Easter Weekend at the Farm During the Coronavirus Epidemic April 9 - 12, 2020

I took Thursday off, so with Good Friday and the weekend I had 4 days off.  We stayed at the farm, and Max, Julia and Luke came to stay Saturday night.

• Thursday,  I filled the cadet with mulch two times and spread mulch.  First I pulled up all the Purple Phacelia in the Star Garden that had gone to seed, smoothed out the dirt, spread zinnia seeds, and mulched.  Zinnias will come up in a thick layer of mulch, they are pretty strong.  I spread seed in the dry part of the Star Garden where the Moonflower vine grows and on the other side next to the pink Vitex.  Since I'm here to hand water, I can get seed to germinate and survive during their most vulnerable period.  After that, zinnias don't mind a little drought-y conditions.  Watered the areas well.
• I also cleared out an area in the main part of the Star Garden and spread some zinnia seed, then spread mulch.  I worked around several stands of poppies that are drying out
• I cleared out the bed in the Rose Garden that has no roses growing.  Pulled up weeds and scraggly plants, sowed zinnias and spread mulch.  Watered in well.
• Next I worked for about an hour in the Long Border.  I pulled weeds - the crab grass is just starting to show up.  Not much to weed, but I pulled up what I could.  Spread mulch around the cannas, lindlyana, rosemary and Terry's cannas.
• The guy from Brenham Glass and Mirror showed up to take measurements for mirrors in the master bath.  I want to removed the small mirrors that are attached to the walls and put in wall to wall mirrors above the sinks and vanity.
• I sprayed herbicide in the Vegetable Garden and the Shade Garden.  
• Spread mulch around my Rudbeckia in the front bed.
• Watered the pots in the Star Garden.
• Bathed the dogs.
• I staked a Henry Duelberg salvia in the Star Garden, but I was too late for it to look good.  I should have staked it much sooner while the limbs were still green and soft.  I will get the others staked tomorrow - they are not as far along as this one is. I stake my Augusta Duelberg also, and it looks good and very natural.
• Bert shot a copperhead just as it was leaving the Star Garden.  Yuck.  And he shot one next to the pool yesterday.  The snakes are active now that the weather is warm.
• A hard rain came in at 4:30.  It poured and the temperature dropped.  I like rain, but those hard rains flatten my flowers, and they often get so beaten down that they don't straighten back up.
• Friday.  I staked my Montbretia, a Blue Bedder salvia and a Verbena Bonariensis.
• Mulched for most of the day in the dry part of the Star Garden.  
• I pulled up the cedar logs that I use for flowerbed borders next to my blue Vitex and moved them to the Rose Garden.  I pulled up the rotten board along the Noisette bed and set those logs there.  I have been wanting to fill in the path between the Vitex Bed and the Black Moudry grass bed.  It's always been too narrow to walk through.  I filled the path between the two beds with mulch.  
• I worked for a long time in that area.  I pulled up lots of Gulf Coast penstemon seedlings.  I like that penstemon, but the seedlings can really look weedy.  I also pulled up lots of weeds and a particular coreopsis that I don't like.  Mulched, mulched, mulched.  The weather was so pretty and the temperature was cool with no humidity.  Butterflies everywhere.  
• Watered everywhere in the Star Garden where I have sowed zinnias.
• I spent quite a bit of time in the Shade Garden.  I cut and poisoned the tip of some nasty vines.  I cut away Sweetspire that had grown into the path.  I dig up two gingers that were growing in paths and moved them to the beds.  Snapped off and disposed of lots of dead Snakeroot limbs from last year.  I dug up and re-set some edging stones that were sunk into the ground. I filled in the damn armadillo hole that is huge and seems to keep getting bigger.  Dug up some Southern Wood Fern growing in the path near the hole - the armadillo pushes it out of the way and it takes root in the path.  I re-set the ferns in the ground on top of the newly filled hole and the nearby area.  I set big stones on top of all the spaces around the ferns to try and discourage the little bastard.
• We dyed eggs on Saturday.  Luke hunted for Easter eggs on Easter morning.  We got videos of Blake's kids hunting eggs.  And Nelda took video of the girls getting Easter baskets.  No one was together - a holiday we have always spent together in the Lopez family.  Max, Julia, Bert and I took a long walk before they left.  We saw 2 snakes - and a cow had gotten on our property.  The dogs were very excited, and they shooed it back through the fence.  
• On Saturday Amy and Jeff came over to take a look at our Vegetable Garden to get some ideas and ask some questions.  While she was here she was nice enough to walk my meadow to see what was growing.  I asked her the names of some things that were growing.  I have a dozen or so clumps of Eastern Gamma Grass - I did not know what it was, I am very excited to have that native in my meadow!
• Sunday.  I walked the Meadow with my oil can of diesel and Remedy cutting down Beautyberry and poisoning the cuts.  I spent about 45 minutes doing that (every step I take I have to check for snakes).  I don't want shrubs in my meadow.  And Beautyberry is a prolific multiplier.  First you have one, then the next year you have 30, then the next year you have 100, etc.  I have zillions.  Some, I cut and poisoned, others I just dotted the leaves with poison.  Dotting the leaves with poison will be enough to kill the small ones.  If you own a tractor with a shredder you don't have to worry about these things. In early winter you can run your tractor over everything and shred.  That results in great mulch and lots of seeds, etc.  I don't own a tractor.  Everything I do, I do by hand. 
• I spot watered in the Greenhouse Gardens and the Star Garden.  My Sweetshrubs are coming back.  Talk about late bloomers!  I thought they died.  I have one in the dry part of the Greenhouse Garden next to the Greenhouse.  I finally started seeing some green.  Yay!  I rewarded it by giving it lots of water.  And the one in the Star Garden - I saw a hint of green so I set the sprinkler on it.
• This is the most interesting year I believe I have ever had for American Painted Lady butterflies.  They are everywhere, so may of them.  And they love - absolutely love - the Verbena Bonariensis.  Sunday was a hot and bright day.  Perfect for butterflies.  I saw Red Admirals, Painted Ladies, Monarchs, Giant Swallowtails, and Sulphurs.  Such a lovely day for butterfly viewing.