Malabar Spinach Seeds Turning Black October 22, 2020

 I assume that the progress of the Malabar seeds go from green / pink to black, and then they dry out and drop their seed.  Right now, the seeds at the lowest point of each seed string are beginning to turn black.  I know I've written this before, but this plant is fascinating.    

Biltmore Ballgown Abutilon October 21, 2020

 I heard good things about this perennial from the lady that owns The Arbor Gate.  I bought 3 of them.  I planted one of them in the shady part of the Star Garden and 2 of them in the Medicine Garden.  They like shade.  And they are fall bloomers.  It's hard to see in these pictures, but there are lots of buds on them.  This year they are kind of spindly, so I'm interested next year in seeing how they grow up from the roots after winter.  I can pinch them next year also to help them get bushier.  

At the Farm During the Pandemic October 13 - 15, 2020

 

• Drove up here on my lunch hour on Tuesday.  
• Watered a few things, but no time for much of anything.
• After work I turned over the soil in the Vegetable Garden where I had dumped two bags of manure / humus last week.  I planted a mustard green plant in that spot.  I added some lime to an adjacent spot and sowed a packet of spinach.
• Bert and I took a ride around the property in the dark of the evening.  Everything smelled of damp earth, and there were no stars and no moon.
• Wednesday.  Worked.
• I hand-watered in the Long Border.  And I hand-watered in the Hot Border.  Some of the seeds I sowed in the Hot Border have sprouted, but most did not.  Since I'm gone so much with the Airbnb guests, I haven't been able to water as much as I would have liked.  I thought when I sowed them, they would germinate with only a few waterings, but obviously I was wrong. 
• After work I planted 2 Heliopsis in the Rose Garden and a Mexican sedum.  I planted 2 small Copper Canyon daisy in the bed where the others are growing.
• I cut back some spent ageratum in the Star Garden that was leaning into a path.
• Deadheaded salvias in the Rose Garden.
• Hand watered all the beds at the front of the Rose Garden.
• Thursday.  Worked.
• Before work I hand watered in the Greenhouse Gardens.  I sowed some Ox Eye daisies in the hydrangea bed.  And I set a sprinkler on them to keep them watered while I'm gone.  Airbnb guests arrive on Friday.

Roses October 15, 2020

 This is Bermudas Kathleen.  It is a found rose, origin unknown. It grows into a monster.  The flowers are single and they turn from pink to orange to yellow.  It is probably a relative of the Butterfly rose because it has the same traits.  No scent. 

This is a noisette rose.  Highly scented, but a shy bloomer.

This is Cramoisier Superior.  Very good scent.  Good bloomer.

Mexican Torch flower and Noisette.

Mrs. Dudley Cross.

Bermudas Kathleen with Cypress Vine behind it.

Cypress Vine October 15, 2020

 Cypress Vine comes back from seed every year.  It pops up all over the place in the vicinity of the trellis that I grow it on.  It pulls up easily, so I just pull it up wherever I don't want it.  Or, if I'm lucky, I have mulch, and I lay down mulch in the surrounding area so that seeds won't sprout in areas where I don't want it to grow.  Beautiful, ferny vegetation.  The flowers open up in the sunshine.  In the morning there will be no flowers, but by noon the flowers are open and it is dotted with red.  There are also white and pink varieties, but I've never seen those seeds sold separately, only in a red, pink, white mix of seeds.

Heavenly Blue Morning Glories October 14, 2020

 I have been waiting for months for these morning glories to bloom.  I sowed the seeds months ago.  And they have covered this little stand for almost as long.  But they only set buds recently which seems like an abnormally long time for bud set.  The wait was worth it, though.

I stuck these pictures of Venezia morning glories on the end of this post.  They have been in bloom for half the summer already which is why I don't understand why Heavenly Blue has been so pokey.

 

Black and Blue Sage October 7, 2020

 About 2 months ago I cut back all the black and blue in this bed hoping to get a second flush before winter set in.  I cut it all the way to the ground.  And here is the second flush of blooms. Thryallis is in the background of the top picture.