Four Days at the Farm November 18 - 22, 2015

This is where I write my blog posts.  This is basically a closet in the living room that we use as a little office.  The folding doors close and hide the whole thing.

Arrived Wednesday night.  Saturday we had a barbecue for Bert's golfing buddies.

• Thursday:  gorgeous fall day.  Cool and sunny.  Made myself a farmer's breakfast and hit the ground running.
• I never did find one of my work boots.  Hank the dog carried them both off.  I found one on the trail between our house and the neighbors' house.  The other one has not turned up.  But it's rained so many times since it went missing that I don't expect it's any good now. 
• I raked leaves near the big arbor, loaded them in the back of the cub and dumped them in the Daffodil Border.
• I had the great idea during that activity to make another daffodil garden in the area we have sectioned off with logs near the Rose Garden.  I will dump leaves in that area (which I have named Rose Edge Garden).  That will discourage anything from growing except my bulbs, and it will also enrich the soil which I have not amended in any way.  The Daffodil Border and the Rose Edge Garden will only be pretty once a year, but during their four weeks of bloom time it will be a sight to behold.  I tried to make wild gardens in both those spots - wild flowers and native grasses, but that will take a lot of work which I do not want to expend, at least not right now!  Anyway, I just happen to have 150 daffodils coming in the mail as we speak, so I need a place to plant them.  That may sound like a lot, but it's not.
• Did some mulching in the Orchard.  I put some mulch around two of the fruit trees and began the process of mulching around the edges of all the flower beds.  It was a bit like spitting in the ocean, though.  Most of the space in the beds has been seeded with wild flower seed, so those areas remain un-mulched which makes them all susceptible to weed growth.
• Napped through most of the day!  Must have been pretty tired.
• Got up about 3:00 and started raking and cleaning paths in the Star Garden.  They didn't need too much work because I had raked them recently.  The big leaf-fall has not happened yet.
• I raked in places where Bert had blown piles of leaves together with the blower and dumped them in the unfinished parts of the Star Garden.  (I mulch those areas out with un-shredded leaves to keep the weeds down.)
• I cut away plants that were growing into paths - again, not a big job because I did that over the last couple of weekends as well.
• I noticed that something had eaten every single leaf off my Moonflower vine.  Upon close inspection I saw massive worms all over it.  Four to five inches long, as big around as my middle finger.  Talk about creepy!  They are moth larva.  Moths are drawn to Moonflower because it blooms during the evening.  Then, the moths lay their eggs on the plants, and the larva munch the vine into oblivion.  Well, all God's creatures got to eat. 
•  After the little stretch of work I did, I walked around my gardens for about two hours, finally sitting on a bench and watching the sky darken through the trees.  Bert was hunting, so I was alone and in a pensive state of mind.  
• Friday morning, up early.  Walked around with coffee in hand.  Tried to get Cosmos to come down out of a tree, but with Grey Kitty and Hank hanging around she wouldn't have any of it.  
• Spent all of Friday raking.  I spread pine needles over several beds including the big daffodil bed in the Star Garden.  I raked leaves wherever they had accumulated and loaded them in the cub cadet.  I dumped them in the Daffodil Border.  
• Did some more raking in the Star Garden.  Cut away more plants that were leaning into paths.
• Mulched here and there with the last of the mulch we bought last weekend. 
• Friday was a hard day's work of raking, lifting, and hauling.  But the place looks good. 
• I vacuumed, mopped, and put down floor shine. 
• Friday night we drove out to the cul de sac with sleeping bags and pillows.  Laid in the back of the cub cadet and watched the stars.  
• Saturday morning, up before day light.  My back was so sore from all the work I did yesterday that I couldn't lay still any longer.  I was fine after I started moving around.
• I vacuumed the bedroom, cleaned the guest bathroom, and made some macaroni and cheese for the party.
• The weather looked pretty threatening, but the rain never came.  It got really sunny but cold and windy.  Too windy to eat outside unfortunately.  We had about 25 folks come out.  Nice people, nice day.
• Sunday - I can't believe 4 days have past already.  Time flies when I'm here.  Bert was up before light and went hunting.  I got up shortly after and began raking.  I'm making great progress on filling my Rose Edge and Daffodil Borders with leaves.  They are very, very large areas, and I am almost finished.  Only about half the leaves have fallen, and I have only raked where they have accumulated or where Bert has blown them into drifts.  I'll wait until the rest of them fall and finish up.  I want to heap a lot of them in my compost pile as well.
• I decided to dig up all my sweet potatoes - I had vines growing in four places in the Vegetable Garden - so I can spread the rest of my Elbon Rye in there.
• I dug up about 30 sweet potatoes of varying size.  I dug up about 10 last weekend that were really big.
• Loosened up the soil, smoothed it out, and seeded the remainder of the beds with rye grass.
• I spent about an hour seeding various places in the Rose Garden, the Star Garden, and the front beds with the remainder of my wildflower seeds.  I have been resisting seeding the front beds because I imagine that won't look very neat once they start growing, but I couldn't resist.  I seeded the front beds with tickseed and corn poppies.  
• Spent some time on the ladder tying back my climbing roses - Climbing American Beauty and Veilcehblau.
• Brought the ladder inside and Bert held it while I cleaned all the light fixtures in the kitchen.
• Made a final walk around the place and headed for home.

Sweet Potatoes November 22, 2015

Sweet potatoes have a long growing season.  I planted the slips in May I believe.  Many of them could have stayed in the ground longer, but I wanted to finish spreading my rye grass seed so I dug them all up.  Well, lots of sweet potatoes just in time for Thanksgiving.  I will make a sweet potato pie.  My sister is assigned sweet potato casserole, so I guess I will just give a bunch of them away.  My husband and I like sweet potatoes baked like a potato, but I don't know if I can eat 30 of them!

Heavenly Blue Morning Glories November 14, 2015

Day at the Farm November 13, 2015

 

 The two photos above are Gruss an Aachen rose. 

Above, Mrs Dudley Cross rose.  This morning there were 5 huge blooms on the shrub.  I've never seen such large flowers on any of my roses.  It was a beautiful sight.

Bert and I arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Saturday afternoon.  Bert wanted to hunt, and I wanted to finish planting my daffodils and seeding my flowerbeds.  Saturday evening was a marriage celebration party for Nancy and Lisa and mom and dad's house.

• I finished preparing a bed in the Rose Garden next to La Vesuve rose that I began last weekend.  I planted 10 St. Keverne and 10 Sweetness daffodil bulbs.
• Grey kitty follows me everywhere and wraps herself around my feet.  I'm going to fall and break my neck if I'm not careful. 
• I feel like I'm running out of places to put daffodils en masse (I can tuck them in here, there and everywhere, but I've run out of places where you see nothing but yellow in the spring), and I still have about 150 on order from Brent and Becky's Bulbs.  I have 20 that I still need to plant from my Old House order.  
• Spent some time mulching - my Carefree Beauty rose, several of my La Marne roses, my Dwarf Flowering Almonds, and around some of my newest daylilies along one of the paths in the Star Garden.
• Saturday morning I prepared the bed and planted 10 Thalia bulbs and 10 Trevithian bulbs next to my Peggy Martin rose.  To do that I had to fork up about 30 daffodils that I planted 2 years ago.  I dug them up from my back yard in Houston.  I didn't know what they were or how they had gotten there.  I've given them two years to show me something pretty, but they are duds.  They never bloomed, maybe one bloom, but nothing more.  So I dug them up and threw them in the compost pile.  Unfortunately I have them planted all over the place, so this year I will be replacing them with good bulbs.
• I pulled up all my reseeding ageratum in the Long Border and raked it out.  I used the fallen leaves and pine needles to mulch the Madame Antoine Mari rose nearby and my Sangria Crinums.  I spread seed mixed with sand in two sections of the Long Border.  And I spread seed on top of the new bed where I planted the St Keverne and Sweetness daffodils.  
• Spent some time in the Rose Garden weeding and raking.  It looks pretty good in there.
• Mulched around my cigar plant in the Star Garden, and I raked a couple of wheel barrows full of pine needles and mulched a bed in the Star Garden.
• Spread seed here and there in the Star Garden.
• I went down to the Orchard, raked out the Black Beauty plum bed and spread seed.  I still have a lot of seed left, but I think I'm nearly done for the year.  Now all that's left to do is keep the weeds down until spring.
• Bert built an arbor for my Veilchenblau rose, but it seems pretty spindly to me.  I don't see how it will stand up to a ten year old, massive climbing rose.  But I didn't say anything.  He doesn't like criticism.  Ha Ha.

Four Days at the Farm November 4 - 8, 2015

Took vacation and drove up on Wednesday evening by myself.  Bert arrived on Thursday and left to go hunting on Friday in Groesbeck and coming back here on Sunday.  The neighbors' dogs came running up to the car while I was trying to open the gate which is a little disconcerting since they are so big, and we aren't well acquainted.  I try to be friendly because they always run onto our property and bark.  Little by little they come a little closer each time, but I've yet to pet a few of them.  I left the car door open while I unlocked the gate, and the shepherd dog jumped in.  Try as I might I couldn't get her out.  So I finally drove up to the house with her in the car.  She had been sprayed with a skunk recently, although I know she had been bathed because it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  Nevertheless, she was pretty rank.  I coaxed and coaxed but she would leave the car.  I finally pulled her out by her collar, and once I had her collar she came out pretty willingly.  She stayed by the door until I went to bed.

• I roamed around the Star Garden a good part of the evening, all the while the shepherd watched me.  It was cool and pleasant.
• Thursday morning I walked around the gardens with coffee in hand.  Grey Kitty from next door walked with me, wrapping herself around my feet with each step I took.  I'm lucky I didn't trip and fall.
• Raked in the Shade Garden a little, just to get enough off the ground that the blower could make some headway.  Cut back armfuls of blooming Snakeroot that was leaning into the paths.  I will have to be careful disposing of it since it is poisonous to cows, and it definitely does not go into the compost since it reseeds vigorously.  Also cut back gingers that were leaning into the paths, threw them into the compost pile which is quite big right now from all the work I did last weekend,  Everything is off the paths now and ready for blowing leaves.
• Carol Montgomery stopped by with the ice cream scoops that she made for us.  She does beautiful wood work.  We are giving them as Christmas gifts.  The handles are made of purpleheart wood, mesquite, and spalted maple.
• I vacuumed, mopped, and laid down floor shine in the kitchen, dining, hallway, and living room. 
• Drove the cub cadet down to the Orchard and spent a couple hours pulling up all the salvia in preparation for sowing my seeds.  I still need to turn over the soil and rake out all the weeds and debris before I sow the seed.  That will be a big chore.  But pulling up the salvia had to be done first.
• I received my bulbs from Old House Gardens. Their efforts to preserve old fashioned and out-of-commerce rarities is commendable, but it also makes them very expensive.  I bought a few of several varieties, but I bought most of my bulbs from Brent and Becky's web site.  My Old House purchases:  10 Thalia (introduced in 1916white daffodils, I bought 50 from Brent and Becky as well, I'm curious to see what if any difference there is between the two), The Tenby (traced back to 1796, its nickname is the teddy bear), Twink (introduced in 1925, it is a double), Sweetness (introduced in 1939, it is considered one of the best daffodils for the south), Stella (introduced in 1869, found in old gardens all over the south, this one has wavy petals and a crinkled cup), Coddlins and Cream or Sulphur Phoenix (introduced in 1820, the name comes from the English dessert coddlins, which is stewed apples, this one is pale yellow), St. Keverne (a true yellow-looking daffodil, great for the south), Trevithian (Scott Ogden wrote that it will multiply ten-fold in three or four years)  All of these daffodils are extremely fragrant.  I plan to plant most of these - because I only bought 3 or 10 of each variety - in the hot border next to the Vegetable Garden.  I don't want them to get lost in the shuffle with all my other daffodils since many of them are rare and scarce to the trade.
• Friday morning I worked in the Orchard turning over the soil and pulling weeds.  I mixed larkspur, Bachelor Buttons, and Corn Poppies and spread them in tow beds.
• Bert and I drove to Leroy Shroeder's with the trailer and bought some mulch.  He left to go hunting right after that.  
• I filled the cub cadet with mulch and drove it down to the Orchard and began mulching around the fruit trees.  I turned over the soil in several more beds and spread seed, combinations of red corn poppy and California poppy, and Bachelor Button and larkspur and Tickseed and corn poppy.  Deadheaded my zinnias and pulled a bunch of them up.
• I planted 3 Stella, 12 Tenby, 5 Coddlins and Cream, 3 Twink in the Hot Border next to the Vegetable Garden.  And recently I planted some Erhlicheer in that bed as well.  I mulched the length of the bed including tucking in mulch around my Candida Rain Lilies.
• I mulched my Marie de Orleans rose and my Gruss an Aachan rose.
•  I cut back some perennial ageratum around the Gruss rose and cleaned up the bed a bit
• Deadheaded my potted butterfly bush in the Star Garden.  I pulled it forward, and sure enough, the pot was sitting on top of some bulbs that were trying to emerge.
• Woke up early Saturday morning, I didn't sleep well at all the night before. 
• Josh Amy and baby Koy arrived on Saturday and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  What a sweet baby.  We had a nice weekend.
• I spread some more seed in the Star Garden before I left for home.  

White Butterfly Ginger November 8, 2015

My white butterfly ginger is blooming right now. This is the most wonderful smelling flower I believe I have ever smelled.  Absolutely wonderful.  I've been cutting them and bringing them into the house.  The scent can permeate a room.

 

Roses November 5, 2015

Below, this is La Vesuve.  This becomes a large shrub rose, but I planted mine this spring or last fall, I can't recall, and so it is still a baby less than 3 feet tall.  It is said to be quite floriferous, so I planted it right at the entrance to the Rose Garden.

 The next three photos are Mrs Dudley Cross.  I nursed this rose back from the dead.  She has gotten quite large again.  She hasn't been a great bloomer for me, probably because she has spent so much time trying to stay alive.  But now that she is healthy again hopefully she will perform.  The flowers are a pink and yellow blend.  I really like blends.  The first photo is a fully opened bloom that really shows off her multi-colored petals.  The next photo is an older bloom.  The get a lot pinker as they age.  The third photo is a bud, which is a cream / yellow color with no hint of pink yet.

 The next three photos are Cramoisier Superieur, also planted last spring or fall, so it is small as well - but destined to get quite large.  The flowers are red with a silver reverse.  The flowers have a cup shape, and they retain that shape even when they are fully open.  I bought Archduke Charles, this rose, and Louis Philippe at the same time.  They are all red roses, and I can't seem to remember which one is which.  I have to look at my notes to get them straight which frustrates me a great deal.  I know the names of every rose I grow without the help of notes except for these three.

 Above, you can see the silver reverse in pretty Cramoisier Superieur.

 Above, this is Heritage.  I love Heritage, and I will always have one growing in my garden, wherever that may be.
Below, this is Madame Antoine Mari.  She is a pink blend - light and dark pink, also a very large shrub rose.

Morning Glories November 1, 2015

On a day like today - cool, rainy in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon - morning glories will stay open all day.  I took these pictures about 3:00 this afternoon.

Torch Mexican Sunflowers November 1, 2015

I didn't plant these, they re-seeded from last year.  I threw the stalks over the Vegetable Garden fence into the compost pile and that's all it took to get volunteers this fall.  They get tall - about 10 feet tall if they grow in healthy soil.  The ones that sprang up in my compost pile have fallen over and are laying prostrate on the ground.  Since they are laying over the compost pile I don't really care.   They are so colorful, and welcome color at this time of year.  The butterflies love them.  Although they have stems that are about 6 inches long, they are unfortunately not good cutting flowers because the stem are hollow and they fall over very easily.

Day at the Farm November 1, 2015

Here is my Vegetable Garden with my Elbon Rye growing.  I'm not growing any winter vegetables.  I'm (hopefully) curing or reducing my nematode problem by frowing this grass.  Nematodes get trapped in the roots and die.  Then I turn the grass under and make green manure about a month before spring planting time.

Gretchen and Beckett came in town.  Dinner with the family Friday night.  Bert and I went to Nancy and Lisa's house on Halloween and helped them set up a tunnel that we decorated with terrifying images and fluorescent spray paint and black lights.  On the porch we set up a "machine" complete with lights and spinning gadgets and electrodes that were stuck in the head of a Frankenstein that Gretchen stuffed with newspaper.  Bloody heads on stakes in the front yard.  The Heights is insane with the trick or treaters, hundreds of them.  Mom, Dad, Gretchen, Beckett, Nan, Lisa, Bert and I, Josh and Amy and baby Koy, Ann and Andre, and Nathan, Jess and their kids all were there.  To the farm on Sunday morning.  November is a busy month,m lots to do to get ready for Thanksgiving and a party the week before Thanksgiving.

• I raked and raked and raked, mostly in the Star Garden.  And I spent most of the day cutting away cannas - the yellow ones that seldom bloom (boo, I don't like them) and the red ones.  I removed about half of the cannas because they were crowded.  I didn't remove the tubers, just cit them so they weren't leaning into paths  I cut away branches that were leaning into paths, I trimmed back all my salvia and pulled it up wherever it was leaning into paths.  I dumped the leaves that I raked into the unfinished parts of the Star Garden to keep the weeds down.  I plant to dump lots of the leaves in those areas so that the winter weeds and the summer weeds will be suppressed.  I haven't tried that in the Star Garden, but it worked really well in the area next to the Long Border.  And I can use all the fallen leaves that I don't shred.  In the past Bert has always ended up burning them once I got burnt out on the leaf shredder.  But this year I'm going to use them all.  
• I created a huge pile of debris for my compost pile - cannas, etc. and hauled it to the compost pile.  Stayed there for a while and watched the butterflies.  They were all over my Mexican Torch Sunflowers - fall bloomers that are at their showiest right now.  There were Monarchs on the flowers, and it made a pretty sight with the bright orange flowers and the orange butterflies.
• Bert blew all the leaves around the pool area and the wisteria arbor.  I raked up armfuls and loaded them in the back of the cub cadet.  I had a huge over-flowing truckload of leaves and drove over to my daffodil border next the Rose Garden and dumped them in the border.  Again, to suppress the weeds.  That area got pretty out of control last summer, and I don't want it to happen again.  I will sow the area with seeds, but only in spots that I clear.  The rest will be leaves.  And soon the daffodils greenery will appear.  Hopefully this idea will be an improvement over last year.
• While I was over there I raked up a truckful of pine needles.  I spread them around the entire bed where my Pink Vitex is planted and around my Veilchenblau rose.
• I pulled up lots of my perennial ageratum that was looking ratty and loosed the soil.  Then I mixed some of my Tickseed, bluebonnet, red corn poppy, larkspur, and cornflower seeds with some sand that Bert bought for me.  It's a lot easier to spread and will spread more evenly when it's mixed with sand.  I sprinkled that over the area where I pulled up the ageratum.
• Walked through the Rose Garden at twilight to admire the fall flowers and noticed some black spot on the leaves.  I immediately went to the greenhouse and got my fungicide.  I sprayed all the roses in the Rose Garden.  I need to keep my roses looking good through Thanksgiving.  Of course if we get a freeze before Thanksgiving, its all over.  Some years there is a freeze before Thanksgiving, and sometimes the first freeze is later.  It can't be predicted.