sweet Peas around it.  
• I made two trellises out of long poles that I wrapped chicken wire around.  Last year I used tomato cages for my sweet peas to climb on, but those are too short.  The sweet peas want to climb about 6 feet, so this is my new idea.  I planted Old Spice around one trellis and I planted Perfume Delight around the other.  I will probably plant some more sweet peas.  I just love them.
• I spread Johnny Jump Ups along the edges of several beds.  They are low growing cool season flowers that stay around until about June.  After that the weather is too hot for them.  Johnny Jump Ups are cheerful little flowers.  I love them.
• I threw down some Indian Spring Hollyhock seeds in the Star Garden.  I don't know why.  I love holly hocks, but the rust problem makes them hopeless plants to grow. 
• All my bulbs except for the Spanish Bluebells and the Corn Flags have begun to come up.  
• I planted 4 artichoke plants in the Orchard.
• Pulled up some more zinnias that were not looking good anymore.
• Cut away the Pea Vine off the trellis in the Star Garden.  It never grew any pretty flowers.  Pea Vine doesn't grow true from seed.  Unfortunately they  are prolific re-seeders, and this year's vine was from last year's seed.  I will have to be diligent to pull up any seedlings I see next year.  I think I'll try Black Eyed Susan Vine on that trellis next year.  It is easy to grow from seed.
• My husband cut away two branches from a cedar tree that was shading my new Peggy Martin rose.
• I have lots of ideas for new beds.  I need soil and mulch!
• The leaves are beginning to fall heavily.  I'll start mulching the leaves soon.  
• Enjoyed the beautiful, perfect weather on Sunday. 

Cigar Plant October 28, 2012

Cigar Plant is in the Cuphea family (pronounced coo-fee-uh).  It dies back to the ground in the winter.  It is a good bloomer, it blooms heavily in the spring and fall with intermittent blooms through the summer.  The clump will get bigger each year.  Last spring I stuck a shovel right through the middle of my clump at my home in Houston and moved some of the plant to Burton.  It's doing fine in both places.  Very hardy.  The flowers look like lit cigars, see the close up photos below.  Very cute.  Cupheas have a lot of personality.  Some cuphea flowers look like bat or mice faces.  They are all bee, hummer, and butterfly friendly due to their yummy flute-like flowers.

Stinks So Good - White Mist Flower October 28, 2012

White Mist Flower stinks.  It's pretty when it blooms in the fall, but it stinks.  Insects are fiercely attracted to it, not the large butterflies, but the small skippers and other small insects.  They buzz and flutter over it all day.  Obviously it smells pretty good to them!

White Mist grows into a small shrub.  It is deciduous.  In a mild winter, if you don't cut it back, when spring arrives it will green up on the whole plant.  In a cold winter, when spring arrives, it will come up from the roots.

See the skipper in the photo above and below?

See the love bug in the photo above?

A Weekend at the Farm October 27-28, 2012

This weekend I planted some red cannas with burgundy leaves that were given to me by Janine Snapp.  I planted some in the spot in the above photograph, and I planted some in another area of the Star Garden.  I was looking for some height in this area, and Janine offered me these cannas that she was digging up in order to pour some concrete.  She also gave me some crinums.  Based on her description of the flowers, I believe they are milk and wine crinums.  Milk and wine crinums are true old fashioned crinums.  I partially created a flowerbed in which to plant them.  I don't have any soil right now, so I turned the soil over and mixed in a wheel barrow of compost  in an area I created with some landscaping strips.  I planted the crinums in that area. It will have to do until I get another load of soil and mulch.  I think it's the perfect spot for the crinums.  They will be shaded from the hottest part of the afternoon sun.  Thank you to Janine for thinking of me and taking the trouble to haul them to work and give them to me!    

• Soaked parsley and cilantro seeds overnight in water.  They germinate more easily that way.  Planted them in the Medicine Garden around the Venus Sweetshrub.
• Dug up some Flame Anicanthus that was growing in a path and moved it to another flowerbed where I had a big empty spot.
• Pulled up zinnias in the Star Garden and The Orchard.
• The daffodils are starting to emerge.  Very exciting!
• Moved 4 large shovelfuls of Mexican Sedum from the Star Garden (where I planted the cannas) to the Long Border. 
• Repaired the stone edge of a flowerbed in the back of the house and turned over the soil.  Seeded the area with Sublime Dark Blue Larkspur and Nigella (Love in a Mist).  It might be a little early to set out larkspur seed, but the soil was freshly turned - it was the perfect time from that perspective.
• Seeded the Star Garden with Nigella seeds.  The doves were all over it later that day - hope they didn't eat all of it!  Hard to get mad at the gentle doves. 
• Seeded a few spots in the Star Garden with Cambridge Blue Lobelia.  The seeds are like dust.  Don't know if I'll have any luck with lobelia, never tried to grow it before.  We'll see.
• Watered all my shrubs.
• Added compost to several beds in the Orchard and planted some Snowball cauliflower, some Snow Crown cauliflower, 1 Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage, 1 Copenhagan Market cabbage, and 3 brussel sprouts.
• Picked gallon baggies of okra and green beans.
• The weather was so beautiful this weekend.  I sat in the sun and read a book on Sunday afternoon.  No humidity, cool and sunny.  Such an amazing weekend!
• Fertilized all the roses.
• Deadheaded roses.
• The Zeolite Calendula seeds I sowed last weekend are starting to pop up. 
• Cut branches along the Boardwalk that were laying across the space where we walk.
• Weeded, weeded, weeded.  Always.

Okra October 20, 2012

This is my okra.
Okra attracts aphids.  They like the flower buds.  For this reason stink bugs and wasps are attracted to the okra.  In the photograph below there are 3 stinkbugs and a wasp crawling around on the top of the plant.  You have to careful picking the okra or you'll get a wasp sting on your face.

Okra is really fun and easy to grow from seed.  The seeds are large and easy to handle.  The plants grow fast, and they get really tall.  One can feel like a real gardener growing okra.  Very satisfying!  

In the photograph above you see a flower that is almost open, 4 buds, and one okra that is ready to pick.  Okra is in the hibiscus family.  The flowers are very pretty and resemble the flowers of the decorative (non-edible) hibiscus plants.