Weekend at the Farm July 25 - 26, 2015

This is a Moonflower only partially open.  Moonflower is a vine.  The 8 inch flowers open up in the evening, and they close at dawn, lasting only one day.  The vine is not as vigorous and leafy as Morning Glory.  I plant the two vines together for a pretty morning and evening display.  Moths are drawn to these nocturnal flowers all night long.

Arrived with Bert on Saturday about noon.  We rarely drive here in the same car anymore because we are arriving from different places or I want to stay until Monday morning and drive in to work.  We stopped at the hardware store and bought new sprinkler timers for the Rose Garden and the Medicine Garden.

• Spent about an hour installing the new sprinklers.  That's always good for an argument.  Fooling with the hoses drive Bert absolutely crazy!  It is hot work, and getting all the drips and leaks to stop, putting on new clamps and nozzles, etc is not fun. It is very dry.  We need rain.  We had such a wet spring, but now we are in a dry spell.
• Put on jeans and a long sleeved shirt to weed-eat my "wild" borders.  A hundred degrees, I sweated buckets.  It was a mess, the weeds were two feet tall.  Bert kept warning me to do it before it became difficult, but I didn't heed the warning. I will be re-thinking my wild border next spring.  I will cover the entire area with leaves to discourage the weeds.  With some diligence I will keep the weeds down and only my daffodils will pop up.  I will likely clear some limited space of all undergrowth and sow wildflowers in those spots - spots where the irrigation system reaches.  This fall I have a whole new strategy for gathering my leaf mulch.  Previously I raked leaves and immediately put them through the shredder.  Fatigue and an unpredictable, hard-to-start shredder has begun to limit my mulch production.  And at some point my frustrated husband just starts raking up the leaves and burning them in the name of  "neatness".  My valuable leaves!  Now I'm going to rake the leaves and pile them up next to the Vegetable Garden - this will be a massive pile of leaves.  Then I will use them throughout the year, either I will shred them, or I will use the unshredded, partially decomposed leaves in my flowerbeds.
• I weeded in the long flowerbed in the back of the house.  I cut back all the spent black and blue salvia and bee balm.  I cut back the white Four O'Clocks that were sprawling everywhere.  I weeded around all the red autumn sage and pulled up Tuber Vervain that was crawling everywhere.  The armadillos have realy turned one section of that bed up  They haven't managed to find the opening in the bed where all my African Hostas are growing, thankfully  I surrounded it almost completely with chicken wire because they have always destroyed that bed which causes the African Hostas to go dormant way before they should.  So far so good, I'm very happy with my deterrent.
• My copperhead showed up again.  Bert spotted him on the back porch and killed him with a shovel.  Well, he had to go.  You can't allow a poisonous snake to hang out near your dogs and ... your fingers and toes.  My guess is that he was in the flowerbed along the back of the house, and when I started thrashing around in there doing my weeding he slithered to the back porch to get away from the activity.
• Did some deep watering in all the beds in the Greenhouse Garden.
• Thinned zinnia seedlings in the Star Garden and the Orchard.
• My Muscadine grapes are big but still green.  A few are starting to have a purple blush.  My guess is they will be ripe next weekend, but the whole family is having a "staycation" at the lake.   So I will have to come up for an overnighter some time next week or very early in the week after that.  The animals will surely eat all of them if I do not get to them promptly.
• I'm starting to receive bulb catalogues for the fall planting season.  I have already started reading and studying up on what I want..  I generally buy at least 100 bulbs every year, but often I buy many more than that. This year I am considering several varieites of daffodils that do well in the lower south:  Sweetness, Trevithian, Thalia, Avalanche, and Saint Keverne.  I almost always buy my bulbs from Brent and Becky's web site.  The bulbs are not top-size, but they are the best price I've found anywhere - and I've visited every site.  I always consider buying from Old House Gardens.  They have a very interesting web site, and a serious commitment to preserving really special, rare heirloom bulbs.  But they are so expensive that I never do it.  They contend that they sell the "real deal" bulbs, not imitators and imposters, but the true heirlooms that they find on old homesteads, etc.   There is a difference in bulbs, no question about it.  And you have to plant bulbs that are right for your area or they won't bloom.  And some bulbs won't bloom year after year, they will only put off greenery.  Two years ago I dug up a mass of bulbs that had been growing in the back yard in Houston.  They had multiplied all on top of each other, and I had about 50 bulbs.  I planted them all around the place thinking that, after being thinned out they would bloom and be something pretty.  I had no idea what they were or how they had gotten there.  Well, they have not bloomed for two straight seasons.  So I'm digging them up - to the compost pile they go.  Life's too short to put up with that when there are varieties that will give me pleasure for years to come with their beautiful blooms.
• Bert and I went to dinner at JW's Steakhouse in Carmine.  When we left we rolled down all the windows, and as we drove through all the gravel back roads we smelled the wonderful smells of cut grass in the pastures and the moist earth.  It was wonderful.  That smell will take you back to something you didn't even realize was a part of your youth. 
• Up early Sunday morning.  Hank, the neighbors' dog, is already here lying on the cold cement floor trying to cool off..  When I woke up he was staring into the bedroom window:  Hey everybody, whatcha doing?  Can I come in?
• I spent most of my morning in the Rose Garden.  I pulled weeds and pulled up this kind of spindly vine that often covers things around here.  It had covered my Noisette roses.  It is easy to pull off, but getting the little green seed balls it drops is another matter.  I weeded around all the roses, there wasn't much to do since I had already done a pretty thorough job last weekend.  I cut back the Harlequin Glorybower branches that were blocking the sprinkler.  Hauled three wheelbarrows of debris over to the neighbors' property and dumped it.  I also watered the roses  - they are gasping.
• The Moonflower and Heavenly Blue Morning Glories have sprouted that I planted last weekend.  I surrounded them with chicken wire to protect them from the rabbits.
• Drank mimosas while I watered.  Swam in the pool.  Lovely day, hot but lovely.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Vegetable Garden, the Rose Garden, and the Star Garden.
• Napped during the hot part of the day.
• Tinkered with the sprinklers.  
• Headed home about four o'clock.

Days at the Farm July 23 - 24, 2015

This a pretty mallow flower.  They only bloom for a day and then they close.  You can pick them and bring them in the house or use them as a decoration on a present or a hat.  They don't need water.  They will stay fresh all day and close up and die at dusk.

Took Thursday and Friday as vacation.  Bert and I baby sat for Ollie and Wes Wednesday evening.  I arrived at Burton Thursday around noon.  Stayed until Friday afternoon.  Went to see Motown  with Bert, Nan, and Lisa Friday evening.

• Stopped at Arbor Gate on the way to Burton.  I wanted to ask about a Catalpa tree.  I've been looking for one for a while.  Southern Catalpas are native to the southeast.  They grow to about 40 feet.  They have large leaves and they bloom orchid-like clusters of white flowers in June / July.  What makes Catalpas interesting is that they are the larval food for the sphinx moth.  The larva of the sphinx moth are called  catalpa worms.  They are used in the south for fishing.  Sometimes the tree is call fish bait tree, also called cigar tree because the pods are long and thick like a cigar. So it is a pretty interesting tree.  
• Pulled up weeds around my sassafras tree.  Sassafras needs acidic soil which I do not have, so mine has gotten really yellow.  I spread fertilizer and mulched with a bag of grass clippings that I brought from home.  That should help.
• I cut away lot of hoja santa that was popping up in my paths.  Hoja santa has huge leaves.  I lay the leaves down in various places in my flowerbeds.  They do a pretty good job of killing the weeds underneath them as they decompose.  And the decomposed leaves are good for the soil as well. 
• Weeded in the shady part of the Star Garden.  
• Swam for a while.
• Pulled up the last three tomato plants and threw the tops in the compost pile.  I threw the roots in the trash pile - the roots were as thick as my fingers and knobby - nematodes had completely infested them.  
• Harvested all my peanuts.  That was a lot of fun.  I've never grown them before.  I'm drying them out and I'm going to roast them. 
• Up early Friday morning.  Laid down some mulch in the Medicine Garden where I weeded last weekend.
• Watered the pots by the pool.
• Noticed the sprinklers didn't come on in the Rose Garden, so I twiddled around with those for about 30 minutes.  Finally moved the timer from the Greenhouse garden over to the Rose Garden.  The Rose Garden is in full sun, so it needs water more than the Greenhouse gardens do.  I will have to buy a new set up before I come back.  
• Worked in the Vegetable Garden for awhile.  Sprayed herbicide.  That fungus is all over the paths in the Vegetable Garden, so I am battling that right now.  I pulled weeds, loosened the soil in the big bed and a few of the smaller beds and planted Cleome and marigolds.  I also planted some Hyacinth Bean seeds so I can get some pretty flowers on the arbor for the fall.
• Went down to the Orchard and spent about an hour cutting away dead blackberry canes.  It looks worlds better in there.  I have spent time in the Orchard for the last 3 weekends cleaning up.  Big improvement.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Star Garden paths.
• Weeded in the Star Garden.
• Watered my young roses in the Rose Garden.  
• Fed the bees which involves putting on the bee suit, opening the hive, putting the feeder in the hive, pouring sugar water into the feeder, and putting the lid back on the hive.
• Headed home to get ready for the theater.

Close Call with a Copperhead

 I was reaching for that weed when I saw him move.  That weed is right next to the snake.  Whew!  Lucky me.

My Peanut Harvest

Weekend at the Farm July 17 - 19, 2015

This is Illustris Colocasia.  They grow 2 - 3 feet tall depending on how much sun they get.  They need some shade, morning is best.  If morning sun is not an option then they should be grown in the shade.

Took the day off , arrived Friday morning.  Had pizza night at our house the night before with Mom, Dad, Nan, Lisa, and Gretchen and Beckett.

• Spent Friday morning weeding in the Star Garden.  I trimmed the anisacanthus out of the paths, pulled a zillion weeds, and cut back various plants away from the paths.
• Weeded in the Vegetable Garden and cleared out paths where marigolds had sprawled over and taken root.  Marigolds will root along the stem wherever they touch the soil.
• Watered some plants around the pool that were gasping and in the Rose Garden.  The hottest part of summer has set in.  Now we are just marking time until the fall weather sets in.
• Swam in the pool.  Bert arrived mid-afternoon.
• Saturday morning I sprayed herbicide on the driveway, in the Vegetable Garden, and in the Shade Garden.
• Drank mimosas and watered various plants in the Star Garden.
• Worked all morning in the Rose Garden.  I watered a few of my young roses.  I weeded for a long time.  I dumped three wheelbarrows full of debris on the edge of neighbors' property that backs up to ours.  They won't notice, they don't mow in that area.  Sprayed herbicide on all the paths.  It's really really dry out there.  Everything is gasping. I need to hand water all the roses, but I don't think I'll do it this weekend, probably next weekend.  Swam three times during the process so I could cool off.  Looks a lot better.  I need to re-landscape in the Rose Garden.  The boards around the raised beds are rotting and the crushed granite needs to be re-done.
• I spent the afternoon preparing to harvest my honey.  I washed all the jars, and made ready to sterilize them.  I set up the centrifuge.  I gathered all my honey tools together.  Bert started the smoker.  I washed out the wheelbarrow for loading the supers into it and carrying them up the hill.  I put on jeans and a long sleeve shirt and then my bee suit and mask and gloves.  No honey!  There was no comb built on most of the supers.  I couldn't believe it.  With all the rain earlier this year I assumed there would be an abundance of honey.  Either my bees swarmed or all the rain prevented the bees from gathering prodigious amounts of honey.  I had such big plans for my honey this year.  I managed to collect enough honey for 4 large jars, but since no comb was built clearly the bees were eating the honey rather than storing it, so I didn't dare collect more.  They have to get through the winter.  I'm going to feed them next week.  Big disappointment.    
• Took an early evening swim, everything was in shade and the stillness was palpable.  The temperature was like bath water, so swimming was incredibly comfortable, not like during the day when you are seeking cold water to cool yourself off.
• Sunday morning I started out weeding the Star Garden.  There is a large bed near the front of the house that is mostly empty because I cleaned it out a few weekends ago.  I did a bit more work in there and seeded it with zinnias.  I set a sprinkler on it so it will get watered all week while the seeds are trying to germinate.  Looks pretty good in the Star Garden right now.  Not a lot blooming, but clean.
• Spotted a Monarch while I was working.  That is only the second one I've seen this year.  Of course, August is the big butterfly month, so maybe that is good omen.  I'm ready for them, I have lots of butterfly weed. 
• Went down to the Orchard to get some mulch to lay down where I was working in the Star Garden.  Ended up staying in there for most of the rest of the morning weeding, laying down mulch, deadheading zinnias, and cutting back both live and dead blackberry canes.
• I spotted a Zebra Longwing in the Orchard.  Exciting!  I didn't see any last year.  They are really beautiful butterflies.  I had zillions two years ago, and then none last year.
• Worked in the Medicine Garden for a long time too.  Nice and shady in there and right next to the pool.  Swam for a while, weeded for a while., etc.  Cleaned that up pretty well and laid down some mulch in the places where I weeded.  Cut back lots of dead Catnip.  Moved the sprinklers around.  I need all new sprinklers for that area.  The water is so bad here that sprinklers get corroded pretty fast and quit rotating.  
• Bert put a window in the front room of the Greenhouse. He bought it at Adkins Architectural Antiques.  It looks very old, and the glass is opaque.  I needed some more light in that first room of the Greenhouse so it will be easier to spot wasp nests.  That is a favorite spot for wasps.  The window looks really cute and fits with the style of the little building.
• I pulled weeds in the Star Garden around the mock orange tree.  That spot gets pretty weedy, so I mulched it really well.
• My Harlequin Glorybower is in full bloom.  It is attracting a lot of butterflies.  I have seen Tiger Swallowtails and Giant Swallowtails sipping nectar all day.
• Swam some more.  Pretty tired!  Laid in front of the tv and watched the British Open for a while and napped.
• Worked some more in the Star Garden pulling weeds and adjusting the sprinklers.  I set up two trellises and planted some moonflower seeds and Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds. 
• Watered my young roses in the Rose Garden.  All done for the weekend! 

Philippine Lilies July 18, 2015

My lilies are blooming.  I have been spreading these lily seeds around for several years.  Some day I will have them all over the place, in fact, I do have them all over the place.  In some places they are no more than 4 little grass-like leaves..  They sprout from seed very easily.  Many years ago I wrote to Chris Weisinger, the Bulb Hunter, and asked him if he had any Philippine Lily seeds for sale.  That was at a time when I had only one small plant.  He wrote back that, no, he didn't sell the seeds because it took too long for a seed to go from a single seed to a prosperous stand of lilies - no commercial value.  But I have taken many, many single seeds and turned them into a garden of lilies.  And I'm not finished.

    

A Day at the Farm July 11, 2015

This is a Naked Lady.  Lycoris Squamigera is a bulb.  They prefer a slightly cooler climate, so I don't have great results with them.  I have a a dozen or so bulbs, but I usually only get a few blooms each year.  The greenery sprouts in late fall (and there is a lot of it) and dies away when the weather gets hot.  The flowers spring up straight from the ground with no surrounding greenery, hence the name.

Arrived early Saturday morning after spending the previous 3 days at the Hill Country Hyatt with mom, dad, Nan, and Beckett.

• Worked in the Orchard all day long.  It was so hot, but I swam in the pool many times throughout the day. I pulled weeds for a long time.  Things had really gotten out of hand.  Several weeks ago I cleaned out three flower beds in the Orchard, and I wasn't able to get them mulched before I left.  A lot of weeds had grown back!  I re-cleaned them out and cleared out several other beds.  Spread mulch in several spots where I cleared weeds.  Finally, I sowed zinnia seeds in the beds I cleared.
• I cut away dead blackberry canes from the blackberry patch at the back of the Orchard.  Yuck.  But looks much better.
• Sprayed herbicide throughout the Orchard, and parts of the driveway and Star Garden.
• The zinnia seeds I sowed several weeks ago are four and five inches tall now.  I thinned them out.
• The gingers are in full bloom right now.  So pretty.  And the Philippine Lilies are just about to bloom.
• Made a lemon ice box pie for Blake's pool party.  
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• Got up early Sunday morning.  Made a fruit salad for the party.  Watered the pots around the pool, in the Star Garden, and the small roses in the Rose Garden.  Picked the wild grapes growing on the barbed wire fence near the house.  Left by 8:30.  
• Made grape jelly after Blake's party.  

Gingers July 11, 2015

 I don't know the name of this ginger variety.  I've had it for years.  It multiplies very quickly, and I have planted it in the Shade Garden, the Boardwalk, the Circle Drive, the Medicine Garden, and the Star Garden.  It is an early-blooming variety.  I have 4 other varieties, and they all bloom later in the season.