planting pansies

I went out to Country Boys today and got a flat of pansies. I got some really pretty pink based pansies that I decided to put at the front of the perennial bed to give it some winter interest. Then I got some yellow pansies and some red and yellow pansies called fire that I used to fill in the annual bed. I also got a bag of slow release pansy fertilizer.

It took a little longer than I expected to dig out the impatiens, dig out any weeds and any roots I had missed, then dig in the fertilizer and finally plant the pansies. I think the end results looked quite nice when I was done.

This afternoon I went to work in the camellia bed. I had planned on digging out the coleus, but it was looking better after the rain, so I left it. I did dig out the dead hydrangea, but that was more difficult than I expected. Somehow some type of roots have grown over top of the newspaper I layed down under the mulch earlier this year. I currently have a layer of mulch with basically surface layer of roots growing right under it. I don't know if they are tree roots or what. I was working on clearing a bit of that out, as this is where I am going to plant Diakagura, while I was digging out the dead hydrangea and I noticed that I was getting bitten by mosquitos. I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and this evening my arms are covered in bites. I guess the Cutter stuff wore off, so I sprayed the back yard again.

I noticed that I have bulb foliage coming up through my cilantro! I knew that some of the pots had bulbs and some didn't, so I had no idea when I planted the cilantro. I don't know how long it will last. I still need to get some more pansies to plant in my containers. I saw some nice things at the Farmer's Market this afternoon so I may send my mom there on her day off.

In hydrangea news, the Generale is putting out new growth at his tips, after losing a lot of his leaves after his run in with drying out. He seems to be staying moist in his in ground location. I think I might be in the process of losing some of the Penny Mac cuttings I made, as the leaves are starting to dry up. But, the one cutting that was the actual tip of the branch seems to be doing really well, so hopefully at least that one will make it. I took the 2nd Fuji baby outside for most of the day today. I don't know if its roots have grown at all or if it is starting to really anchor itself, but it seemed to do okay. I also have a tiny top of a branch that I found next to my Ami. I stuck it in water and I swear that it already has a root. It is just a very thin little growing tip, so I am wondering if the thin tips root faster in water (makes sense) since I am pretty sure this is quite similar to what I rooted off the Endless Summer. The Gentian Dome stems are still in water and we will see what if anything they do. I am worried that I won't be able to get any of these grown to any size or even with much root development before it is time for them to go dormant. Right now I am thinking I might put them in a box and stick it in the crawl space and hope that is cool enough but not too cool for them. I am planning on trying to winter the Fuji cutting by digging into the ground and sinking the pots.