planting, yoga, gazebo, shopping, planting

Today I wanted to go to yoga at 10:45 AM, but that doesn't put me back home until 12:30 pM, getting close to the hottest part of the day. And, I really wanted to get the other yew planted. So, I headed out to plant it around 9 AM. Amazingly, there were no tree roots in the planting hole, just some rocks, so it was a lot faster and I had the yew in the ground before 10 AM.

Mom was going to go out and get some more terra cotta pots and do a few other errands and wasn't home yet when I got home from yoga. I decided that I wanted to eat lunch in the gazebo and set about putting it together. It was that hard to put together, just a bit tricky getting the right angle some times and definately not a one person job. Iwas glad mom got back when she did to help me out. Unfortunately, just as we were fininshing securing the canvas top, the step ladder mom was standing on collapsed and she took a really bad fall. It was in the 80s today and at this point I was pretty well overheated. So, we took a break and went to get ice cream and look at plants.

I had some coleus that I had bought at the farmer's market yesterday and I wanted to find something else to plant with them, plus I wanted to get a few more herbs to put in terra cotta pots that I am going to use to protect the area where I have the salvias planted. I ended up not totally doing what I had planned. I did get a thyme to put in one of the pots, also an impatien with rose shaped flowers, a begonia, a pretty purple and white petunia hybrid and a variegated sedge for the shade garden. Of course, this basically gives me some half filled pots. I wanted but did not get cross-wire vine, tri-color sage and tri-color sweet potato vine. I will get these later. Also stopped by Lowes and Home Depot but didn't find anything at either store.

When I got home, it was back to planting. I got all the coral bells planted around the water heater side yew. That area is looking pretty good. Then I got the sedge planted in the shade garden. After that it was container time. I planted the mint I got yesterday in its own pot. Then, I had the problem with the thyme, which really takes only part of a pot right now. I will get it some friends when I get back from NC. I was then going to pot up some more plants, but I ran out of potting soil! I was able to get the 6-pack of coleus and one of the 4" pots planted together in one of my blue ceramic pots I added one of the little coleus to my green pot with the sedge, pansies and coral bells for later, when the pansies have to go. I also removed the vinca that wasn't looking great and replaced with some more English Daisies that I had purchased yesterday. Currently the petunia, begonia and impatiens are all waiting for more potting soil. One coleus is waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. Plus, I have the other 6 coral bells for the other side of the perennial bed. All of these are in little pots, but mom should be watering them daily while I am out of town and the day I get back I will have some major planting to do. The weather is supposed to cool off over the next week, so that should help things out some. My yard is starting to come together. I will still need to sometime get that camellia planted and finally decide what to do with my flying dragon.

My Rose of Sharon has taken a beating from the dogs and I wasn't sure if it was still with us, but today I noticed little leaf buds on it. Also saw little leaf buds on the small beautyberry. The big beautyberry does not appear to have any little buds at all, so I am back to worrying that it just didn't make it. Time will tell.