Tea Root's Journal- Part Two

30 Aug '09 1:56 pm

I think out of all the gardening I've done this week, I enjoyed this evening the most. The main garden is pretty much weeded except for quick touch-ups here and there, and I could go over the shaded area again with a hoe. What was accomplished is that the garden bean plants with the overripe pods have been cleared away and more weeds were removed from among the molucella laevis, dill, and by the nasturtiums. The crookneck squash is gone. I had either on purpose or accidently pulled it up sometime ago if not this week and I cleaned up the debris from it. There was one nice orange overripe squash still attached to the dead vine and had been laying on the ground for days. I thought it would make a nice fall ornament so I put it in a basket on the front porch. Those tall sunflowers with the large heads by the nasturtium were rather unsightly, so I kicked those down to remove them and tossed them in my parents' yard dumpster since mine's full. I saved the flowerheads, however, even though they're brown. There were four and one was decomposed to the point that I layed it down in the garden dirt. The other three are being used as fall ornaments along with the orange squash and they're sitting on the ground in front of the porch. Another fall item that was added to the front porch earlier this afternoon is an ornamental cabbage that Mom bought for me. It's sitting on the right side of the porch step now and I set the yellow mum that had been there before on the ground next to the lavender mum. The maroon-colored mum is still sitting on the left side of the porch step. I do want to mention, by the way, that those garden bean plants were not tossed in a dumpster, but added to the compost bin.

When I was ready to weed the wildflower garden behind the unattached garage some more, I could tell that I was running out of time. The days are getting shorter for us now. However, I did what I could. Meanwhile, the moon which had started rising while it was still daytime was shining brightly. Tonight it's a little over half full. Smile

31 Aug '09 2:20 pm

Tonight my focus was not on weeding, but on transplanting and repotting a few things. I planted the sweet woodruff in the shady part of the main garden under the corkscrew willow, and the rue has been planted in a sunnier spot of the garden by the foxglove patch. The herbs in the front porch garden that were repotted are thyme, lovage, and sweet marjoram. 'Apple cider' scented geranium was also repotted and the rosemary got pruned.

1 Sep '09 1:56 pm

It was getting dark when I decided to take a trip out to the main garden and view it. I casually looked over the wildflower bed, too, while I was out there and saw a bloom that seemed different so I went over to inspect it up close. My new discovery was something beautiful and unexpected- a coreopsis tinctoria flower with yellow petals and a maroon center. And the plant itself which has such delicate foliage is carrying more buds. It was a pleasure seeing this.

So then the darkness kept falling and I walked back over to the edge of the main garden and stood there for a few minutes. Viewing the sky above the field and the surroundings beyond it, I questioned to myself what planet that might be far left of the rising moon.

1 Sep '09 2:05 pm

I believe the planet is Jupiter. I love reading your diaries.

Regards
Roking

1 Sep '09 3:09 pm

Thanks, Roking!

1 Sep '09 3:36 pm

Hi, Tea Root;

Isn't the evening, just as it's getting dark, a wonderful time? I was just out in MY garden, and, with darkness falling, the perfume of the phloxes and petunias was wonderful! I can tell that it's late summer when the odour of lilies fades and the phloxes and petunias takes over. I'm hoping that, as Autumn arrives, the flowers on my Actea "Brunette" will be powerful enough to take over from them. This poor plant is in its third location in the garden, and this one seems to be one that it likes, so perhaps it'll bloom this year for the first time. Cross your fingers for me! Very Happy

Cheers!

gordonf

3 Sep '09 9:10 am

I like petunias, Gordon, but didn't buy any this year. The pink-blooming ones and the variety 'Misty Lilac' are my favorites. Smile

5 Sep '09 2:35 pm

Yesterday was a warm cloudy afternoon and I was behind the house while Mom was sitting in one of my chairs on the concrete area of the driveway. Dad had been messing with a new light to put over the garage door that he's just painted, but it didn't work. And I had just come home from work and wasn't out there long when I discovered this pretty volunteer petunia in a large pot just sitting against a wall in that concrete area. I'd ignored this pot all summer and it was filled with weeds as well and so I pulled them out and got something to roll this big pot up the driveway. When I got it up front, I just picked up the pot and carried it across the front yard and over to the left side of the porch. I finally got it situated the way that I like and the petunia plant looks nice there. The blooms are a light pink/purple color.

Okay, I have this sedum that I don't know the name of, but it's either 'Autumn Joy' or 'Autumn Fire'. This sedum is in the southwest facing bed on the side of the house, and then I have 'Garnet Brocade' sedum in the herb/succulent garden behind the greenhouse. Well, both these sedums have been attracting bees including many honeybees. Now the blooms on the 'Garnet Brocade' are an attractive color, but the stems are leggy so I'm thinking that I want to plant it into the ground in the southwest facing bed, too. And then the tips of the angelina sedum in the long narrow pot in the herb/succulent garden seem to have turned colorful, so I'll want to keep checking on that since it's pretty. Meanwhile, the bright orange-yellow blooms of the nearby Texas terragon glowed in that greyish light; and in the fairy garden, the potted tansy fern has a few yellow button blooms. However, the plant is very spindley and needs to go into the ground, but I don't know where I want it since it can take over. Maybe I can just put it in this really large container that I have.

As for the main garden, I'll just mention a couple of things- such as a small dark green pumpkin that had two crickets on its long light green stem, and the 'Jewel of Africa' nasturtiums on the opposite side of the garden appearing as a sea of foliage topped with brightly colored flowers. And in the nearby wildflower bed, the 'Cherry Rose' nasturtiums in comparison were a puddle of foliage topped with bold pink flowers, and I saw that more coreopsis tinctoria buds had opened. Then back on the front porch again, a few dianthus blooms were showing their lovely fushia faces- most of them with dark ringed centers.

5 Sep '09 4:52 pm

Hi, TeaRoot!

Isn't it great when you find a nice surprise like that petunia in the garden? I love it when that happens! For me, it's Forget-Me-Nots and Borage that appear every couple of years, always in different places!

As for the Sedum whose name you're not sure, if it's tall (for a Sedum), it's probably Autumn Joy. I think the other one you named is shorter, hence better in the garden as it has less of a tendency to collapse outward from the centre.

And here's an idea for that Tansy - have you thought of putting it in another pot, then sinking the pot in the ground somewhere in the flowerbed? That might restrain it somewhat.

I had a great day! I finished the second coat of paint on the new boards that replaced the door that I had removed just about a couple of hours before the rain started. I then started replacing some of the plants that had had to be moved while the construction was proceeding. I put back the large pine bonsai on its perch and also the Bay tree in its pot.

I also repotted one of my 2 pyramidal Yew trees into a much larger pot just as the rain started, so it'll get a good watering-in overnight. If the weather's not too bad tomorrow, I plan to replant the Delphinium plants that were in the patio in a pot. There were 2 of them, a blue with a white "bee" and a double white one, so now they can each have more room in the ground against the wall. Hopefully they'll be happier there! I guess I'll also have to get some more potting soil for the other Yew tree, as it's also due for repotting.

Now that the wall's been painted, I can get busy moving those 2 ornamental Oregano plants into a large pot to be hung on the new section of wall. Doesn't take ME long to fill up available space, does it!! Very Happy

Well, that's it for today! Enjoy your garden!!

-gordonf

7 Sep '09 11:44 am

Thanks for the tansy fern suggestion and the info on the two sedum varieties, Gordon. Smile

You mentioned borage coming up in different spots for you every couple of years. I like that herb and have found it to be reliable for me, also. Hmmm...and I have a packet of forget-me-nots that have yet to be sown...

Tea Root's Journal- Part Two

Sunflower heads, an orange squash, and a rising moon...

Planting and repotting herbs...

A beautiful flower discovery and a planet...

Gardens in the Evening

Surprise petunia and a dark green pumpkin with crickets...

Surprises in the Garden