Thursday, August 30, 2007

2 1/2 inches of rain in 2 days

Today we got about 1 3/4 inches of rain and yesterday we got 3/4 inches, so we are finally getting the long promised rain. I didn't water this morning and will only need to water the porch plants tomorrow afternoon. We also had a lot of wind today and I came home to find the purple feather grass and fern blown over on the porch, and the zinnias and most of the potted shrubs blown over in the back yard.

We went out to Home Depot once it stopped raining and I got the 3 gallon Ayesha hydrangea. I also got an unmarked 3 gallon hydrangea that was thriving and blooming while most around it were trying to die. Based on what I've seen at other Home Depots I think it might be a Penny Mac. I also think there is a chance it is actually blooming on new wood. I got this one with the idea that for now I'll pot it into a big pot and maybe try to make some cuttings off of it. I would like to see if I can get some babies from it to give away, I would like to give one to Bobbie as she has had issues with not getting any hydrangea blooms.

I also got a 1 gallon Mini Penny. In looking at it, a number of the branches seemed to have roots growing out of them. I'm not sure if some of the dirt got washed away or what. Home Depot just got these plants in and they were positively CRAMMED on a table. I cut off 3 little branches and am trying to root them in soil. I originally had them above the stove, but after tonights dinner one was looking quite wilted, so I moved them on to the toaster oven and misted all of them with water. We shall see, if the one is still wilty tomorrow it is going in a glass of water.
Beautyberries turning purple

Sunday, August 26, 2007

shrubs aplenty!

Yesterday I dispatched mom to the Happy Plants going out of business sale where she was able to pick up a bunch of shrubs from 60% off. All in 3 gallon pots and looking great!

Loropetalum chinensis ‘Pizzazz’
Nandina domestica 'Gulf Stream'
Viburnum obovatum 'Mrs. Schiller's Delight' – dwarf Walter's viburnum
Weigela florida 'Tango'
Cailicarpa dichotoma- 'Issai' (Japanese Beautyberry)

That was all good. Unfortunately, today was not such a rip roaring success. We did get about 1/2" of rain overnight, so I decided to only water the shrubs that get watered twice a week, to make sure they got a nice deep watering. When I was out doing a little watering, I noticed that the Wax Myrtle was looking HORRIBLE. The tips of the plant are still looking good, but back along the branches many of the leaves have gone brown and others are drying up and come off if you just brush against them. I am planning on calling the nursery tomorrow, as I've only had the plant a week and now it looks awful.

When my mom was getting the shurbs out of the car, part of a branch broke off the weigela, so we are trying to root it in water. I did dip it in rooting hormone before putting it in the water. I also took my hydrangea cutting and dipped them in rooting hormone a few days ago. I think they have been in water about 3 weeks now. I did read online that one lady who roots in soil said it takes about 8 weeks to know if she rooted successfully or not, so maybe they will still root. Hoping for the weigela too as it sounds like it will be quite pretty when it blooms.

Then, I made a BIG mistake. I have wanted to remove the old laundry post from my yard for quite some time. The one cut down post was fairly easy to dig out of the ground when I got a shovel under it and there was only about 4" of cement that it had been sunk into. So, I decided to dig down and try to remove the big post. Well, to make a long and painful story short, I have now dug down well over a foot, I'd say I've exposed maybe 14-16" of cement and the post is STILL IN THE GROUND. My hands are totally torn up from all the digging today and I'm exhausted. And the post is still in the ground. I put some plastic bags down in the hole and filled it in with several bags of yard waste. It will probably be next weekend before my hands have recovered enough to want to start digging again. I'm also going to get an entrenching tool to try to make digger down easier. If that still doesn't get the post out, I'm going to see about hiring Tom to dig it the rest of the way out. I've done too much work just to leave it in place and fill the hole back in with dirt.

One positive out of all this is that I did get a bunch of privet dug out from around the post, so I guess in that respect it is looking better. I did say that considering the size of the hole I'll have once I get it dug out, it is going to be hard not to plant something. But, the whole point was to open up the center of the yard even more for the dogs to be able to run. So... OUCH.

Friday, August 24, 2007

mulched hydrangea, still no rain

We have had an overcast afternoon with thunder and lightening, but so far, NO RAIN. There is a severe thunderstorm warning, but it is totally dry at my house. The temp has also dropped about 15 degrees, down to just the high 70s.

I went out to several nurseries today looking for hydrangeas, but two were closed and the other two don't have what I am looking for. Maybe I will have to go to Athens or Atlanta and see what they have, don't know...

I did get two bags of mulch put around the Fuji Waterfall this afternoon, trying to beat the rain that still has not come. This morning, I moved the bellflower from the shade bed by the fence over into the perennial bed, as I plan to eventually put a hydrangea near the bellflower's old location. I also repotted the other variegated hydrangea into a 3 gallon pot to prepare it for the winter, as I am not sure where I'm going with it yet and may wait until spring or something to plant it.

I removed a big clump of bermuda grass from the other half of the perennial bed (the side I haven't dug in and planted yet). I am planning on dividing my irises next month and some will be going in that bed, so I'm trying to start getting it ready. I plan to totally dig it next month when it is cooler. I think it will be slightly slower going as I am running into all the rocks or maybe even a layer of rock in this section. I will also need a bunch of bags to pick up all the rocks. Strange, but the soil is a beautiful dark color, so that is nice, not red clay!

I bought a little Fatsia japonica at Home Depot today. They had some beautiful 3 gallon ones for I think $30 or more at Underwoods. This little guy cost me $7. I'll repot him into a 3 gallon pot as well and he will probably stay potted for the winter while I try to figure out where is shady enough for him.

Happy Plants in Easley is having a 60-75% off sale tomorrow, it seems that they must be closing. I have to work, so I am going to send my mom. That could be scary... I don't have a clue whether they have anything left buying there anymore or not, but I'll send mom with a list of what she can buy if she sees it and what NOT to buy under any circumstances. Other than that, if she sees something she just has to have at 75% off she can get it and I will figure it out later.

Monday, August 20, 2007

still hot, still humid

It is still hot and humid here again today. I watered the yard this morning and watered the impatiens, coleus and potted plants in the back again this evening. The mosquitos were out in force and I really got eaten up.

Now that I have started clearing the brush and have moved the one pieris, I am back in the planning phase of what I want in my yard. I think I am going to get a lorepetulum at Lowes, where they seem to have a good price. I am also putting together a list of hydrangeas I want and I'm going to check the local nurseries to see what I can find. Penny Mac will be easy to find, I'll probably wait until Underwoods has a 20% off sale and get one there. I am going to look for Masja, Altona, Ami Pasquier and Generale Vicomtesse de Vibraye. I have located all four online (Masja down at Park Seed) but I'd like to get them locally if possible. I came across a reference to Happy Plants in Easley having a 50% off sale and I intend to see if that is still going on.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

more brush cutting

It was much more humid today so I have not done as much work in the yard. I watered everything this morning and did a touch of work on the shade border along the side of the house. My main project was cutting down some more of the Chinese privet in the shade border in the area with poison ivy. Removing these essentially small tress has opened up the side of my yard, but I don't think it has made it too open to my neighbors yard. And of course, I plan to plant some neat things in there which will help with the screening. I definitely have room for more hydrangeas now! With the some of the brush gone, I was able to get to what the real point of the whole operation had been, trying to kill the poison ivy. I sprayed it all down with a gel spray that is supposed to work on tough weeds. We shall see... I'll check it all in a few days.

I also cut two big dead limbs off one of the trees in the front side yard AND got all the brush I have cut down hauled up to the front of the yard for the green waste. Although I spent a lot less time in the yard today, I still think it was a productive day.
ewe
This evening we again made dinner with food from the yard. Tonight it was pasta alla norma, which was basically just tomatos, garlic and eggplant cooked to make a sauce, then mixed with little cubes of cheese. I thought it was quite good and would make it again. I still have a few romas left and a few more ripening, so I found another recipe to try. If I can find any romas at the farmer's market I might buy some more and try my hand at making my own sauce.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

dug up the pieris and much much more

Today was a very busy day and I am now quite worn out.

In addition to some watering and some weeding, I did the following in the garden today:

- harvested the last of the coriander and pulled up the plant, dumped the used potting soil around the salvias
- added some soil around the Encore azalea
- repotted one variegated hydrangea into a 3 gallon pot
- tied the Carolina Jessamine to its stake
- repotted the small pot of garlic chives
- dug up the small pieris and put it in a 3 gallon pot in the shade
- cut down a bunch of brush in the shade border area where I found poison ivy
- attempted to pot up some violets
- planted the Silver Lode hosta under the big catalpa tree
- planted the Diamond Tiara hosta under the big catalpa tree

Endless Summer hydrangea bloomI also visited several nurseries today looking at hydrangeas. I didn't find Masja anywhere, but did find Buttons N Bows at one nursery. All their hydrangeas had some brown spots, they said it was just stress. I ended up buying a Wax Myrtle that claims it does well pretty much anywhere. I saw them when I went to pick up one that had fallen over. Its neighbor looked quite nice so I bought it. Currently the wax myrtle is still in its pot sitting in the hole where the small pieris used to be. I had originally planned to use it along the fence line with Curtis once the shack is torn down. Now I am thinking it might be the plant to fill the hole in the foundation planting (it likes sun). I am planning to take it over there tomorrow and see how it looks.

I think I got somewhat sunburned being outside at the nurseries. It was in the 80s in the morning when I was working in the yard, but this afternoon it was 96.

I'm exhausted and it is time for bed now.
Fuji Waterfall close-up

Friday, August 17, 2007

sedum, rosemary, pruning

Came home from work not feeling so hot as it was a terrible allergy day. It is still 93 out. I did just a touch of watering on the front of the house and rearranged the fern to the other side of the front door as the coleus pots are so tall they are now hiding the fern.

I took the gorilla outside and pruned a few dead looking branches and also some that were up against the front of the house off of several of the catalpa trees. I also cut down one small Chinese privet that was growning along the side of the house. When I was cutting that down I noticed that my one sedum was looking very wiltly in parts and that you could still totally see the part that had been in the nursery pot and that it was about bone dry. I decided to water it with water with just a touch of soap in it, as the potting mix it was grown in looked almost totally dried out. I am going to hope that this helps and will also add a little dirt around it tomorrow. I now can think of good uses for the ammended dirt I dumped over by the azalea when I planted the hydrangea... I'm going to try to shovel it back up and add some around the sedem on the side of the house and some around the salvias by the side fence.

Every time I come home I think that I need to cut back just a bit the rosemary in one of the front pots so I can have some rosemary to freeze for the winter and because it is just getting too tall and spindly looking. Today I finally got out there with the scissors. I know I can stil cut rosemary in the winter, but as my one plant was sort of stunted this year due being root bound with the thyme and the other is growing a pot with old potting soil, I thought I might leave them alone this winter.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

watering and weed-eating

Today was my big mid-week watering day. I realized that I just HAD to weed-eat my front and side yard as the part leading back to the shade garden was looking like someone was going to call the county on me for not cutting my grass. I really did not want to do this at 11 AM as it was getting hot. But, I will say that things were looking a lot better once I did get the weed-eating done, but it left me exhausted.

I topped off the day by taking pictures all along my shrub border, as I do want to add to it. I also noticed that my small pieris is looking sunburned. I think I have actually read that they should be in part shade and this one is in full sun, so I am thinking that I might try to move it this fall. I am going to try to do some reading this evening at work and see if I can find out the best light recommendations for pierises.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

grow it, eat it- Roma tomatoes

Today I used my Roma tomatoes for the first time. I made a pasta with a pesto that was tomato and almond, Southern Italian, with only a few basil leaves. It was quite good, but next time I will use less garlic, as it is raw garlic and the taste kind of overpowered the dish.

The heat and the mosquitos are back, though it is not as hot as it was last week. The impatiens look like they are going to survive. I wanted to go to the gym this evening after work and just wasn't up to watering the yard.

craziest peppermint stick zinnia yet!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

RAIN!!

Early this morning I was woken up by the sound of a thunderstorm and even better... RAIN!! Finally we got some rain, mostly overnight. It was still misting a big when I went out to check out the yard this morning. My rain gauge showed that we got almost an inch. I was planning on watering today, but there was no need after all the rain.

I did spend some time this morning finally getting the front two windows totally scraped. Once it cools down a bit, I can get back to work on the windows on the side of the house. I should be able to get this project done before it is too cold. I also want to wash all the alumnium window trim and work on getting the duct tape residue off of it. These are projects that will be better suited when it is cooler.

The new hydrangeas look like they are doing pretty well this morning. Both were looking perky and I have cut most of the dead leaves off of them so they look a lot better in that respect as well. I read somewhere that variegated hydrangeas need more protection, so I will have to try to think about where I'm going to plant them.

I tried to go to some of the nurseries in town to see what hydrangea varieties they have (I want to know if I can get Masja locally before I order tiny plants from Park Seed) but both I went to were closed today even though I know at least one is usually open on Sundays. Maybe they close on Sundays this month when it is so hot and not at all good for gardening. I figure all the nurseries will get more hydrangeas in stock at the end of this month or start of next month, as I remember seeing a ton of Endless Summers at Underwoods last year when I was first looking at plants.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

hydrangea rescue!

It is still too hot to do much, though I did get up early and spend about 2 hours in the yard this morning watering and doing a bit of weeding and other chores. I think my impatiens might make it if the weather continues to cool down like it is supposed to (only supposed to be in the mid 80s next weekend).

I met Bobbie for breakfast at Staxs and after that went out to do some errands. I headed over to Lowes to see if they had any pots on sale or any good plants. I found two little 1 gallon variegated hydrangeas that looked a bit worse for the wear. I decided that I couldn't leave them to their fate (they felt quite dry) so I decided to get both of them and see if I can nurse them back to health. When I was checking out I asked if I could get a discout (they were marked $6.98) since they looked so bad and they marked them down to $3 each. So, I got two for less than one would normally cost.

They have now been very thorougly watered and have been placed in my "nursery" next to the side steps, where they will be in almost total shade. I have hoping with some TLC and lots of water they will be ready to go in the ground in a few weeks.

The patients:
hydrangea macrophylla variegata

Close-up of the leaves. Apparently the variegated hydrangeas aren't the biggest bloomers and are grown mostly for their leaves. The tag claims these plants can grow to 6' X 6', and even a decent sized shrub with the pretty variegated leaves would be neat looking in the border.
hydrangea variegata leaves

Friday, August 10, 2007

over 100 degrees

It has been over 100 degrees here each day for the past 3 days and they are predicting 104 today. I am watering many of my plants twice daily and my impatiens look about 1/2 dead. On top of that, I am losing another camellia: Debutante started down the same path as the one Tom and is pretty much dead now. I tried watering it daily, but that did not reverse the decline. I really do believe that it might have been frost damage and I have been worried about it for awhile as its leaves did not look like my other camellias' leaves. I will have to check them out in the stores this fall and see how they look. I love what the flowers are supposed to look like, but if they are all like the one that just died, no way. I think I may have just gotten a weak plant, especially since it never even budded up this winter.

Right now I am planning on planting my camellias in October and will buy them in either September or October, whenever Underwoods gets in a big shipment. I am going to check Home Depot and see if they get in any Tom Knudsens. I'd love to find a 3 gallon one there. I have decided that I am going to buy 3 gallon camellias from now on if possible. I need to replace Debutante, then buy two additional camellias to finish out the border for now (I had originally planned to just buy these two camellias until I had two die). I am hoping to catch another sale at Underwoods, if I remember they had one in September last year.

I think our lack of insulation is hurting us this summer. In the late afternoons it is 89 degrees in the house with the AC having run full blast all day. Last night we actually turned on the ceiling fan in the dining room and that seemed to help some.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Fuji Waterfall hydrangea

Fuji Waterfall hydrangeaI started work before 9 AM today and now, just before 1 PM my Fuji Waterfall hydrangea is planted. I still have some work to do back there, including building the dam around it to keep the water in when I water. I also want to mulch in the area around it and work on my brick border to extend it. I need to see what the dogs are going to do, as it is at the very tail end of the fence line they run with Norman's dogs. I am quite hot and thirsty and sweaty. Just out of curiosity, I stepped on the scale and I was two pounds lighter than I was this AM before breakfast. Guess that shows how much I sweated out there in the yard!

I did get watering in the front done this morning and did a little grass trimming with the grass shears. I REALLY need to mow the yard, so I might see if I can borrow Bobbie's lawn mower again. If not, I guess I'll go at it with the string trimmer on Sunday.

Fjui Waterfall hydrangea bloomAfter lunch I was able to get the dam built around the hydrangea and extend the brick border. I still need to get to Wal-Mart for some mulch, but that is another task maybe for Sunday. There are too many mosquitos in that area for me to work down there in the evening. I cut a small growing tip that I am trying to root in water right now. I got the Endless Summer to root, so maybe I can work my magic twice! I also pruned some on my tomatos, especially the roma, removing diseased limbs and leaves. Tom continues his comeback, looking good. The soil in his basket was actually sort of dry today, so maybe I have finally gotten a handle on his moisture level.
camellia border

Thursday, August 02, 2007

96 today

Rose of SharonWe got a little bit of rain over the weekend, which was good as I had company and no time to work in the yard. I really need to do something about cutting the grass. We are also having a major heat wave, it was 96 today at 5 PM. YIKES. I had to water some of my inground impatiens two times today. I harvested some basil yesterday and also some more of my Thai hot peppers. Today I harvested some roma tomatos and several of the bush goliath tomatoes. Mom will take one to work tomorrow and tell me how it tastes. Right now I think I will grow them next year, but probably not the Better Bush. I have two better bush that are ripening, but I think my total yield off that plant is going to be 3 tomatos. I am hoping that I will having enough romas to try making a tomato sauce soon. My tumbling tom tomato continues to put out new growth and even has a few flowers, so it looks like I might have a second batch of cherry tomatos. We used the last of the toms tonight in a pasta dish.

After work today I went to Underwoods and picked up my hydrangea, which is actually a Fuji Waterfall, which explains why I couldn't find anything about a "Japanese Veil" hydrangea. Fuji Waterfall still isn't in the book I have at home, but I'm going to do some web searching. The plan is to plant the hydrangea tomorrow morning before it gets too hot. It is so hot in the afternoon that I probably won't be able to do any outside work at all. It doesn't cool off that much in the evening, it is still 88 tonight at 9:40 PM. The mosquitos are TERRIBLE, I can barely set foot outside in the evening without being eaten alive. The backyard spray I bought is supposed to be used when it is below 75, maybe my mom can do that Saturday or Sunday morning.

basil harvestIn herbal news, my English Thyme that I divided the other week seems to be doing well so far. I have not seen that the sage has grown any, but the rosemary is putting out growth. This morning I also noticed sprouts in my cilantro pot, which is good as I think it is time to dump the other pot of cilantro. It has totally flowered, I didn't bother to collect the seeds as coriander and now I think it is dying. Something ate almost all my dill in the herb barrel. The stalks are still standing. I found an impailed catepillar on the dill and think that might be the culprit. Today the catepillar corpse was gone.

I'd like to get back to my window project, maybe I can at least work on the front windows tomorrow where I will be shaded by the porch. I hope the heat lets up some soon, this is miserable.