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.