A Day at the Farm May 20, 2012

Went to the farm for the day, haven't been there in three weeks.  My sweet sister lost her battle with uterine cancer on May 15.  I was in New York for the last two weeks.  The whole family was with her when she died.  She was very brave to the end, and I will miss her for the rest of my life.

What's Blooming Now - Cassia corymbosa April 22, 2012

This little tree or large shrub is a larval food source for the Sulphur butterflies.  I have always considered Cassias to be late summer bloomers, but I guess I was wrong.  This particular variety seems to be fairly cold hardy.  I had another variety, and it was really large (never wrote down the name of it).  It was growing in the yard of my Houston home.  Three winters ago, when the weather stayed below freezing for several days, it died.  This past winter was not as severe, but it definitely gets colder in Brenham than Houston.  Anyway, so far so good. 

A Weekend at the Farm April 21-22, 2012

I thought we would have had some rain when we arrived on Friday evening because the weather was moving east and we got a lot of it in Houston.  But there was no rain in the gauge.

• I spent hours pulling up the dead poppies and pouring seeds into gallons baggies.  By Sunday I was tired of the whole process and was just throwing them into my red wheelbarrow and dumping them in piles around the perimeter of the property.  The important thing was to keep the billions of seeds from falling into the flower beds as best I could.
• I planted 4 Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' in Max's Garden. 
• I planted 4 Bee Balm in the Long Border. 
• My perennial Ageratum is blooming in the Long Border!  I'm excited about that.  I pulled up plants that are growing around it so that it won't be choked out.  I wasn't aggressive enough, I should have pulled up more.  It's the Verbena Bonariensis that is running rampant throughout the Long Border.  And the Tickseed is pretty thick too.
• I dug up the last of the Yukon gold potatoes.  I cooked some of them in a stew.  Homegrown potatoes really do taste better than the ones in the grocery store.
• Weeded in the Vegetable Garden.
• Sprayed herbicide around the flowerbed borders in the Star Garden.
• Sprayed fungicide on the Hollyhocks.
• Spread Nicotiana seed in the Infinity Garden that I collected from the plants going to seed.
• Planted 25 Oxalis 'Iron Cross' in Max's Garden.
• The plums and peaches are growing larger!  A few of the blackberries are turing reddish. 

What's Blooming Now - Tuber Vervain April 15, 2012

I grew this Tuber Vervain from seed.  Tuber Vervain is a perennial that spreads from underground runners and from seed.  It is vigorous, so be careful where you plant it.

What's Blooming Now - Sea Star Sedum April 15, 2012

 How cute is this!  Sea Star Sedum is really fun.  Sedums are 'shoes and socks' (or front of the border)plants.  There are many varieties of sedums, all unusual and beautiful succulent plants.  Worth researching and putting in your garden.

A Weekend at the Farm April 15 - 16, 2012

 It tried to rain all weekend, but it never really made it.  Sprinkled on Sunday.

• The plants I ordered from Brent and Becky's Bulbs and White Oak Nursery arrived this week, so I was able to bring them with me and plant them.
• Planted 75 Moonlight Caladiums in the Shade Garden and along the Boardwalk. 
• Planted 100 Oxalis tetraphylla 'Iron Cross' in the Shade Garden, along the Boardwalk, and in the shady part of the Star Garden.  Oxalis are four leaf clovers.  They are fun little plants to grow because they are - well, four leaf clovers!  They multiply vigorously.  I have another 100 to plant, but I gave out.  I'll plant them next week.
• Planted 3 Francee Hostas in the Shade Garden.
• Planted 3 Abiqua Drinking Gourd Hostas in the shady part of the Star Garden.
• Planted 10 Mojito Colocasia Esculenta along the Boardwalk and in the Shade Garden.
• Moved an Autumn Sage that was growing in a crack in the rocks over to a bed in the Star Garden.
• One of the sprinkler zones is not working.  We'll have to get someone out to take a look at it.  Unfortunate.
• Dug up some of the Yukon Gold potatoes in the Vegetable Garden.  They are so cute!
• Pulled up the last of the carrots.
• Made a salad for dinner Saturday night with baby arugula from the garden and lemon/anchovy dressing.  Delicious.
• Fertilized in the Star Garden with some liquid fertilizer.
• Weeded the Vegetable Garden.
• Picked several big bouquets of Sweet Peas to bring home. 
• Staked a holly hock that fell over.
• Spread Nicotiana seeds across a flower bed in the Infinity Garden.  My Nicotiana is going to seed, so I pulled some of the seed pods off the plants and sprinkled them all around.
• Deadheaded roses in the Rose Garden. 

What's Blooming Now - Larkspur April 15, 2012

Larkspur is easily grown from seed.  In my zone 8b area it should be sown in October / November.  Sowing Larkspur is as easy as throwing it on the ground.  I don't prepare the soil at all.  All the Larkspur growing around my place is from seed that dropped to ground last spring.  I did not plant any new seed.  It is so pretty and makes gorgeous cut flower bouquets.