Arrived Friday morning and set to work getting ready for the Bonassin Christmas. Saturday - the Bonassin Christmas. Nathan and family spent the night and left mid morning. I took vacation the whole week.
- Sunday. I finally received the bulbs from Brent and Becky's that I ordered months ago. I planted 30 Sternbergia in the Rose Garden. And I planted most of the 25 Ice Follies in the Rose Edge Border, the others I tucked in here and there.
- Weeded a bit in the Star Garden.
- A little dog wandered up while I was outside working. A collar but no tags. I was prepared to keep him while I looked for the owner, and I gave him a few bites of some chicken I had on hand. I went back inside to put the chicken away, but by the time I went back outside he was gone without a trace. Poor little thing. There is nothing but trouble out here for a little lost dog, coyotes being the worst of it.
- I decided to work in the Vegetable Garden next. I couldn't decide: do some mulching, do some raking or work in the Vegetable Garden. Vegetable Garden won. I moved all the goat wire surroundings and cut down all the asparagus stalks in the big bed. I turned over rye grass plugs that I missed the first time I turned over the soil a month or so ago. I weeded several large beds in there. Pulled up lots of chicken wire, folded it up and put it in the corner of the garden. Covered two large areas with pine needles that I weeded. Raked most of the paths. I pulled up all the red salvia in there. I probably should have pulled up a bunch of it before it seeded excessively. It will come back with a vengeance next year. Roughed up several beds that I weeded recently to uproot the new weeds beginning to appear. All that took a couple of hours. Looks better. I really need to get in that corner where the loofa is growing and clean it out, but there are about 10 large loofa gourds that are still green, and I want them to turn brown on the vine. The vine is crawling all over the small bed of asparagus. I'm ready for that vine to be gone.
- Monday. Cold and grey, that's okay. That's my mantra - cold and grey, that's okay. I like to work in that weather, I can go all day long.
- I pulled up all the castor plants and Mexican sunflowers growing in the Daffodil Border. Despite being 6 to 8 feet tall they came up easily because it has been raining. The soil was soft. I loaded them into the cadet, and dumped them in an erosion spot on one of the trails.
- I raked up many wheelbarrows-ful all along the drive where Bert blows the leaves off the driveway. I dumped the leaves in the Daffodil Border everywhere I pulled up the castor and sunflowers. All the paperwhites and the little wilding daffodils are beginning to emerge. The Sweetness have not begun to pop up yet.
- I raked the Long Border and the path that runs alongside it. I used the rake, and around my plants I used my hands. There is more to do there because the leaves have not finished falling. I raked up armloads of mostly pine needles mixed with some oak leaves and dumped them all adjacent to the Long Border path. The only thing that grows there are Four O'Clocks (much to my dismay - there is no good place to grow Four O'Clocks - they are a nuisance).
- Next I mulched a few beds in the shady part of the Star Garden. I didn't do much there.
- I raked the paths in the Star Garden and dumped all the leaves in the unfinished areas at the edges of the Star Garden.
- Trimmed shrimp plant that was leaning into paths.
- I took my new hand held chain saw and cut about 30 yaupon in a clearing that I'm trying to expand. It's a pretty little natural clearing along one of the trails. Most of the property is a yaupon motte. I dragged all the yaupon into a pile.
- I walked all the gardens at the end of day.
- Tuesday. Cold and grey, that's okay.
- I sprayed herbicide in the the paths of the Vegetable Garden. The winter weeds are bad in there. I used my boot to scrape away the ones growing right up against the raised beds.
- Our neighbor, Ray, and Bert rented a log splitter. They had taken down some dead oaks recently, so they split logs all day.
- I had a little sassafras tree spring up near the mother plant that I was going to give to my neighbor Debra. I tried to dig it up, but try as I might, I couldn't dig it up in one piece. The trunk broke off below the ground. Bummer.
- I raked leaves under the Basswood tree on the edge of the Shade Garden. I dumped many wheelbarrows-ful in the Rose Edge Border and all around the unfinished parts of the Star Garden.
- I dug up and moved the big clump of Mexican sage. I only moved it a few feet, but it is an improvement. It was right at the edge of a border, and was really in the way when it bloomed. And it was right in front of my beautiful Mexican Turks Cap that is in full bloom right now. The clump was huge, so I split it and planted it in 3 places.
- I dug up one of the three Kordana red roses that Amy gave me last Christmas. I moved it basically to the spot where the Mexican sage used to be. The Kordana roses are miniatures, so it should be fine there.
- I mulched that whole area around the 3 Kordana roses, the Mexican sage and the Mexican Turks Cap.
- I dug up some double orange daylilies that had spread out into the path and moved them in amongst the other ones in the flowerbed. And I moved a few to the Hot Border.
- I pulled up some Philippine Violets and blue mistflower that had sprung up in places where they didn't belong.
- I pulled up some Horseherb - that stuff has managed to get a foothold in one area of my long bed in the Star Garden. It is s booger to pull up. Very tenacious roots.
- I did some weeding in the Star Garden and mulched wherever I weeded. Mulched my Franziska Krueger rose in the front bed.
- I raked out leaves choking one of my beds in the Medicine Garden. Bert blows leaves into the beds - sometimes I don't care because it keeps the weeds down through the winter. But it also keeps seeds from germinating and taking hold. I gathered the great big seed heads off my Indian Peace Pipe Nicotiana and spread them in the bed that I cleared of leaves. I'm hoping to get a beautiful show of Nicotiana in the Medicine Garden next year.
- I dumped armfuls of the leaves into the unfinished area next to the pool.
- Wednesday. Drove to Houston to grocery shop for the Lopez Christmas on Sunday and get ready for cookie baking at my house with Blake, Mom and Nancy on Thursday.
- Thursday evening returned.
- Friday. Fiddled around with Christmas this and thats.
- Watered in the Water Garden and the surrounding areas.
- Saturday. Christmas. Prepped for Sunday Christmas with the family.
- Sunday Lopez Christmas. Drove home to Houston about 8:30 that evening and went to work on Monday.
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