I arrived on Saturday morning. Bert came up on Friday. I will probably come up on Saturday morning for the foreseeable future because my new job is in downtown Houston. It's just too difficult to get to Burton from downtown.
- Mid July to end of August is often thought of as hot and bloom-free. But right now is the beginning of bloom time for gingers and lilies. I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for July and August for this very reason, despite the crushing heat. My beloved gingers are just beginning to bloom. And the Philippine Lilies are loaded with buds.
- I did some weeding in the Star Garden and laid down a truckload of mulch.
- Watered in the Rose Garden.
- Trimmed perennial ageratum away from my blue salvias. As much as I enjoy the blue display of the ageratum in late summer and early fall, I do not want it crowding out my salvias.
- Last weekend I sowed lots of zinnia seeds in the Orchard and the Rose Garden. They have all popped up. I should have a good fall show for the butterflies. I still have more seed and I will sow it either tomorrow or next weekend.
- Worked in the Vegetable Garden for a bit. I pulled up all the remaining tomato plants. I threw the tops in the compost pile and the roots into the woods. They were riddled with nematodes, no good to compost those! When nematodes are a problem in your vegetable garden you should pull up the plants as soon as you are through harvesting. or else they are just host plants for the nematodes. I cut away birdhouse gourd vine that was creeping everywhere.
- A big branch from the old dead tree in the Rose Garden came down sometime during the week, no doubt weighed down from the heavy rains. We dodged a problem because it did not come down on a rose shrub. But a disaster did occur last week. My Lady Banks rose died. I'm shocked. It seems to me that it's getting plenty of water. The zinnias growing right next to it are perfectly healthy. It's quite a disappointment and a mystery.
- We went to dinner at LuLu's in Roundtop.
- Sunday morning I loaded the cadet with mulch and mulched the bed in front of the dining room. Spread mulch in the Bee Balm bed and the bed adjacent to that one. Spread the last of it in the Back Bedroom bed.
- I dug up four large plugs of Ox Eye daisy seedlings that were growing in a path in the Star Garden and transplanted them into beds in the Medicine Garden. Then I surrounded them with chicken wire and staked them well. Armadillos won't be able to dig them up. That took some time to do.
- Watered the pots around the pool.
- Watered in the Rose Garden.
- Bert and I harvested our honey It was a very good year finally. The last several years we have not been able to harvest any honey at all.
- Headed home Sunday afternoon. No more driving in to work on Monday mornings. Too far now that I work downtown.
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