A Weekend at the Farm September 29-30, 2012

My husband added the section of the shed that extends past the fence in the top photograph (still needs to be painted).  He installed gutters along the roof line that feed into the hole under the roof.  Rain water drains into the tank in the above photograph.  It rained this weekend and the tank filled up to the top.  What a fantastic rain barrel!  Rain water is great for plants.

•  I worked on my landscaping project this weekend.
• We drove to Austin and babysat our granddaughter on Saturday night.  Spent the night, went to breakfast with my husband's son and daughter in law and then headed back to Burton.
• Harvested some okra.
• Pulled weeds.
• The place needs a good clean up.  I've been pretty occupied the last few visits with my landscaping project, and I haven't done much else.  I need to work in the Orchard and along the Boardwalk.
• Thought a lot about my sister this weekend.  Her death weighs heavy on my mind.   

Day Three of My Latest Project

Today I finished the third day of my project.  I made some before and after pictures of what I did today.  There is a very little bit of work left, only a few hours.  What remains is along the side of the area that faces the house. 

Once the leaves drop from the trees I will shred them and put them inside the green landscaping strips.

 

 

This is the section (the photographs above and below) that I haven't finished yet.

 

 With one more load of rock I will surround the landscaping strips in the circular bed above.

Progress on My Project

I made more progress on my landscaping project of the Circle Drive.  I used another 12 green metal landscaping strips and another yard of 3/4 inch crushed limestone.  I'd say three more days should finish it.  I dug up some bulbs and moved them, but for the most part I didn't work on the section of the circle that faces the house because there are so many bulbs to dig up and move.  I am very pleased so far with the new look of the area.

A Weekend at the Farm - September 22-23, 2012

I was very excited to see a Tiger Swallowtail this weekend.  He was a little worse for wear - his wings were a little tattered, but this is the first one I have ever seen.

• My mom and Dad came up for the day on Saturday.  We had a nice visit. 
• I spent Saturday morning cleaning and preparing lunch.  Visits are great because I get a lot of cleaning done.  It gives me the motivation I need to stay inside and clean, otherwise the outdoors calls to me!
• My husband went Saturday to pick up more crushed granite from the rock store.
• I worked on my landscaping project on Sunday morning while it was still cool.  I made two more beds and used a yard of crushed limestone.  
• I planted an Oakleaf Hydrangea along the Boardwalk that I bought at Buchanan's.  It was in a quart container, so it was only $10.
• I turned some of the bed along the shed, added some compost, and planted two Spicebushes (Lindera benzoin).  I pulled up a Big Daddy Hydrangea to make room for them.  It wasn't doing very well, and I'm tired of waiting for it to turn around.  Spicebush is not particularly attractive, but it is the larval food for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly.  They produce yellow flowers in the spring, but they are not real showy.  If you have both a female and a male they will produce berries.  I don't know if I have one of each, they are not labelled.
• I planted a Sassafras tree also.  It is tiny, but I'm a patient person.  I bought it in a quart size for $10, also at Buchanan's.  I bought it because it is a good addition to my herb collection.  Sassafras was what root beer was made of.  The ingredient in the essential oil has since been found to be a carcinogen, so  the FDA has banned its use. 
• Finally, I planted a Sweet Olive shrub in one of the new beds I built that lead to the Rose Garden.
• Watered the shrubs.
• Watered here and there.
• Deadheaded zinnias.
• One of my Ballerina roses is dying.  If it's not dead in a few weeks I'll dig it up and move it to a place where it will get more water.  It's still too hot to move a rose - that will surely kill it. 
• My husband and I went to eat at a restaurant in Carmine on Saturday night.  We passed an old house that is falling apart - we've passed it many times - but this time the entire (what used to be the) front yard was covered in blooming Ox Blood Lilies.  There were hundreds, maybe thousands.  It was amazing!  I must have some!  But you never know if it is an abandoned house or if  the property belongs to a nearby house.  Wandering onto someone's property and digging up bulbs is a good way to get shot in Texas.    

More Pictures of Candida Rain Lilies - September 23, 2012

The Candida Rain Lilies next to the front door of the house were particularly pretty this weekend, so I thought they deserved another look.

Beautyberries Growing Wild in the Woods - September 17, 2012

 Beautyberry grows everywhere wild in our woods.   The shrubs are so striking when the berries are flaming purple at the end of summer and throughout fall.  They can be pruned in order to achieve a more compact shape.  I read in the Chronicle that jelly can be made from the berries.  I found that to be a very surprising fact. I have never noticed the birds or the deer eating the berries much less heard anything about them being edible by humans.  If animals liked these berries it would be a feast fit for a king around here! 

New varieties of Beautyberry have been developed - there are pink ones and white ones and various shades of purple.  But I'm lucky to have the Texas native growing wild right here on my property!

 

Fall Roses September 17, 2012

 This is Valentine rose.  It is always pretty, a very good bloomer.  This rose stays small, about three feet.  It's good for planting in a large pot or barrel.

 A close up of Valentine blooms.

 Another close up of Valentine.

 This is Mrs. B.R. Cant.  Mr. Cant was a famous rosarian, and he named this rose after his wife.  It is one of my best blooming roses.  Right now it is covered with blooms, I stopped counting after I hit 75.  It will get huge if left un-pruned, about 8 feet tall and just as wide.  The flowers have a good smell and a cabbagey shape.

 This is a Mrs. B.R. Cant flower fully open.  Tea roses bend under their own weight, and this one is no exception.  All the blooms nod downwards.

 This is Grandma;s Yellow Rose.  It doesn't get very big.  It isn't a shrub rose.  It reaches about 4 feet in height, but mine has never gotten very full.

 This is Dame de Coeur rose.  Dame de Coeur has very large hips.  A smallish rose, about four feet tall, but it gets full, also about four feet wide.

 A close up of Dame de Couer.

 Another picture of pretty Dame de Couer.

 Dame de Couer.

 This is Honey Sweet. 

 Honey Sweet.

 Chorale rose.  The flowers are a beautiful soft pink, hard to capture with my camera, but really lovely.  It is a good bloomer, almost always in bloom.  It has been one of my biggest rose surprises because I would have never chosen it for myself - it was  a gift.  It has turned out to be one of my favorites due to its consistent blooming.

 A bud of Chorale.

 This is Duchess de Brabant.  It is what as known as a shrub rose - tall and wide.

 This is a bloom of Duchess de Brabant.

 This is Belinda's Dream.  Very pretty flowers, very full.  The shrub is thick and healthy, and the flowers have a good smell.  One of my favorites.

 Belinda's Dream.

 Blush Noisette.  It makes a strong showing in spring with nothing happening in the summer, and then a second but less impressive show in the fall.

Blush Noisette makes sprays of blooms. They have a very intense smell, super sweet.

 Madamoiselle Franziska Kreuger is another one of my best bloomers.  It is always covered in roses, 50 at a time.

 The flowers are pretty, but they reflex quickly.  The flowers are a pink and yellow blend, you can see pink flowers, yellow flowers and pink/yellow flowers on the plant all at the same time.

 Madamoiselle Franziska Kreuger bloom.

 La Marne.  What's not to like?  It get covered in flowers.  The cooler the weather is the pinker the flowers are.  In the dead of summer they are almost white.

 La Marne flowers have a good smell. 

Sweet little flowers of La Marne.  La Marne makes a very full, thick shrub.