Weekend at the Farm October 9, 2015

Took Friday as vacation.  Arrived at the farm Thursday evening.  Bert was already here.  Left on Saturday morning to babysit for Sam while Blake, the two Joshes, and Amy went to I Fly and lunch for Blake's birthday.  Sunday brunch at Etoille for the October girls birthdays.

• Thursday evening I spent an hour or so walking around the Star Garden just lit up by the light from the house.  The crickets were deafening, and the Almond Verbena scent permeated the air.
•  Slept late on Friday morning, I never do that!
• Raked the path behind the house that leads to the Boardwalk gardens.  The armadillos have really made a mess back there!
• Watered in the Rose Garden for about an hour.  Pulled some weeds, although it's pretty weed-free right now.  I've been pretty diligent.
• Gathered Moonflower seeds off my vine growing on the trellis at the entrance to the Star Garden.
• Planted about 10 Ehrlicheer bulbs at the very far end of the Long Borderm, most of them right at the front of the border and two at the back.  I picked them up off the ground in my Ehrlicheer bed next to the house, they had been unearthed by armadillos.
• Raked in the Infinity Garden.  Cut away St. John's Wort that was growing into one of the paths.  Sprayed herbicide.  Set the sprinkler on a very low setting so that it was just dribbling out and watered each of my shrubs and trees in the area for 30 minutes each.
•  Sprayed herbicide  in the Vegetable Garden, raked up the nasty fungus, and weeded.  Some of the green beans are ready to pick.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard.  Picked weeds.  Raked.
• Dug a deep trench in the bed with the wine bottle edging, filled it with water (pretty dry in that area) and planted my half dozen or so Eucomis Comosa bulbs that had been uprooted in another part of the garden.  It seems to me they can use a little afternoon shade, so hopefully they will thrive.
• Planted about 15 Montbretia in the Star Garden along one of the main paths next to the Forsythia that got turned up by the damned armadillos.
• Ray came over and had a glass of wine with us Friday evening.
• Spent a lot of time outside after Ray left enjoying the lovely evening.

Weekend at the Farm October 2 - 4, 2015

Arrived Friday evening.  Bert was already here.  William, Kim, Nathan, Jess, Zelda, Henry, Oliver and Wes came for the weekend.  Bert and I let then have the bedrooms, and we camped out in the tent by the bonfire.  Beautiful, cool night.  We had a fish fry and roasted marshmallows.

• Didn't do much gardening, Zelda keeps me pretty busy making mud pies, playing in the tree house, taking rides around the property, jumping on sheet puffs, and putting on lip stick. 
• Cut down my dead butterfly magnolia.  I had trained some morning glories up around it, but it was leaning over from the weight which means it was literally good for nothing, so down it went.
• Watered in the Rose Garden for about two hours.
• Dug up some iris from the beds in the Circle Drive and replaced some dead iris in the Rose Garden.  
• Raked pine needles and mulched a couple beds in the Rose Garden. 
• Weeded everywhere.  
• Cut away Hoja Santa that has spread  to places I don't want it to be. 
• Raked all the paths in the Star Garden.  It looks much better in there.
• Watered in the Star Garden for an hour or so.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Rose Garden and the Star Garden.
• Watched the butterflies.  So pretty.  I saw one Monarch.  The weather was so beautiful this weekend.  Watching butterflies seemed like the best use of my time while I was in the garden.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Orchard.
• Weeded in the Orchard.  The zinnias I have been working so hard to get going before the first freeze have finally begun to bloom - white, light pink, dark pink, coral, red, yellow, purple.  Finally starting to look good down there.  Never again will I thin my zinnias.  I will spread the seed and let all of them grow together in a tangle.  It's a prettier show.
• I raked in the Infinity Garden around the Greenhouse.  
• Rested for about an hour then headed home.

Weekend at the Farm September 26 - 27, 2015

Up on Friday evening after a very long, difficult week at work.  Went home on Sunday morning to prepare for a family dinner since Max is in town.  Haven't been here for a couple of weeks.  Everything looks beautiful since the weather has cooled off a bit.

• My Cypress Vine is in full bloom.  Its red flowers are being swarmed by the hummingbirds.  Very amusing to watch.  Gorgeous blue wands of Mexican Sage are blooming right next to it.  And the Pringle Aster is in full bloom, it looks like a huge snow ball. 
•  I spent time in the Star Garden first, cutting away Almond Verbena branches leaning into the paths.  Pulled up spent zinnias.  Cleaned up a few beds that had been turned over by armadillos.  Replanted some Montbretia and iris the armadillos rooted up.  Hauled a couple of wheel barrows full of debris to the compost pile.  I collected about 30 Montbretia that I am not going to replant in the same spot.  They tend to lean over, and they are currently planted right next to a path.  
• Watered in the Rose Garden and the dry end of the Long Border for a couple of hours.  It was pretty dry, and I'm not sure that some of the iris I planted 3 or 4 weeks ago are going to make it.  They are pretty resilient, so maybe they will pull through.  I didn't have to weed much, it's pretty clean in there.  
• The number 1 sprinkler in the Infinity Garden isn't working.  It's pretty dry over there. I put the dripper on my azaleas, gingers. and Dame's Rocket.  The shrimp plant seems to be fine without any water.
• I drove to the Rose Emporium about noon and bought two roses to replace my dead Bermuda's Kathleen and Lafter.  I planted Carefree Beauty where Kathleen had been, right at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  Carefree Beauty has an interesting history.  It was found growing on Katy Road near Houston.  Cuttings were shared with the Rose Emporium.  It was sold under the name of Katy Road Pink for a long time, and then it was determined to actually be the Dr. Griffith Buck rose still being sold under patent called Carefree Beauty.  She has hot pink, large, semi-double flowers.  She is a good bloomer.  I have grown this rose before, and I really like her.  I killed her and about six other roses seven years ago when I over-fertilized them.  Carefree Beauty's genes are used in the famous Knockout Roses.  I planted Maman Cochet where Lafter had been.  Maman Cochet is a tea rose, introduced in 1893.  The flowers are a pink blend.  Buying Maman was a nod to Eudora Welty.  She mentioned this rose in some of her writings.  I recently bought a book about the restoration of Eudora Welty and her mother's garden in Mississippi.  I watered them in very well and set the sprinkler up so it would hit Maman.  The other rose is located in a place that should get some water as well.  But I will have to be careful with them or they will suffer, no question about it.  I have one other spot where a rose needs to be replaced.  And I can't decide if I should just dig up my Chrysler Imperial and start over.  It's pretty pathetic looking.  
• I watered some of the beds in the Star Garden and the beds along the front of the house.
• Weeded here and there.
• I saw a Monarch today, only the second one I have spotted this summer.  They have become really scarce.  I am Monarch-Friendly.  I have milkweed growing here and there.  If it sprouts, I let it grow.  Milkweed makes big pods that split open and the seeds float through the air attached to silky threads.
• The mosquitoes seem to be dying back, so I spent a lot of time in the garden Friday night.  The Almond Verbena smelled wonderful, and the air was moist and cool.  Bert and I took a ride around the property while I shined the spot light into the trees trying to see an owl.  But no luck. 
• Sunday morning I was up before the day light.  I walked around the Star Garden watching the hummingbird moths flit from flower to flower, their weird eyes glowing when the light from the porch shone on them just right.

Pringle Aster September 26, 2015

The problem with Pringle Aster is that it leans over.  It cannot support itself.  You have to stake it or it will fall over other plants and smother them.  But, wow, how spectacular it is when it is in full bloom.  Of course it's only in full bloom for a few weeks each year which brings me to the second problem with Pringle Aster.  It's a lot of trouble for for only two great weeks per year.  But I'm a sucker for trouble makers.

Weekend at the Farm September 12 - 13, 2015

This is Black Seeded Muhly grass.  I really like ornamental grasses, in fact I had a huge flowerbed with nothing but ornamental grasses for a while.  Unfortunately, voles love the roots, so one by one they gnawed off the roots of every plant right at the soil level. This is the only one I have left from that original planting.  Grasses really come into their own in the fall when the seed heads bloom.  So pretty.

Saturday morning Bert played golf with Josh, and I spent the morning with Blake and Sammy.  Arrived at the farm in the later afternoon.  Temperature was wonderful all weekend.

• The armadillos have been destructive this week, and lots of my plants have been uprooted.  I hate the nasty animals, and I am once again reminded how interesting nature is:  armadillos eat grub worms (which are very bad for plants) but they have to turn all the soil upside down to get at them.  I see examples similar to this one all the time, amazing things in nature that have both good and bad consequences resulting from a single action.
• Saturday evening Bert and I drove around the property.  The air was so fragrant and the stars were so bright.  We came back to the house for a blanket and some pillows and parked in the cul de sac to star gaze.  We laid down in the back of the cub cadet and looked at the sky for a long time.  We were rewarded with a shooting star, only the third time I have ever seen one.  Beautiful evening. 
• Sunday morning was cool, in the low sixties.  The hummingbirds were buzzing around everywhere.  A more contentious lot I have never encountered in a species.  It's like a million Napoleon complexes zipping about your head.
• I weeded in the Star Garden and cut away Vitex branches and Four O'Clocks that were leaning into the paths.  Continued trimming back iris leaves to about 8 inches.
• Watered and worked in the Rose Garden for about two hours.  Pulled up Day Flower weed seedlings.  Deadheaded the roses.
• Planted six iris that I ordered from Royal Dutch Gardens.  I planted three Copper Classic iris in the bed at the entrance to the Rose Garden.  Copper Classic is a very unusual iris color - copper as the name suggests.  I planted two Wench iris in the bed with the half-dead Duchess de Brabant, and one Wench someplace else in the Rose Garden (already forgot).  Wench has a pink standard and purple falls.  Very pretty. 
• I worked in the bed where the Pearlbush is planted.  The runners of Tuber Vervaine make the whole thing look messy.  I yanked up as much as I could.
• Watered in the Star Garden for a long while.
• Sprayed herbicide on the driveway, the Vegetable Garden, the Infinity Garden, the Orchard, and the Rose Garden.  I won't be here next week, so I want to leave everything as clean as possible.
• Left about 6:30.

Re-seeding Ageratum September 13, 2015

This variety of ageratum is a fall bloomer and a vigorous re-seeder.  This is not the bedding plant that one often sees in subdivision landscaping.  It is at its peak this weekend, so pretty, and a real butterfly magnet.

Goat Wire Arbor at the Entrance to Max's Garden September 13, 2015

Cypress Vine, Hops Vine, and Coral Vine cover the arbor that my husband made from goat wire.