Arrived on Sunday afternoon. We had Airbnb guests over the weekend.
- I never tend to do much when part of the day has already passed by. I like to start working first thing in the morning.
- I did some weeding in the Orchard.
- I dug around the mulberry stump to see what I was up against. I bought a Sam Houston peach tree to plant in its place (I'm planting a peach tree because I thrive on heart ache I guess). I was trying to find out how hard it would be to dig it out. It turned out Bert came down there and was able to push it over. There is still a lot to dig out, but it's a start.
- I walked around the Rose Garden and saw an enormous vole pile near my Old Blush rose, so I ran the hose down the hole and tried to mush down the soil.
- I dug a big hole for my new Sea Foam camellia and filled the hole 3 times with water to get the soil really wet. I'm planting it in my mom's garden. So far, I'm sticking with the white theme.
- I chose Sea Foam camellia because the flowers are white. But also because it is described as a vigorous grower and an excellent, very popular variety. Vigorous for a camellia is still pretty slow.
- Monday. Worked.
- I planted the Sea Foam camellia in the hole I dug the day before. I added lots of shale chips to the bottom of the hole and lots of mushroom compost.
- I spent a little time cutting back branches on Turk's Cap in the Greenhouse Garden.
- And I spent a little time in the Star Garden pulling up Obedient plant that had spread into a path. I never re-plant Obedient Plant. I pull it up and throw it away.
- I went down to the Orchard with my loppers and cut away some of the mulberry roots that I had run into with my shovel the day before.
- Pulled some weeds.
- After work I dug up about 20 Philippine Lilies out of paths and planted them in my mom's garden.
- I planted a White Pillar althea in my mom's garden.
- And I planted 15 Colonial White verbena in my mom's garden - half around the Madame Alfred Carriere climbing rose and the other half around the althea.
- Along the fence line closest to the Greenhouse, I sowed lots of Sweet Autumn Clematis seed that I collected from my vine in the Orchard.
- Tuesday.
- During the lunch hour I raked the Star Garden and did a little watering.
- I gathered up and discarded dead debris from my black seeded moudry grasses. I can see that the voles were munching away on the roots. There were barely any clumps to trim back, it mostly was an exercise of gathering up the fallen debris. That's okay. It will come back from the zillions of seeds that it throws off.
- After work I worked on my future peach tree hole down in the Orchard.
- I planted 2 Kiowa blackberry plants in the Orchard that I bought from Arbor Gate.
- Bert and I admired his work in my mom's garden and discussed future activities.
- At dusk, Bert and I drove around the property. The moon was full and the air smelled of green, cold, damp earth. The beautiful full moon was shining through the bare limbs of the oaks, and we both commented on it simultaneously. And it was good to know that we were so connected at that moment in time.
- Wednesday. Worked.
- In the morning before work I went out to the Vegetable Garden and cut the tops off my brussels sprouts. This is supposed to concentrate all the growth on the sprouts. I might be too late on this. I've never had success with brussels sprouts. My neighbor gave me a six pack of them last fall, so I planted them. I have fertilized them twice.
- During lunch I cut back the blue mist flower in the Star Garden. It dropped so much seed. Yuck. That particular variety of mist flower is pretty, but it gets enormous. It took up so much space in the flower bed. Based on how many seeds it dropped when I cut it down, I will be pulling up seedlings aggressively.
- While I was over there I decided to cut away the deadwood on my Peggy Martin. I clipped and cut and pulled. And finally I decided that it was completely beyond saving regarding whether it could be trained. So I cut the entire thing down to the ground. If she forgives me and sends up new canes I will start over training her. And she will probably send up new canes because Peggy Martin is famous for being resilient.
- Thursday. Worked.
- I drove over to the ditch on Sandtown Rd where the old Cemetery iris are growing. I dug up 10 or so. I planted them in my mom's garden.
- After work I spent about 30 minutes in the Shade Garden snapping all the twigs of Snakeroot and gathering them up in the wheelbarrow. And gathering all the dead debris of my gingers and putting them in the wheelbarrow to be disposed of later (my husband will do it for me if I don't do it promptly, so I don't do it promptly...).
- Friday. Worked.
- At lunch I cut away dead branches on my Fortunes Double rose.
- I enlisted Bert's help to cut off all the massive canes on my two Ballerina roses. They were alive but really old and scraggly. I'm hoping it will rejuvenate those old roses so that they will throw out some new growth. We'll see.
- The paperwhites are beginning to bloom. It's a favorite season of mine. I love the sweet smell. After they finish blooming I will move some of them to my mom's garden. They are very dear to me as is she.
- Saturday. Straightened up the house and did some laundry and changed the sheets.
- I planted my Sam Houston peach tree in the Orchard. I cut it down to my knee level which is what you are supposed to do the first season. Watered it in well.
- While I was down there I gave my Celeste fig tree a good watering.
- I cut up seed potatoes and spread them on a cookie sheet to dry out before I plant them.
- I went to work in my mom's garden shoveling a yard of mushroom compost that Bert picked up with the trailer on Thursday. Made quick work of that.
- Next, I raked up pine needles to mulch down in the Orchard. I weeded and then laid down pine straw in an area around where I planted the blackberries.
- William and the kids came up for the afternoon. William and Bert consulted on placement of the zipline. They decided 2 tree would have to be taken down (which I'm not too happy about).
- Sunday. I decided I'd better start cutting back dead debris because we are beginning to book up on Airbnb.
- I cut the red shrimp plant down to the ground in the Star Garden and the Greenhouse Gardens.
- I pruned my Climbing Pinkie. I watched a youtube video on how to prune climbers. It was really helpful.
- I cut down all my canna vegetation in the Star Garden.
- I gathered up dead ginger vegetation in all the gardens.
- I cut back a few Turks Cap, but that is a big job all in itself, for another day.
- I cut all the Elderberry down to the ground.
- I cut some of my henna to the ground, still more to go on that.
- I pulled up dead Philippine lily stalks.
- I cut back some grasses to the ground, I handled most of that a week or so ago.
- I cut back most of my white Philippine Violets.
- I cut back a few of my autumn sages, more to go on that.
- I still need to cut back my Vitex trees and all my roses. And as mentioned previously, all my Turks Cap must be cut back. And I still have to prune my grape vines. I am waiting to cut back my salvias for a few more weeks. And there are zillions of this and thats such as my white mist flower, thryallis shrubs, butterfly weed, etc., etc.
- I moved many Verbena Bonariensis plantlets from paths into flowerbeds in the Rose Garden. And I moved a few Ox Eyes from paths into beds in the Star Garden.
- I cut back some dead morning glory vine off the arbor at the front of the Rose Garden.
- Bert added some trim to the top of the fencing in my mom's garden. It is an improvement. I need to paint all the wood trim, but I will need to go to the hardware store and buy the paint. I will have to paint the Greenhouse at the same time, so it is a bit of a project.
- I made a pot of stew using parsnips, turnips, carrots, mustard greens and kale from my garden. That's a good feeling.
- Sunday was so beautiful, I didn't want the day to end.
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