A Weekend at the Farm August 31 - Sep 3, 2012

The top picture is my Cairn Terrier, Rocky.  The second picture is my Convenience Store Puppy, Sadie.  I found Sadie in front of a bodega in Austin.  I rescued her.  She is very very sweet.

• My uncle Darrel passed away, and my husband and I drove to Madisonville for the funeral.  He was a sweet man, and his passing leaves a hole in the family.
• Nathan and Jessica came to Burton for the weekend with 5 friends.  They camped in tents at night.  Hot and miserable!  I don't know how they did it.  They swam in the pool all day and cooked elaborate meals all weekend.  They had a good time.
• I went to the Antique Rose Emporium on Saturday.  I bought an American Beauty climbing rose and a Peggy Martin rose.  American Beauty rose is grown in two forms - a shrub and a climber.  I planted the climber in a small bed I dug next to the conveyor belt that my husband mounted in cement in the side yard.  I'm going to train American Beauty to grow up the conveyor belt.  American Beauty has a wonderful, classic rose smell.  Peggy Martin rose is also known as the Hurricane Katrina rose. It is a found rose that was growing in the yard of Peggy Martin.  Ms. Martin's house was 20 feet under salt water after Katrina.  When she was finally able to return to her home after the hurricane, this rose was blooming.  Only this climbing rose and one crinum were still alive in her yard.  Everything else was dead.  Since then cuttings have been taken and the rose has been put into commercial production.   The proceeds go to charitable projects related to the recreation of famous gardens in New Orleans that were destroyed by the hurricane.  By all accounts this rose is quite spectacular.   I planted it in a small bed I dug next to a chain link gate my husband mounted with rebar spikes.  I will train Peggy Martin to climb up the gate.
• Several days ago I found a small Banana Shrub at Buchanan's Nursery.  It was only $10 so I bought it.  I was hesitant because the soil is very alkaline, and Banana Shrub likes acid soil.  Banana Shrub blooms in the spring.  The flowers aren't super spectacular, but they smell very intensely like  ripe banana.  It is an old fashioned southern passalong plant, highly prized for its memorable scent.  I planted mine in one of the beds that leads to the Rose Garden. 
• I pulled up all the zinnias in one of the beds in the Orchard because they were overgrown.  I spread seeds from seed heads that I previously cut and were laying on the ground.  I hope to have a good fall show.
• I pulled up zinnias in the Hollyhock bed also and spread seeds from dried seed heads. 
• I sprayed herbicide in the Vegetable Garden, the Rose Garden, the Orchard, the driveway, and the Long Border.
• Spent a lot of time reflecting on the sad events my family has had to endure over the past several months.