August 1 - I weeded in the Medicine Garden around the Cemetery iris. I scooped out all the oak leaves as well because I sowed that area heavily last year with mullein that Debra gave me. No mullein appeared, so I am going to see if this encourages it. Probably too late in the year, but better late than never? Watered the area well. Cut down some elderberry and Hojo Santo that spread too far into other plants, poisoned the cuts. Scraped up lots of basketgrass throughout the garden.
Pulled some weeds in the front beds.
I pulled up all the ragweed in the Daffodil Border. Ragweed is really easy to pull up. Cut down and poisoned some peppergrass taking hold in the Peggy Martin rose bush that is trained on a fence. More to do there, but I got a good start. I ended up spending the rest of the morning in the Rose Garden. It looks pretty good in there, but you can't rest on your laurels with a garden. I am continuing to sow zinnias as I move through the garden. I also cut down lots of seedlings where I spread them too thick. And as always, weeded, weeded, weeded.
I staked 2 gigantic Pringle Asters at the end of the garden. Gave them a shot of water. They don't get much where they are situated. But they are happy there.
Headed to Max and Julia's house to watch the bear while they went out. Spent the night. It's ridiculous how cute he is.
August 2 - Bert pulled up the rest of the tomato plants in the 4 x 16 bed. I came in behind him and pulled all the weeds. Sowed some okra seeds. They were packaged in 2023, so maybe too old to have good germination. I also sowed French Marigold (2023) and Calendula (2022) seeds - also old seed from 2022 and 2023. Just trying to clear out old seed. I sprayed herbicide in a few spots. I fertilized my eggplant and bell peppers again to see if I can get more production. I fertilized a week or so ago also. I made eggplant Parmesan with what I had.
I watered the Western Soapberry in the back yard. I'm trying to keep it healthy through its first summer. After that it should be okay on its own.
Filled the water tank in the Water Garden and cleaned out the filter.
Watered the pots around the pool.
I trimmed some Mexicali Rose that grows between the boards of the Boardwalk and cut back Turks Cap leaning into the Boardwalk.
August 3 - It actually felt pretty good outside in the morning. Humidity was relatively low.
I watered the Western Soapberry again.
I worked in the Orchard for several hours. I did a lot of weeding, but most of it was light weeding - a weed here and there - all small because I've done so much work in there recently. There was one bad spot left to clear out, and I cleaned out about half of it. Watered some of the fruit trees. Cleaned out some dead blackberry canes. Staked a Pringle Aster.
After that I worked for a bit in the Water Garden. There was one spot around a couple of Pringle Asters that needed some clean-up. While I was working in there I pulled up some native Artemisia. I went ahead and potted them up into 3 one gallon pots. I'm going to plant them in the Meadow in late fall. I watered here and there. I need to stake a couple of Pringle Asters in there, but I didn't get to it.
I sprayed herbicide in the Rose Garden and the Water Garden, just in a few spots here and there.
I took a dip in the pool and watched Hare Streaks sipping nectar on the lantana growing next to the pool. In the evening, I went down to the Orchard and sprayed herbicide in a few spots. Pulled a few weeds and sowed some zinnias. I want a spectacular show of flowers for the fall. It's surprising how difficult it can be to have a great show despite all the seeds I've sown. Something can mess it up. Weird weather, an animal, insects...
Put away all my tools because I don't think I'm going to work hard tomorrow. I will just stroll and weed I think. Then home to Houston to get ready to go to Santa Fe to see Beckett perform in an opera. Nan, Lisa, Bert, Gretchen and Keith will all be there and of course Beckett.
August 4 - I did some light weeding in the Vegetable Garden. I sowed the remaining sunflower seeds I had on hand.
I spent some time in the Rose Garden. I sowed the remaining French marigolds I had on hand (old seed, not sure if it will germinate). I arranged the sprinklers. Staked my pink guara. This is the second time I have had to stake it. It is very tall and gangly - and it has not been a great bloomer so far this year. I guess I will cut it back by a third or half next time I'm here.
August 10 - I got here on Monday morning. All the okra have popped up. None of the marigold seed have emerged yet. I did some weeding around the seed beds although not much effort was required.
I did end up cutting back my pink gaura in the Rose Garden. I cut them back by half. I trimmed up some of the cut pieces into small sections, dropped them into one of the water barrels so they would stay wet. The next morning, I mixed up some potting soil and perlite. I dipped the ends of the gaura into root hormone and planted seven of them in small pots. I have no idea if they will make it. I put them in the Vegetable Garden under the arbor so they will have shade and water.
I cut back all the Indigo Spires Salvia in the Star Garden. These are all the plants that I transplanted last fall. I moved them from a bed that I wanted to get rid of - part of my project to reduce the number of beds in the Star Garden. That garden needs more open spaces. While I was in the area, I did some weeding around the White Pillar Althea. Watered a bit in there.
August 11 - I worked in the Orchard. I pulled up dead grass in the corner of the Orchard. Weeded under a bed of blackberries. Weeded in each of the beds, there were more weeds than I thought there would be since I was in there less than a week ago, although all of them were very small. It's such a pleasure to be in the gardens when they are so pretty and clean. The Sweet Autumn Clematis is in full bloom. It smells wonderful.
Bert and I drove into Austin to The Oasis on Lake Travis. We had lunch with a beautiful view of the lake. It is at its highest level in 100 years, so we wanted to look at it.
August 12 Wednesday - I slept in which was 7:20. Then outside to the garden! I worked in the Long Border clearing debris and weeds. I cut down and poisoned some vines that were growing into my Bee Brush. I weeded the bed in the front of the Rose Garden. Cleared away weeds from my little Anacua tree - shorter than my knee - but I'm rooting for it. More to do in there.
I spent a good amount of time in the area near the Long Border where Four O'Clocks are growing everywhere. I cut all of them and poisoned the cut tip. Dumped the pile in the fire pit. I don't want those seeds or those bulbs to take hold on the property, so I have to burn them up in the fire pit. I can't dump the debris in an erosion spot.
I mowed the Rose Edge Border. The greenery of the Schoolhouse Lilies will be appearing soon, and then it will be too late to mow. Last year I never found the time to cut back all the crabgrass, and the lily show was hidden. I cleared weeds around my Parsley Hawthorn, cut back salvia and Mexican Hat, and cleared around some Cow Pen Daisy that was trying to grow. Watered the area.
Next to the Rose Garden. I watered in a few places. I cut back the Texas Vervain and the Helianthus to get a pretty fall flush. I snipped the long seed-filled fronds of the Vervain into all the nearby gardens so that I can get more seedlings next year. I gathered up all the stems of the Helianthus and brought them to the porch to pull off the seed heads under the shade.
Took a dip in the pool.
Pulled all the seed heads off the Helianthus.
I went outside several more times throughout the day for short periods. One time I moved a hose around. The way it was snaking into the Orchard was cutting off a lot of length. So I dragged it around a few trees and freed up some length. I was sweating like crazy after only that little bit of effort. August is hot, that's just the way it is. Another time I went outside and watered all the pots around the pool. Another time, I pulled out the armadillo trap from the barn, set it, and put it in front of an entry hole in the Orchard fence that I noticed earlier in the day. We will re-home him if I get one. I also dumped out nasty green water from the bucket next to the barn. Washed it out and re-filled it from the cistern in the barn. All the poor animals need fresh water. Cleaned out and filled two of the birdbaths. I potted a Stone Crop cutting that Libba gave me on Monday when Mom, Dad, Nan and I visited her.
The two fellas that we are considering for constructing a lake came by in the evening to look around. We decided on them coming and digging some core samples to see if our land will hold water.
August 13 Thursday - Up by 4:00, couldn't sleep. At daylight, I drove down to the armadillo trap. Empty. I sprung the trap so that I don't accidentally get an animal trapped while I'm in Houston. Then I blocked the entrance hole with the trap until I can get some chicken wire and repair the hole.
I spread the Helianthis seed that I collected the day before. I spread it in the Star Garden and the front bed. Pruned several Perl d'Or roses and the Marie d'Orleans rose in the front bed and pulled up Day Flower weeds and crabgrass. I cut down Southern Wood Fern that was crowding around one of the Perl roses. I will dig up the clumps in the fall and move them somewhere else. I pulled up several pretty good size White Snakeroot growing in there that were masked by the fern. And I cut away all the Hyacinth Bean runners on the front arbor that were stretching out looking for something to wrap around. Some of them had already found Marie d'Orleans, so I cut them away.
Next, down to the Boardwalk. I cleaned out some grape vines, peppervine, and blackberry canes. Poisoned the cuts. Cleared out some crabgrass. While I was working, I watered all my blueberries and fruit trees.
Next, up to the Water Garden. I filled up the fountain, and I laid down some more flat rocks on the bird bath bridge. The insects watering on the rocks and the tadpoles swimming amongst the rocks was inspiring to me, so I made that small improvement. I watered the Desert Willow. I cleaned out weeds underneath the Texas Kidneywood. I cut back all the salvia and Vervain, watered well.
Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard, the Vegetable Garden, and the Rose Garden. Not much needed, but I'm determined to keep on top of it.
I spent some time in the Rose Garden cleaning out the La Vesuve rose bed. I cleaned and filled the bird bath. I cut back Vervain and Helianthus. Watered the bed well.
Thinned out my okra.
August 15 Saturday - Whoo baby, it's humid and hot. I drove in from Houston and arrived about 9:30. That's too late to acclimate to the heat for me. I went out to the Rose Garden and staked my Ashy Sunflowers, but in that short period of time I was sweating profusely and decided that I would not work.
An hour later, decided to push on - in the shade - so I worked on the Boardwalk Garden for an hour or so. I cut away Mexicali Rose growing up through the Boardwalk. I cut down and poisoned the cuts of Mexicali Rose growing around my White By the Gate Camellias. Cut away Turks Cap growing into the walkway. Cut and poisoned a few peppervine. Pulled weeds. I cut down a Poke Salat that had flopped over. I threw it in the wild area next to the Greenhouse Garden because it had lots of berries on it.
Cooled off with a dip in the pool.
August 16 Sunday - surprisingly cool outside first thing in the morning. Bert and I took a walk around the property. We haven't done that for a while.
I worked in the Long Border first. There was an area at the bottom that was full of peppervine. I cut every one of them and poisoned the cut tip. Pretty tedious work because you don't want to drip this terrible poison on the ground. I spent about an hour doing that. While I worked I watered a few beds as well as the Almond Verbena.
Next, I worked in the Vegetable Garden and watered in the Water Garden while I worked. I found an armadillo hole underneath the small asparagus bed. And it had rooted all through my bed that was full of beautiful Cosmos. They were all laying over. It had wandered through all my pots of plants under the arbor and they were all knocked over on their side. I had noticed yesterday that something had been in the garden. I saw a small hole under the gate and some scratches on the ground in various places. So yesterday I blocked the hole (I thought). But it got in last night and did some damage. I'm not sure if he is in the hole he dug. I stuffed the dirt back in there to see if it would draw him out. But nothing has happened yet. I cut back all the White Snakeroot that I potted up in the spring. It doesn't look good. I guess I won't be able to sell it in the plant sale. I pulled a pesky vine off my large asparagus bed. I wasn't able to get to the roots of the vine, so it will be back. Bert surrounds that bed with a metal barrier because asparagus gets so big and floppy. That is a good thing except for when trying to do some weeding because I can't reach through it.
August 17 Monday - I checked on my Vegetable Garden. The armadillo was definitely not in the hole that I covered because it is still covered up.
I worked in the Kitchen Herb Garden for a couple of hours. It was completely infested with weeds. It is surrounded by a fence because it was constantly being overturned by armadillos. I don't tend to spend a lot of time in that garden because the fence is a little difficult to bend down over and work. I cleaned the whole thing out. I pulled up a beautyberry shrub that had taken hold as well as several giant mistflowers. I left the butterfly weed alone. The only thing left in there is the butterfly weed, some scraggly rosemary, and some chives.
Next I worked in the Medicine Garden. I pulled up some giant mistflower (this plant is beautiful in the fall, and it is an amazing nectar plant, but it gets so huge that it can be a nuisance) and lots of basketgrass, I watered the Western Soapberry and a few of the beds that never get water. I cut back all the Henna. And I cut back some beautyberry that was brushing against my head when I walk into the Water Garden.
August 18 Wednesday - I started out in the Orchard. The Orchard probably looks as good as it ever has. I pulled weeds, but they were all tiny. Mostly I watered my fruit trees and blueberries. I sprayed herbicide in a few spots on the paths.
I moved on to the Star Garden. I cut the seed heads off all the Giant Rudbeckia. I'm going to package some of the seed and give it away at the NPSOT lecture on Friday. Then I cut down all the stalks. I also cut down Vervain and spread the seed throughout the garden. Pulled up lots of Basketgrass. Generally spent time cleaning out some beds. It was extremely dry in there, so I watered as I worked. I pulled up a few Mexican sunflowers that had toppled over and died. I cut back some salvia - Mystic Spires and Duehlberg white and blue. Sprayed a little herbicide, not much needed. Still more to do in there, but it looks pretty good if you don't try to make your way into the outer edges. They need to be cleared out of all the Frostweed that is leaning into the paths.
Took a dip in the pool then dumped my debris in an erosion spot and cleaned up and headed to Blake's to watch the kids. The armadillo managed to bypass all my barriers again and got into the Vegetable Garden. It didn't do as much damage as last time. I added more heavy weights to my barriers.
August 20 Thursday - No armadillo activity in the Vegetable Garden.
I worked in the Star Garden. Cleared out beds. I had to water because some weeds will hardly pull out of the ground because the ground is so dry. Pruned the giant mistflower pretty hard. It won't bloom until October, and it gets huge and obnoxious if it's not pruned. I cut a big branch off my Almond Verbena that was causing me to duck when I walked by.
Pruned the rest of the roses in the front beds.
I collected the rest of the seed heads of the red-stemmed Helianthus. Some of them I bagged up to sow later, and some of them I spread throughout the bed.
Bert and I drove into town and bought some lumber to replace rotting boards in the Vegetable Garden.
August 20 Friday - called to wish Dad happy birthday.
NPSOT event at the library took up the entire morning.
I watered in the Rose Garden in the evening. At 6:30 it was 100 degrees. Incredibly hot. I've lost every single Ox Eye that I planted or sowed in the garden last spring. It's just too hot and dry now for that plant to thrive in the Rose Garden. The Rose Garden doesn't get shade at any point during the day. Twenty years ago it was a major plant in the garden. I had so many Ox Eyes that I staked them just to make my way through the paths. Now I can't water often enough to keep them alive.
August 24 Monday - I drove up just for the day. I planted an Agave that Max dug up from his yard and gave me. And I planted a succulent cutting that I took from one of Nancy and Lisa's plants.
Filled the tank in the Water Garden.
Cleared out the wild corner in the Rose Garden which is where I planted the Agave. I watered in there because I have a few drought tolerant plants growing in there (Texas Kidneywood, Retama, Indian Grass), but they needed a helping hand.
I watered in the Water Garden where I cut down all the salvia. Also fertilized.
That weird ant that builds tiny mounds around the stems of my plants and kills them is in the Vegetable Garden. They have surrounded all my sunflowers and are beginning to mound around my okra. I sprinkled Ortho on them, but I don't know if Ortho kills them. Ortho kills fire ants, and these are not fire ants.
August 25 - Tuesday. We planned to come back on Wednesday, but the air conditioning went out in Houston. It's blazing hot, so we drove up together to escape the heat.
August 26 - Wednesday. Bert drove back to Houston to meet the A/C repair guy. I worked in the Orchard for a while watering the fruit trees and shrubs. I pulled some weeds, but the Orchard is pretty clean right now I'm proud to say. There is not much to do.
Next I worked in the Vegetable Garden. I did some weeding, but again, not much to do. I worked on clearing out stuff that was blocking paths such as pots with soil in them that didn't have anything growing in them (I put them all in the Greenhouse for future use), and I dug out an old whiskey barrel that had rotted and fallen apart in the middle of path. I threw all the dirt over the fence. I fertilized the Shinner's Sunflowers that I am going to put in the fall plant sale. Thinned out the okra.
Around 11:00 I watered in a few places in the Rose Garden but didn't stay long due to the miserable heat.
I pulled up some native Artemesia growing in Mom's garden (that I watered the day before) and submerged the roots in one of the water buckets in preparation for potting them up. That water bucket is interesting, I've been watching it for a long while.There are tadpoles in it. Some time ago (recently) I dropped some Southern Woodfern in that bucket. And then I watched with quite a lot of interest how those tadpoles fared. In the last two weeks, I have observed their activity and it is sooooo interesting. They gather around the fern cuttings. It's so hot and dry that I feel like I'm really helping the little fellows out. I removed the fern cuttings from the barrel and replaced them with the artemesia. And I added some water from the hose because we have had so much dehydration. My little amphibian world!
Well, drum roll: This morning I saw a tiny, tiny frog on the edge of the tank in the Water Garden. I saw the little fellow just as he was going from the wet world to the dry world. I don't know where he belongs full time, but I was so jazzed to be there when he was faced with his decision.
August 27 Thursday. Bert worked in the Vegetable Garden replacing the rotten wood around the big bed in the middle. I worked in there while he worked so I could keep an eye on him. He can be pretty destructive to my plants without realizing it (or he realizes it and doesn't care). But I hardly got mad at him at all! I watered in the Greenhouse Garden as I worked in the Vegetable Garden. I dug out 5 or so Giant Rudbeckia that were growing along the fence and in the bed that Bert pulled apart. I potted them up, probably for the plant swap at the end of October.
I potted up some of the Artemesia that I pulled up the day before.
I spent some time in the Star Garden watering in a few places and cleaning out debris in a few spots.
Bert and I took Sadie to the vet and after the appointment we drove to the dirt store and had a yard of mushroom compost loaded into the trailer. I'm going to refresh the beds in the Vegetable Garden before I plant my fall garden. So far I have Shelling Peas, Cilantro, and Arugula seeds. I haven't sown any of them yet. I plan on getting some carrots, beets, kale, lettuces, and turnips (just a few) seeds, and I will buy some collard and mustard plants. I also want some dill and parsley seeds.
August 28 Friday. Woke up very early and spent the time ordering my veggie seeds. I also ordered more calendula seeds and some Larkspur. Took a walk around the property.
I spread the yard of compost in the Vegetable Garden. While I was in there I gathered up all my bird house gourds, cut back French Marigolds leaning into paths, thinned out my calendulas, celosia and okra. Not sure that my okra experiment is going to be successful. I sowed it pretty late in the summer. It's less than a foot tall right now, not sure it can mature in time before it gets cool. I sowed them on August 2nd. I fertilized the okra to give it a little encouragement.
Fertilized the elderberry plants that I'm going to put in the plant sale.
I planted 4 Ox Eyes that I grew from seed. I found them when I was fertilizing the elderberry, they were sort of hidden. I put all my seeds and plants in pots underneath the goat wire arbor in the Vegetable Garden. It's not easy to crawl through there once all the ground is covered up with pots, so that's how plants can get a little hidden. I planted the Ox Eyes where I planted all the others in the semi-shady garden that lines the path to the pool. It seems to be the perfect spot for them. I see armadillo activity in there, some of my big beautiful clumps of African Hostas are strewn all over the ground. I guess once he couldn't get into the Vegetable Garden, he went looking for an easy target.
August 29 Saturday. Bert and I took a walk around the property. Then I helped him hang a barred owl house. It had fallen down a few months ago, so we hung it back up. It's not as high in the tree as it was before, but we're older and not as strong. We did the best we could!
I spent the whole morning in the Rose Garden watering and pulling weeds. I only got about halfway done with the watering, I put the the pressure on low and watered for 10 minutes in each bed. I move the sprinkler around a lot because it's so dry that the water will just run off. So I moisten an area, give it a few minutes then water again. I get much better absorption that way. But it's very time-consuming because I have to babysit the sprinkler. I cut down the two clumps of Texas Vervain that I was saving to collect seeds off of. I harvested a bunch of them to sow later in pots.
In the evening, I worked for a bit in the Water Garden. I pulled up all the artemesia in the corner of the garden on the right side of the water fountain and underneath the Texas Kidneywood, the rose bush, and the Beebrush. I staked two Pringle Asters. I don't see the third one. I guess it died.
I swam in the pool for a while and cooled off.
Did a little more watering in the Rose Garden.
August 30 Sunday. I watered the other half of the Rose Garden. And of course I pulled some weeds, there is always a weed to pull.
Worked along the Boardwalk. A few weeks ago I worked on one side. Today I worked on the other. I pulled up lots of basket grass and vines and crabgrass. I pulled up some Late Boneset that was crowding my red cannas. Cut away grape vines that were encroaching past where I want them to stop. Pulled weeds out of the Orchard bed near the Boardwalk. My little oil can that I use to poison the tips of peppervine has broken, so that was a blow. I pulled up some vines, but it's more permanent to cut them and hopefully have the poison get absorbed into the undergound runner. It was incredibly humid, and I was pouring sweat. I mention that like it's unusual, but every morning in August is a huge challenge.
