Four weekends until the wedding.
I worked from the farm. Hot and sunny. I barely went outside during the day.
After work I sprayed weeds in the Orchard, the Vegetable Garden, and the Water Garden and Greenhouse Gardens.
Saturday. Up before daylight. Out at first light. Hot and sunny.
I worked the entire morning in the Rose Garden. I planted a flat of orange lantana, 2 Coral Plant (red russelia) and 2 purple russelia / tall Mexican petunia. I weeded as I went - including digging up dayflower - my least favorite weeding chore. And I generally cleaned up beds. I raked. I fertilized. Spot watered. I pulled out several old rotting boards from our original garden design and laid down the cedar logs that Bert pulled up last week from the Noisette bed. I'm not finished by a long shot, but it is looking decent. The drought and extreme heat has made it so very difficult to keep things looking good, but I keep plugging away.
Tall Mexican Petunia seems to be un-killable. The first time I ever saw it was in yards of homes in the 5th Ward. I drove through that area every day from downtown to the Hardy Toll Road. Always in bloom. Bert and I snuck into a yard (an area adjacent to a yard) and dug some up. I grew it in our garden on Smokey Hollow. We weren't there long enough for me to find out if it became an invasive nightmare like the one that is short in stature. But, around here when I hear the word invasive, I come a runnin'. With so many gardens, I love plants that spread aggressively.
Drove to the Home Depot to see if I could score some cheap perennials to plant in the Rose Garden. I got 5 more Tall Mexican Petunia and planted them all in the Noisette Bed. I planted 5 white Pentas in one of the rose buckets. I hope deer don't like pentas. I noticed that all the roses in buckets where I planted fennel don't seem to be bothered by deer. Interesting. I will hold on to that little nugget for next year.
In the late afternoon I went back out and worked in the shady irrigated part of the Star Garden. I pulled up basket grass in 3 of the beds. Basket grass is easy to pull up, very satisfying work, if that's possible when pulling weeds. I raked the paths around the area where I was working. I've been meaning to do that chore, people will walk right by that part of the garden on the way to the ceremony.
I went back out to the Rose Garden, did a very little bit of watering then set up all the hoses for tomorrow.
I spread 20 pounds of baking soda, mostly in the Vegetable Garden, where the Nostoc algae has taken over. I mean, it's everywhere like something in a horror movie.
Sunday. Up before daylight. Out at first light. The morning was rather tolerable, but it got hot soon enough. I went out to the Orchard and weeded. It's a nightmare. The crabgrass is so mature that I had to dig it out. The paths needed to be weeded because the weeds were too big for herbicide. Herbicide would kill them, but they would still need to be pulled up. So just better not to spray that nasty poison. I made good progress. I'd say 2 more 4 hour sessions should get it.
Out to the Rose Garden to water.
I staked my Forsythia Sage in the Star Garden, did some watering in there.
I watered all the Mangaves and cactus by the pool.
Watered in the Water Garden. Set up the hoses.
Headed home about 4:00
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