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.
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