I took Friday vacation and finished almost all of my Christmas shopping. Nine grandchildren and one on the way. We just found out Blake is pregnant with a little girl. Very exciting! Arrived at the farm Friday late afternoon. It's disconcerting how quickly things can take a turn. Our little dog Buddy was run over by our flat bed trailer on Saturday morning. We rushed him to the vet. The x-ray revealed that his back and pelvis were broken, so we put him down. Poor, poor little fellow.
- We buried Buddy next to Lanie and Cosmo.
- I raked leaves throughout the day on Saturday and dumped the leaves in the large area adjacent to the Rose Garden.
- I dug up some Standing Cypress seedlings growing in paths in the Rose Garden and planted them in various places in the Rose Garden. Watered them in.
- Weeded here and there.
- I cut away dead canes from the roses in the Orchard.
- I finished cutting back the dead vegetation in the small asparagus bed in the Vegetable Garden.
- I took many strolls through the gardens looking at all my seedlings. I have a particularly great crop of poppies coming up everywhere this year. Perhaps I've found the secret to getting lots of poppy sprouts - do absolutely nothing to prep the beds. Literally, just sprinkle the seeds. Even the loosest of soil will cover them up. They are so very tiny that they exhaust their energy almost immediately. In past years I prepped the beds, but before I sowed the poppies I would firm the soil. This year I didn't do that, and I have zillions more than I usually have.
- I fertilized all my camellias - the one in the Shade Garden, the two White By The Gates along the Boardwalk, and the Debutante in the Circle. I've already fertilized the Yuletide Camellia. I fertilized more of my emerging bulbs including my Snowflakes and Blue Bottles, and my little narcissus odorous in the Star Garden.
- I raked out the beds in the Circle Drive where I have lots of lily seedlings growing. Bert and I are always at cross-purposes in the fall. He blows the leaves in the beds and I rake them out. If I don't have seedlings growing of course I let the leaves remain there. They discourage weeds and fertilize the soil. But the leaves smother my lily seedlings.
- Sunday was very productive. I dug up two Altheas and re-planted them in the Long Border. One of them was given to me by my neighbor, Debra. It is a double pink. I've had it for many years, but it has always been in a terrible spot - shady and dry. It's only a little bit bigger than when she first gave it to me. So I moved it, fertilized it, watered it in, and mulched around it. The second one is a Satin Marina althea. Blue with a deep blue throat. I planted it amongst some Indigo Spires salvias, and it has never prospered there. So I moved it to the Long Border, fertilized, watered and mulched.
- Next I dug up two plugs of Peggy Martin rose that had tip-rooted near the mother plant. I planted one on the goat wire fence at the entrance to the Long Border, and I planted the other one next to the trailing purple lantana in the Rose Garden. Fertilized, watered and mulched.
- I dug up six or so plugs of Ox Eye Daisies and planted them near the altheas. Watered them in and mulched around them.
- I dug up three plugs of Homestead Purple Verbena growing in paths and planted them in beds in the Rose Garden.
- Next I dug up four clumps of cannas (no-name bargain bin cannas) and moved them away from my white sweet shrub. The cannas have been crowding the sweet shrub for a couple of years. I'm not sure she will make it, but she has a better chance now. I planted the clumps of cannas in the Star Garden in various places. They are pretty good bloomers and worth saving.
- I raked in the Star Garden. All the trees are bare now, so I can start raking out the beds and paths. The sprinklers came on, so I moved to the Medicine Garden.
- I raked in the Medicine Garden. Filled 30 or so wheelbarrows with leaves and wheeled them over to the unfinished areas of the Star Garden. The leaves condition the soil and keep down the weeds. I also dumped some over the daffodils I planted last weekend in the Daffodil Border.
- I planted 250 Sweetness daffodils in the Daffodil Border last weekend. And 200 Excelsior Spanish Bluebells and 200 Star of Bethlehems (AKA Silver Bells) along the driveway adjacent to the Shade Garden. Star of Bethlehem is Ornithogalum nutans. I've never grown them, but I've been curious about them.
- I did something I've been meaning to do for several years. I dug up my Ellen Bosanquet crinum and moved it to a sunnier location. I bought two of them at the River Oaks plant sale some years ago. I planted them both in the shade which, as it turns out is not good. In my defense I saw a picture in Scott Ogden's bulb book, and it looked like they could take shade. They have never thrived or multiplied and one of them actually died. You have to be a pretty bad gardener to kill a crinum, but I did. I planted it in the Long Border near the crinums that my sister gave me.
- Spent the night on Sunday and drove in to work on Monday morning.
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