Fireworks Gomphrena July 28, 2013

I transplanted lots of Fireworks Gomphrena over the last several weeks from around this bed (where seeds took root in the paths).  I put several plants in the Orchard and a half dozen or so plants in the Star Garden.
I really like this plant.  It is a reseeding tender perennial.

Belinda's Dream July 28, 2013

The Belinda's Dream next to the house was really pretty this weekend.  I have three Belinda's Dream roses in the Rose Garden, but they are not blooming.  This one gets a lot more water.

At War with the Armadillos July 28, 2013

The armadillos love this flowerbed.  They turn it up every single night so that I haven't been able to grow anything in it successfully.  So I am trying to make it as inhospitable as possible.  I put chicken wire around the perennial violets.  I put chicken wire around the crinums that Janine gave me.  And I laid chicken wire over all the areas that have nothing growing.  I transplanted a Pam Puryear Turk's Cap from the boardwalk to this flowerbed. If the armadillos leave it alone, this should be a pretty little flowerbed by the fall.  I know they will try to dig around the wire, it's just a question of how hard they will try.  That will determine how successfull I was with my efforts.

Above, six crinums that Janine gave me.

Above, the pink Pam Puryear Turk's Cap that I transplanted from the Boadwalk Garden.  It will get about 3 feet tall and just as wide.

Critter Damage July 28, 2013

Racoons destroyed the decorative gourds I was growing on this arbor.  They haven't found the ones yet that are growing on the other arbor in the Vegetable Garden.  Well, if an animal is hungry enough to eat these unsavory things then God bless them.

Sangria Crinums July 28, 2013

This is year three for my Sangria Crinums.  They are slow multipliers and stingy bloomers.  I actually had one bloom this year.  Yahoo.  The petals are thin, pink and reflexed, pretty, but infrequent so far.  I love the foliage.  I am finally starting to see tiny little offsets forming around the main bulb.  So I see this year as a year of progress for these plants - one bloom and a little bit of multiplication. 

It has been written that it is impossible to kill crinums.  That is not true.  I killed my Procerum 'Spendens' Crinums the first year.  They look similar to the Sangrias - same purple foliage, but the blooms are darker, at least according to the photographs.  Mine died before they bloomed.

Scenes From the Weekend July 28, 2013

Above, this is an Agapanthus, gone to seed.

Above - hot pink Cockscomb.  What a sight!  An amazinf flower.

Above, my Hyacinth Bean vine is starting to bloom over the arbor in the Vegetable Garden.  After the purple blooms are spent, a vivid magenta bean pod develops.  They are not edible.  They are just for show.

Another photogragh of Cockscomb.  

A view from the front porch the mule parked on the driveway.  

Above, freshly weeded area in the Star Garden.  I just seeded the beds with Cherry Queen zinnia seeds..  

Bert and John and my precious Lanie dog.

Pink Old Maid. 

Above, a view of the Long Border.  Dawn Pink Cannas and silvery Artemesia really stand out.

This is perennial ageratum, blooms just about to open.

Janine's Red Canna July 28, 2013

I was given several canna plants from Janine Snapp last spring.  This bloom looked so pretty on Saturday!  I took many pictures of it.  Cannas form such gorgeous buds.   

Weekend at the Farm July 27-28, 2013

It was a very pleasurable weekend.  It was cloudy most of Saturday and Sunday which made the work much easier.  Short lived sprinkles on Sunday morning and sooo humid.

• Cleaned house on Saturday morning - vacuumed master bed and bath room, living room, guest bath, kitchen, utility room.  Cleaned toilets. Cleaned kitchen counters, dusted, changed the sheets.  Cleaned the kitchen lights - dusty!
• John Nelson came for a visit on Saturday.
• Repaired the armadillo damage in the African Hosta bed.  Picked up all the exposed bulbs and re-buried them in the bed, spread them out a bit and filled in a few empty spaces.  
• Collected Excelsior Spanish Bluebells that the armadillos had unearthed.  Planted some of them along the Boardwalk in a spot where there are none, and I planted some in the Columbine Bed.  I called my neighbor and gave her some of the bluebells and 4 Paul Redmond Irises that were growing in a path.  The rest of the Bluebells I bagged up for my co-worker, Janine Snapp.
• Planted the crinums that Janine gave me.  I planted them in a flower bed that gets continual disturbance from the armadillos.  So I laid chicken wire over the bulbs and nailed down the edges with some long stakes.
• Transplanted a Pam Puryear Turk's Cap from the Boardwalk to the bed where I planted Janine's Crinums.  I surrounded it with chicken wire that I staked firm to the ground.   
• Surrounded some perennial violets with chicken wire, also in the bed with Janine's crinums.  It's war on armadillos!
• Seeded a couple of spots in the Medicine Garden with Hemlock and Avens.  Hemlock is, of course, a poisonous plant.  I am growing it just for the fun of saying I'm growing it.  Avens was once known as the herba benedicta, the blessed herb. In the Middle Ages the plant was thought to evoke the presence of Christ and offer protection against evil influence. Medicinally it is thought to be beneficial against stomach upset and as an external application to wounds. It contains tannins that give it an astringent, anti-inflammatory effect.  The root has a clove scent, and was much prized as a flavoring for ale and stews. Medieval gardeners would only harvest the root on March 25.
• I had some leftover zinnia seeds that I bought last year.  The seeds that I dried and kept since last summer are hit and miss for germination.  So I seeded several spots with the leftover seed hoping for better germination.  I seeded the bed by the master bedroom, several spots in the Orchard and several spots in the Star Garden.  I used the Cherry Queen zinnias.
• My French Marigold seeds have sprouted in the Orchard!  Super cute. My passion vine that I was training over the arbor that leads to Max's Garden has definitely died.  Disappointment.  And my White Profusion Butterfly Bush has died.  I think of Butterfly Bushes as short lived perennials, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  I will have to replace it in the fall.
• Fertilized the eggplants and the Torch Mexican Sunflowers in the Vegetable Garden.  Some of the sunflowers that I seeded in the Vegetable Garden have sprouted.  Not as many as I would have expected based on the number of seeds that I sowed. 
• I cleaned up under the Sam Houston Peach Tree.  Trimmed off lower branches.  Pulled weeds, cut back dried up wild flowers.  
• Cut back blackberry vines that were growing over the Scarlet Wave Cannas at the front of the Orchard.  That job was as unpleasant as it sounds.  Prickery.  Dragged all the nasty stuff to the burn pile.
• Fertilized all my hostas - in Max's Garden, in the Ginger Bed, and in the Shade Garden. 
• I transplanted my two Rose Campion plants that I grew from seed. They have been languishing under my Harlequin Glorybower trees and doing not much of anything.  Who knows if they will make it - nothing like being dug up and moved to a sunny location in the dead of summer.  
• Fertilized the Pink Vitex, the Bailey Red, American Beauty, and Perle d Or.
• Watered by hand the Ginger Bed, the Ox Eye Daisy Bed, and the American Beauty rose.
• Sprayed herbicide on the driveway, the Star Garden, and the Orchard.
• Transplanted a lone piece of Coral Vine that is growing by the Vegetable Garden.  I moved it to the trellis where the dead passion vine is hanging.
• Spread parsley seeds around the bird bath behind the house and in the Medicine Garden.
• Laid a layer of compost on the Ballerina roses, and the Perle d 'Or.
• Deadheaded zinnias in the Star Garden.
• Bird watched for a long time.  Ate lunch on the porch and watched the birds on Sunday. 
• Swam throughout the weekend.  Listened to honky tonk on the radio.
• Weeded, weeded, weeded.  
• Watered all my shrubs.  I have a checklist of all my shrubs so I don't forget anything.  I check them off once they are watered.      

Feverfew July 21, 2013

Feverfew is a member of the Chrysanthemum family.  It reseeds freely.  This is a very useful herb.  It reduces fever and cures migraine headaches.  The young leaves and the unopened flowers are the parts of the plant that are most potent.

Above and below, unopened flowers are very potent.

There are a thousand seeds in the yellow head of this flower.  They are as tiny as dust, and they blow everywhere when the flower head dries.

A Weekend at the Farm July 20 - 21, 2013

Above, capturing rain in a half rain barrel.

Friday night birthday party in Houston for Beth's 85 birthday.  Saturday morning to the farm. Nancy and Lisa came out and we went to Hot Nights Cool Tunes on Saturday night.

• Saturday morning I cleaned the guest bathroom, shook out the rugs, vacuumed the living room, guest bedroom, and kitchen, and mopped the kitchen and living room.
• Rained on Saturday lightly, and it rained really hard on Sunday.  Wonderful!  Sat on the porch and watched the rain both days.
• Swam briefly on Sunday.  The water felt wonderful because of all the rain.  
• On Sunday I pulled weeds.  I pulled weeds in the Star Garden and the Orchard all day long.
• Trimmed the vegetation along the boardwalk where it was growing over the walkways.
• My husband attached some PVC pipe to the drip line of the air conditioning units so that it drips into a half rain barrel.  He spray painted it brown so that it looks very nice.  Now there is a steady drip of water for the birds.  Naturally, I thought of a way to make it even more perfect - I suggested that he put a stick across the middle of the rain barrel so that the birds can stand on the perch underneath the drip. He really appreciated my input...
• Fertilized during the rain shower with organic fertilizer that smells like chicken manure.  I've been waiting for rain so that my fertilizer would partially disintegrate when I laid it down.  Not necessary, but helpful.
• I pulled up all the parsley in the Orchard.  It had all gone to seed.  I threw the seed on the ground and stacked up the parsley stalks.  I'll haul it the the burn pile next time I go. 
• I cut back the Nicotiana in the Star Garden.  It had all gone to seed.  The little plantlets at the base of the stalks are already growing. 
• The hurricane lilies are just beginning to peek out of the ground!  They remind me of my Grandma.  
• The gingers are beginning to bloom.  They will be so pretty.  The Mexicali Rose is really beginning to spread along the Boardwalk.  I'm very excited about the Mexicali Rose!   

Philippine Lilies July 21, 2013

The Philippine Lilies are just beginning to bloom.  So beautiful.  They take many forms throughout the year.  For a short while they disappear completely.  Then a rosette forms with short leaves that look like blades of grass.  Then they shoot up a tall spike with many blooms.  The blooms turn into beautiful seed pods, each one is filled with hundreds of seeds.

I spread the seed all over the place.  I dream one day of having these lilies all over my gardens.  I am well on my way.  It will be a decade or more before it looks the way I dream of it.  But it will happen.

Sage July 22, 2013

Sage is probably the most useful of all the culinary herbs.  In addition to being a very beautiful, silvery color, it has many medicinal uses. It is one of the longevity herbs, known to improve memory.  Back in the day women used it to control hot flashes as well as to dry up their milk flow after nursing.  It is an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory used in such things as throat gargles to cure mouth ulcers, sore throats, gingivitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.  It can also be made into a paste and used as an anti-perspirant because it prevents sweating.

It blooms very pretty spikes of pink flowers in the spring that are much loved by bees.  Books will tell you not to let sage bloom because it makes the sage leaves have a bitter flavor.  But when it is that early in the year I let everything bloom because the pickings are so slim for the insect population that I love so dearly.

Passion Vine July 21, 2013

This passion vine is growing in my backyard on an arbor that is constructed over the air conditioning units.  This is passiflora incarnata, the true, pure larval plant of the Gulf Fritillary butterfly.  And, I think it is the prettiest one of all that I have grown.

It is intermingled with Lady Banks rose, an extremely aggressive rose, so it competes very successfully with this passion vine.

About five years ago my passion vine was covered in the Gulf Fritillary caterpillars.  They are quite gruesome looking - orange bodies covered with these fleshy black spikes.  But it was an amazing spectacle - there were chrysalises all along the eves of the house and along the wrought iron fence and along the wooden fence.  It never happened again, the butterflies have laid their eggs someplace else every year since - some place more hospitable, I guess.  No summer was like that one, made all the more memorable because it was so unusual.