Time at the Farm August 21-25, 2024

 The Texas Onion in the Rose Garden looked pretty today. It has partially gone to seed, but still pretty.

I worked on Wednesday, and throughout the  morning I watered the Rose Garden.  

I pulled weeds in the Star Garden.  There is an area where I have a bit of a jungle.  The paths are completely covered up by Texas Vervain and wild ageratum.  I began clearing that area.

I pulled up some spent zinnias and sowed some more.  Watered them in.  I'm going to be here for possibly 5 days, so this is a good time to work on seeding because I can water them every day.

I collected some seeds from my Alamo vine to soak overnight.  Only 4 of the seeds I sowed last week came up.  Maybe I should be patient, but  just in case, I'm going to sow some more.

Thursday.  Sowed my Alamo vine seeds.  After work I spent time in the Star Garden.  I pulled up another patch of zinnias and sowed more seed.  Watered them in.  Weeded and watered.  

Friday.  After work, I worked outside until dark.  I cleaned out one of the front beds.  I planted some of the Passalong Pink verbena that I pulled up.  I trimmed back all the verbena inside the fence.  Weeded.  I cut back the Indigo Spires in that bed. 

I worked in the Water Garden for a long while.  It had really gone to weeds in one particular spot.  I pulled up all the weeds, had to use a tool because they were so big!  Cut back the Augusta Duelberg salvia.  Watered everything.  Cleared everything from around the white sage and Texas Kidneywood.  Cut away Sweet Autumn Clematis from the white althea.  Job well done.  

Saturday.  NPSOT had a lecture at the Brenham Library.  Lauren Simpson, Creating a Pollinator Paradise.  I baked muffins, coffeecake and brought little chicken salad sandwiches , tea and coffee. 

Lunch with some of the group then home for a nap.

I worked until dark weeding and watering in the Rose Garden.

Sunday.  I sprayed herbicide in the Orchard, Star and Rose gardens.

I took my oil can of herbicide and spent time in the Orchard cutting those grasses that grow by stolons and putting a drip of poison on the cuts.  Hoping the underground stuff dies.  That is a real problem down there.  It's in several beds.  

I pulled weeds in the corner of the Orchard.

I worked in the Star Garden cutting down Four O'Clocks and poisoning the tip.  I'd like to get rid of that problem for good.

Bert mowed the Daffodil Border and the Rose Edge Border.  That looks tons better.   

Deadheaded Texas Vervain. 

Headed home about noon so I have plenty of time to bathe those stinky dogs.  

Weekend at the Farm August 2 - 4, 2024

 

The Sweet Autumn Clematis in the Orchard is loaded with buds.  It smells wonderfully sweet.

On Friday I cut back the yellow lantana by the pool.  It loves where it's planted, it always looks beautiful.  But if I don't cut it back, it spreads across the pool deck and blocks the pathway.  

I did some deadheading on the Texas Vervain in the Star Garden.  

I started clearing out the Vegetable Garden.  It's choked with weeds again, but these summer weeds are easy to pull up, you can grab them by the handfuls and they will come up with the roots.  So it's quick work.  I cleared out the tall middle bed so that I can put down some plastic sheeting and put my plant sale plants there.  

I set up a little station under the arbor with a wheelbarrow of potting soil, my watering can, fertilizer, and one gallon pots.  I repotted a bunch of plants from four inch pots into gallon pots.  These are for the plant sale in October.  I fertilized all the plants for the sale with mycorrhizal fungi fertilizer.    I pulled them all out from under the arbor in the Vegetable Garden to look at them, fertilize them and prune them.  Job well done, I feel good about that because it was a bit of work.  I stayed outside until about 8:30 working.

Saturday.  Up early.

I went out to the Orchard to pick Muscadine grapes.  I got about a third of what I need to make jelly.  I will go out again tomorrow morning and pick some more.  And then next weekend, one more round of picking should get me enough to make jelly.  I haven't made Muscadine jelly in years.  But I was determined to do it this year.  They come ripe in August, and it's so hot in August that it's hard to get motivated to get out there and pick.  But this is a great summer.  I don't think we have had a 100 degree day so far.  

While I was down there I weeded the areas where I mulched over the last month.  I don't want to lose all that work, so I am keeping up with it as best I can.  I cleared out a few other areas, but unfortunately I don't have any mulch.  I don't like to clear out problem areas without being about to mulch afterwards.  I will check to see if my pine trees have begun to shed their needles.  That's great mulch.   

Next, I did some more weeding in the Vegetable Garden.  I picked peppers and cleared away weeds from my producing vegetables.  Right now I have eggplant and peppers in the garden.  

I laid plastic down on the middle bed of the Vegetable Garden and began moving my sale plants to sit on top of the plastic.  I'm not sure if that will be too much sun.  But, I will keep an eye on them.  I moved the shade plants back under the arbor in the Vegetable Garden.

Inside for the NPSOT quarterly Zoom meeting from 1:00 to 5:00 - very tedious.

I went back outside and worked until about 8:30.  I cleared basket grass out of beds in the Medicine Garden.  It was a creepy exercise since I'm deep into the beds in the early evening - that's snake time of day.  Cleared away weeds that were crowding my new dogwood tree.  I cut back a couple of Henna plants.  I pulled up some Hojo Santo that was spring up in the wrong place.  And I pulled up a bunch of elderberry.  Potted up several elderberry for the plant sale. 

Sunday.  Down to the Orchard to pick more grapes.  I did some weeding while I was down there.  There are only 3 bad places left to clear out down there.  I worked on several of them.  Sprayed vinegar on weeds growing in paths.  

Next, out to the Rose Garden to water and weed.  I also deadheaded my Texas Vervain and staked it in several places.  Sprayed vinegar herbicide in paths.  Thinned my zinnia seedlings. 

Pulled weeds for a bit in the Vegetable Garden. 

I cleared weeds out of my Mangaves around the pool.  I jumped in the pool to cool off, I don't do that very often.  

Cleaned up my tools and headed home. 

 

Unidentified Vervain Looked Pretty Today July 6, 2024

 My friend Connie gave me seeds of this vervain.  Maybe it is Texas Vervain, I don't know.  But it is very showy when it is in bloom.  It responds well to cutting back the spent flower heads, which are thick with seeds.  It will bloom pretty profusely all summer if you deadhead.  No worries on cutting away all the seeds before they ripen.  You will end the season with plenty of seeds to spread around.  It gets really big if you let it, so keep an eye out for it. 

A Good Year for Philippine Lilies July 6, 2024

 The lilies responded to all the wonderful rain we had in June and July.  I wish I'd taken more pictures because - what a wonderful year for the lilies!  Not every year is this special, and I was really fortunate to be here for a solid week during their peak.    Blooms in every garden, along the Boardwalk, in the Shade Garden, the Rose Garden, the Star Garden and especially the Orchard.  They love it down there.    

Cosmos July 6, 2024

 I've been working on my cosmos show for the past couple of years.  Last year I sowed a lot of seeds (pink and the yellow / orange combo).  This year, with the seeds that came back from last year and the seeds I planted this year, I have pretty show.   The yellow / orange variety performs much better for me than the pink ones.  The pink ones, with their thread-like leaves, are true-to-form, very delicate.  The yellow / orange have hardier foliage and seem stronger.  

Weekend at the Farm June 21 - 23, 2024

 Alas, my camera is not picking up the very different flower colors of the first 2 pictures vs the other pair of pictures.  They are different stands of zinnias, and each of their colors to the eye is very different.  Both are pretty, but the first one is really magnificent.

Friday morning before work I went out to the Rose Garden and gouged weeds out of the paths.  Not easy to dig up crabgrass once it gets big, but all the rain makes the ground soft, and I use the end of my scissors to get down in there.  Pulled up spent Brown Eyes and Tall Winecup.

I sowed some zinnia seeds in one of the beds in the Rose Garden.

Did some weeding in the Star Garden dining room bed.  Looks much better.  And one of the paths nearby - I trimmed back the Passalong Pink verbena so I can walk through there.

I had 5 yards of mulch delivered.  When I weed the Orchard (which is a lost mess), I want to put mulch down or there's no point.  Those beds are seething in weed seeds that want to sprout, so mulch is a must.  

During lunch I weeded paths again in the Rose Garden.  

After work until dusk, I cleaned out beds in the Rose Garden - that native grass that is a total pest in that garden, spent wildflowers and crabgrass.  I pulled up peppervine.  

I drove over to the trails where I saw the unusual plants in the wet spots last week.  We have had so much rain this spring that I've been watching these low spots.  Every rare once in a while we have a rainy spring, and a tall, rather grand wildflower with deep blue flowers blooms in the moist shade.  I haven't seen it often enough to identify it by the greenery, so I will just wait and watch.  I can't wait to show it to my native plant friends if this is what it is!

I drove over to where the beardtongue Penstemon was growing to see if I could collect seed.  Penstemon has hard, round seed pods filled with teensy seed the size of dust.  The pods were brown, so I cut them off and dropped them into one of the dry beds in the Rose Garden. 

Saturday.  I worked in the Orchard.  I cut away some blackberry bramble, but I didn't get too much into that.  I mostly weeded paths and beds.  I loaded two loads of mulch into the truck and spread it in beds that I had cleaned out of weeds.  I stepped all over it to mush it down.  My main concern is to keep weeds from growing.

Nancy and Lisa came up around 10:00, and they helped me and Bert harvest the honey. We collected a little over 3 gallons.  

Sunday.  I worked in the Orchard for about 2 hours, then cleaned up and headed to Houston for Molly's 5th (Unicorn-themed) birthday party.  

Buttonbush is Cool June 7, 2024

 Buttonbush is like a small tree- large shrub.  It is a Texas native.  It likes moisture.  I have mine growing by a partially broken sprinkler that pours water directly on it when that zone is running.

The best part about this shrub is the bud and flowers.  Below is a picture of the buds and flowers in various stages. 

This is what a flower looks like. 

Below, these are buds.  So interesting-looking.

Here is a bud that is about to burst into a round flower.

The other cool thing about Buttonbush is the red cast to the branches due to the red leaf margins.