This is second generation Cosmos. I sowed some in the beginning of summer. And I pulled them up once they got tired looking. A whole new crop sprung up, and I have a second wave of gorgeous blooms from the seeds that dropped on the ground.
Busy October for plant-related activity. The La Bahia plant sale was October 5. And the next Saturday I attended the milkweed propagation demonstration at the NPSOT Symposium in New Braunfels.
I planted 4 Frogfruit next to the Possumhaw, live oak seedling and grama grass at the edge of the Star Garden. Ever since the linemen came and cut down the dead tree that was growing there, I've been trying to wrap my head around the fact that the area is sunny now.
I cut yaupon and poisoned the tips in the area I am trying to convert to native that is next to the Greenhouse.
Cleared out the bed by the front arbor. In the spring, it always gets covered by chickweed, so I am not going to seed the area.
I worked in the shady parts of the Star Garden clearing, weeding and tending. I spread lots of Philippine Lily seeds.
Planted a live oak sapling along the boardwalk.
I pulled up all the mistflower in the front bed and sowed the area with wildflower seed. And I pulled up all the zinnias on the other side of that bed, roughed it up, and watered. A couple of months ago I threw down zillions of coneflower seed in that area. So, now that the zinnias and weeds are gone, it is prepped and ready to grow coneflower.
Watered in the Greenhouse Garden all day on Saturday - so dry!
I began the milkweed propagation process by putting the milkweed seeds (that I got from the demonstration last weekend) into moistened vermiculite. They will stay in the fridge in baggies of moist vermiculite for 6 weeks. I'm kind of fired up about it. That would be amazing if I could successfully grow milkweed. It is notoriously hard to grow milkweed from seed.
I stayed outside working and wandering until darkness (and fear of snakes) drove me in to the house Saturday evening. But before I went in, I watched the moths on the Almond Verbena shrub. Constant activity here at the farm.
The Mexican sunflowers and Cosmos are a so entertaining to watch. Butterflies by the hundreds are fluttering all around them. And the white and blue mistflowers are waiting in the wings, just about to bud out.
I tried to cut down some yaupons in the wooded area next to the Long Border, to open up the area and also to really showcase the loblolly pines that grow in that area. I used a new electric saw to do it, but that was a total bummer. The chain kept coming off. Not happy about that.
Sunday. I cleared out the remaining beds in the Vegetable Garden. I raked pine needles in my good spot and laid them down over parts of the beds that I am not currently going to use. I sowed turnips, parsnips and cilantro. I sowed some pea seeds in one of the beds to use as green manure. I will turn them under in a month or so. So, lots accomplished in there. At one point I was pulling weeds, and I picked up a copperhead IN MY HAND! I thought I had a handful of weeds, then I felt movement, looked down at my hand and saw the snake. Naturally I threw it down. But I let it live. I shooed it away - which is not easy with copperheads. Their instinct is not to move at all, so prodding them mostly just makes them mad.
Headed home about 3:00
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