I just love Mellow Yellow Hibiscus! So reliable, but I never have figured out why - is it reseeding? Or coming up from the roots?- I am never left with a root ball at the end of winter, so I can't see how it is coming up from the roots. But then that means those little seeds it produces are really persistent.
- Finally back at the farm after 2 groups of Airbnb guests back to back. We got here Sunday afternoon. I changed sheets and watered gardens.
- Monday. Worked.
- I watered in the Greenhouse Gardens. The azaleas were looking pretty peaked. I watered the hydrangeas and the Mexican Buckeyes.
- Pulled the hose over to the Vegetable Garden and watered the sunflowers and my little senna tree.
- I planted Pirates Pearls in the Rose Garden. And I planted some more lantanas. Deadheaded zinnias and spread the seed. Pumped water down vole holes with the end of the hose. More work to do there.
- I made 2 chicken wire enclosures and surrounded some zinnia seeds that I sowed in the back bed near the pool.
- I made a partial chicken wire enclosure around one of my rose beds where the deer are eating my roses. I swear, it's like a war around here with the voles, the deer and the armadillos.
- I smoothed the soil in the Kitchen Herb Garden - totally messed up from armadillos, sowed a bunch of catnip (because I had it on hand) and laid down chicken wire. Staked it down in 6 places.
- I weeded in the Star Garden for quite a while. I cut back all the Obedient Plant, it was done blooming.
- The hurricane lilies are beginning to bloom. I was hoping they would hold off for several more weeks. Maybe these are just a couple of confused bulbs.
- I planted a Mexican Turks Cap. This plant has really large flowers that look to me like red hibiscus flowers that never fully open. Surrounded it with chicken wire.
- Tuesday. Worked.
- Watered in the Rose Garden.
- Planted the last of the lantanas in the Rose Garden that I brought with me from Houston. Weeded for a while. I also planted a tiny Powder Puff shrub in the Star Garden. I saw it at the Arobor Gate. They were selling them in little 4 inch pots. That's a steal of deal if I can keep it alive long enough to see it grow to a large shrub. They are loved by hummingbirds. I spread the last of the zinnia seeds that I bought last week.
- Picked okra. I check on my okra every day, twice a day. It grows so fast!
- After work I worked about an hour in the Star Garden. My focus was cutting plants away from the paths, staking plants, deadheading salvia and basil, and weeding. I wheeled my wheel barrow along with me and dumped the debris in that. I made pretty good progress.
- After dinner I went out to the Rose Garden and deadheaded all the salvias. We want a good fall show of flowers!
- I swam in the pool after it got dark. I love the water at that time of the evening. Everything is so still.
- Wednesday. Worked.
- There was a little cool front, and I was out early to water in the Rose Garden, the Greenhouse Gardens, and the Long Border.
- During lunch I drove in to town to Home Depot. I bought more chicken wire, 8 rebar, 3 packages of bamboo stakes, and some zinnias. Lots of work to do warding off armadillos, rabbits, voles, and deer.
- After work I went out and weeded. I cut back my Indigo Spires in the Star Garden so that I can get one more flush of flowers in the fall.
- Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard and here and there in the Star Garden.
- Set the sprinklers in some dry spots.
- Thursday. Worked.
- Another cool morning. I was out by 6:45 watering. I watered all my new lantana, Mexican Sedum, and Pirate's Pearls. Then I watered in the Greenhouse Gardens. And I watered my sunflowers in the dry part of the Vegetable Garden.
- I staked my Pride of Barbados that I planted several months ago down by the Orchard. It is going gangbusters, but it was leaning over.
- I sowed zinnias in the front flower bed and surrounded them with chicken wire. The reason I sow so many zinnias is because they start getting gangly and scabby-looking after awhile. So it's good to have lots of them growing in succession so you can pull up the ugly ones and still have lots of blooms.
- The butterfly season is here. August is the big month for butterflies. Right now I see lots of the black ones (there are three kinds of black swallowtails, and I can't tell the difference amongst them. Monarchs and sulphurs are abundant as well. I'm ready for my Monarchs - lots of milkweed this year. And my little senna tree and Turks Cap for the Sulphurs. I have not seen a Julia this year. Or a Zebra Longwing.
- I made improvements to my anti-deer contraption that I set up around one of my roses that the deer seem to be particularly fond of by adding more chicken wire roof to the cage I made.
- I gathered up a bunch of African Hostas and planted them in the area where I dug up all the Montbretia in the shady part of the Star Garden. I have no idea how that Monbretia ended up there. It left a big empty spot. So I planted some African Hostas and put a chicken wire cage around them. The armadillos really like that bed.
- Drove to Houston and gathered outside the Buckingham gates with Dad, Mom, Bert, Nancy, Josh and Amy, and Max for a brief birthday champagne toast for Dad's birthday. We were all in masks and standing apart. This is so crazy.
- Friday. Worked. I was going to take the day as vacation if the temperature was as nice as it was on Wednesday and Thursday. But alas, it was back to the same warm morning.
- Watered, spent a lot of time watering the Ballerinas and the Fortune's Double. The Ballerinas don't look good. I'm wondering if I can baby them and rejuvenate them or if I should just dig them out and get rid of them and start over. They used to be so beautiful.
- I watched a cardinal sitting in my Harlequin Glorybower and eating berries off the Beautyberry growing underneath. I've never seen that before. I had no idea they ate those berries.
- Weeded here and there.
- Since there has been no rain the rain barrels had almost no water (and so they were not really heavy), so I turned them over to get rid of the green dregs. Refilled them.
- Bert picked the boys up and they spent the weekend with us. Blake is recovering from her surgery.
- It rained a light rain for a couple of hours on Saturday morning. Not really enough to revive anything in the woods, but better than nothing.
- We are in the last, horrible days of summer when you think you can't go on because it's so hot and dry! It's really tough. But I know that, in another month there will be just the littlest bit of relief and then fall will be here and - happiness again!
- Sunday Josh and the girls came up and we all swam all morning. They left about 1:00.
- After I drove the boys home I went to the Arbor Gate and bought some MORE lantana and several Mexican Sedums.
- When I got back to the farm I surrounded one of my beds in the shady part of the Star Garden with chicken wire. I have a young camellia and lots of Philippine Lily seedlings in the bed. The armadillos were tearing it up. So I fixed them!
- I hand-watered my Fortune's Double and the Ballerina roses.
- I went down to the Orchard and worked in there for a couple of hours. Mostly I just cut my Coneflower down to the ground and spread all the seed. I have so many Coneflower plants that it took a really long time. Hopefully I will get a good fall flush. But, despite having zillions of them and getting a beautiful summer flush of flowers, I don't have any experience with them beyond that. They don't bloom until the second year - and this is the second year. I pulled weeds, but there weren't many weeds. I cut back one of the (many) salvias down there. I need to spray herbicide on the paths, that is about to be a Defcon 5 situation. I watered the Tuscan Blue Rosemary that I planted a couple of weeks ago. I watched a caterpillar munch away on the fennel growing down there. Picked a few grapes.
- Picked okra.
- I picked a bunch of paw paws off my tree. I'm going to make banana bread except with paw paws. They have a very similar taste.
- That was it for Sunday evening.
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