White Butterfly Gingers July 31, 2016

These gingers are not special because of their flower structure.  They are memorable because of their heavenly smell.  The smell is so fantastic, I cannot get enough.  I will buy them whenever I see them no matter how many I own.  They are wonderful cut flowers, they last a long time in a vase.

Zinnias, Bees, and Butterflies July 30, 2016

I love zinnias!  I could have taken dozens and dozens of photographs of bees and butterflies on my flowers.  The insects were very busy all day.

Weekend at the Farm July 29 - 31, 2016

It's zinnia time, one of the only flowers that is happy in this heat.

Arrived Fiday about 4:00.  There has been some rain, thankfully.  Bert and Albert arrived shortly after me on their way back from Pecos.  They were watching Pumpco get their operation set up for Occtcet.  Angela drove out to pick up Albert, and the four of us went out and ate Mexican food.

Everywhere I look in the Star Garden there is armadillo damage.  I found three different burrows - they are just living inside the Star Garden!  Well, tonight me and the dogs will go outside and wreak some havoc of our own.  Lots of beds to smooth out and lots of soil to scoop up and shovel back into the beds.

While I was walking around I decided I am going to cut back and pull up a good portion of the creeping purple lantana, it looks really shabby.  That will be one of my projects this weekend.

Watched the butterflies on my Harlequin Glorybower, it is still in full bloom and smells really good.

Saturday morning woke up very early and had coffee waiting for the sun.  I was in the Orchard by 7 pulling weeds, trimming blackberry canes, and pulling up zinnias that had fallen across paths.  I deadheaded zinnias and spread seed. Sprayed herbicide along the fence line and in paths that I missed last week.   I made some good headway although I am still not finished.  I spent about 3 hours out there.  It's almost back in shape.

I cut my purple trailing lantana along the path and on the other side.  I want a small hedge, I don't want it to cover the bed like a ground cover, so I pulled a lot of it up, it has spread like crazy from the two four inch pots I bought a couple years ago.  I had 3 zinnia seed packets, and I spread them as I cleared beds. I worked until about 1:00 in the Star Garden pulling weeds.  What an improvement!  

Took a dip in the pool.  With all the rain we got the water was cool, it felt great!  

I worked in the Medicine Garden for about 30 minutes pulling weeds, cutting away Hojo Santo that is spreading everywhere.  Pulled up Sweet Aztec herb that was growing into the path.  I see my Clary Sage and my Comfrey are coming up from the roots.  I figured they were goners due to lack of water.  Excellent!

Sat on the porch and ate a sandwich and watched the birds at the feeder.  I was rewarded with a Painted Bunting!  This is the first one I have seen all year.  He came to the feeder many times.  I got out the binoculars so I could see him more clearly.  So beautiful.

Retreated inside about 2:00, too hot to do more.

Our neighbor, Jeff, came by to borrow our honey extractor, but when he got here he told us he had already gone into his hives and there was no honey.  That jives with what I had already heard - the bees aren't making honey because it has been too dry.  This is the second year in a row that we haven't been able to collect honey.

Sunday morning up early and started working in the Orchard.  I spent a lot of time pulling out dead blackberry canes.  I deadheaded zinnias and pulled weeds, lots and lots of weeds.  I made another huge debris pile.  The blackberry beds look great, I wasn't planning on spending so much time  pulling out the dead canes, but they are all gone now except for one bed.  And that bed needs some work, canes are leaning out into the cannas and iris, next week I will get that handled.  Sprayed herbicide in the paths.

Swam in the pool, very refreshing.

I worked in the Star Garden for several hours.  I cleaned up the Shady part of the garden.  Pulled up Hojo Santo that was springing up everywhere.  Cut away indigo spires salvia that was leaning into paths, pulled up Turks cap that was spreading into parts of the bed that I want to keep clear, weeded.  The armadillos had unearthed many of my Erhlicheer daffodils.  I think I will take the opportunity, since so many of them are laying on top of the soil, to move them to various places in the garden.  It takes so long for the greenery to die back that the bed looks pretty forlorn most of the year.  

Cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, bathed Buddy, changed the sheets, did some laundry, then showered and rested.

Headed back to Houston about 3:30.

Weekend at the Farm July 23 - 24, 2016

Arrived Friday afternoon with Bert.  Hot and dry.  I'm praying for rain.

I woke up about 5 and drank coffee until day light. 

Headed to the Orchard to weed and clear.  I worked until about 1 with intermittent dips in the pool.  I weeded until my fingers hurt. Pulling up weeds (as big as these have been allowed to grow) takes some effort.  I made a huge pile of debris just outside the fence of the Orchard.  Every 30 minutes or so I drove the cub cadet to the Rose Garden and moved the hose.  I got some beds pretty cleared and they look much better, but I was only able to get about 1/3 of the weeding done - the beds are choked with weeds.  

The fruit trees look healthy, and the zinnias are blooming their hearts out.  Despite the weeds, the zinnias are growing beautifully, they love the heat.  The amaranth seed I sowed in the spring were mostly eaten by the deer.  Deer love amaranth apparently, but a few plants survived to adulthood and are bearing loads of not-fully-developed seed heads. I deadheaded zinnias and either threw the spent blooms into the beds or spread the seed if the seed heads were really dry.  I want a good August  show of zinnias, August is the best month for butterflies.

Retreated inside - too hot to work in the afternoons, this is late July and the heat is vicious.  Mopped and put down floor shine in the kitchen and living room.   Got out the ladder and cleaned the ceiling fan in the living room.  Vacuumed the rug in the living room.  Made a pot of beans.  Watched Game of Thrones on my iPad.

Watered the pots by the pool, most of the plants are dead, but the ones with a low growing ground cover plant on top are still alive.

After the sun was low in the sky I went back outside and watered in the Rose Garden some more.

Sunday morning up at six, outside in the Orchard by seven.  I cleared out the Mayhaw bed and made good progress on the rest of the beds.  Bert and I dumped the huge pile of weeds in an area with some dramatic erosion near the house.  I deadheaded zinnias and spread seed.  Trimmed the blackberry vines here and there just enough to clear paths where I was working.

I spent about two hours in the Vegetable Garden.  It is like the Orchard, weed-choked.  I pulled up all the tomatoes.  The roots are very improved compared to previous years.  Compost and green manure definitely helped with my nematode problem. I plan to plant some sort of green manure again, not sure what yet.  I pulled weeds, made another huge pile just outside the Vegetable Garden fence.  It looks much better, but as with all the work I did this weekend, if I don't get some compost it will be covered up with weeds again.  The Butterpeas are still producing beans.  They have been very productive.  

I cleared out the Vegetable Garden before I tackled any place else so that I could lay down some of the white rock that is piled in the driveway.  I have to get it out of the way so the truck can get in here with mulch.  I put one load of white rock in the Vegetable Garden and one load right at the entrance to the front porch.

Cut away Four O'clocks that were crowding my phlox. Pulled weeds in the bed with the phlox.  Watered my Fish Bait tree, it looks like it is suffering.  Pulled weeds in the front bed and pulled up Verbena Bonariensis that was dried up.


Headed home about 3.  It was a good two days of work!

Weekend at the Farm July 16 - 17, 2016

Sam and I spent the night at the farm so Josh and Blake could have some alone time for Josh's birthday.  Bert, Nathan, Will, Max, and Josh went fishing in Hackberry, Louisiana.  All I did was water in the Greenhouse Gardens.  Everywhere I looked there were weeds.  I haven't been able to spend any time at the farm for about 4 weeks because of various family obligations.  I could hardly look around it was so depressing!

The Philippine lilies and the gingers were in full bloom, but the lilies were particularly pretty!

Day at the Farm July 8, 2016

Last weekend the whole family including Beckett went to Florida for a family reunion.  Only Mr H and Bert were absent.  Tomorrow and Sunday I will be at the lake babysitting Koy.

• I spent the entire morning watering in the Rose Garden and pulling weeds.  It's really dry.  But at least the hoses are working.  Bert and I worked on them and they are functioning again.
• Put some compost around Ducher and Heritage roses.  
• I spent some time trimming Sweetspire in the Circle Drive garden and pulling weeds.  It is completely shady most of the time so there is some protection from the sun and it's cooler (that's a relative term).  I dug up about 20 Philippine Lily seedlings from the paths and planted them in a pile of compost in one of the beds.  I guess I will spray the rest and kill them.  It would be a lot of work to dig them all up, and they are taking over in the paths.  I've always been really hesitant to kill them because I love them. 
• I went out again about 8 and did a little more watering in the Rose Garden.

Weekend at the Farm June 25 - 26, 2016

 My pretty double Tiger Lilies are blooming.

Wow, everything is so dried out.  I'm in emergency mode trying to get everything watered this weekend.  Grey kitty looks like he is starving, I don't think he is going to the neighbors' house to eat when we are gone.  But that would be very un-catlike.  He sure is skinny, though.  I'm concerned.

Saturday I started working early in the Rose Garden.  I pulled up spent black eyed Susan's and weeds while I watered.  Watering was the main effort.  It's hot and not easy to be outside.

The Culligan man stopped by and showed us how to run the system filtration and softener system.

I put some suet out for the birds.

The mower crapped out again and Bert went to town and bought a new one.  $8,118.  It was a smart thing to do, we are tired of putting out $500 every time we take it to get repaired.  The last time it was $1000.  We have had it since 2007 and we have used it hard!

I sprayed herbicide in the driveway.  The weeds were taking over.

The hose stopped running about 2:00 so I couldn't water my roses anymore.  Tomorrow morning when it's cooler I will stretch some new hose from the well to the Rose Garden, I assume the problem is that some connection has popped off on the hose that Bert strung through the woods.  Aargh, it's always something.

Raked in the Star Garden for a bit.  

Too hot to work past 2:00.  Showered and napped.