Friday, March 28, 2008

cut back lirope and more weeding

Today I just did a bit more weeding and looked over the yard again. Most of the hydrangeas seem to be doing okay after the freeze, but I am still worried about 'Gentian Dome' and 'Masja' as they had the smallest amount of green showing and suffered the most damage. I also looked at 'Glowing Embers' today and thought it's pot looked really wet. Sure enough, when I tipped it, I was able to pour out water. I elevated it on two brinks and TONS of water ran out. Somehow the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot had gotten clogged. I am hoping that it has only been sitting in water since last night and that I will have gotten it drained out quickly enough that it will not have done any damage to the roots.

Yesterday I cut back the lirope in the front yard. The old foliage was starting to look pretty yellow and the new foliage is really starting to grown. This AM when I was leaving for work, I glanced at the foundation bed and couldn't figure out what was going on. It looked like bulbs were coming up or something and momentarily it was a total mystery. Then I remembered cutting back the lirope.

I will be out of town for the weekend and the forcast calls for rain and cooler weather for the weekend. I hope we get a decent amount of rain as the yard is SO dry. I watered yesterday and parts look dry again. I am figuring the combination of wind and sudden high temps are what is causing all the dryness as it never seemed this dry over the winter.

This weekend the Lily Lady opens up for the year. I will try to get out there next weekend. I'm also hoping that by next weekend the Farmer's Market and Country Boys will have their veggies in. I am looking forward to seeing what tomatoes they have this year. I'm definitely getting a 'Roma' and a 'Tumbling Tom' and if I see any white or black/purples I will have to try one of those. No sprouts yet on the tomato seeds I planted. I am currently thinking I will grow a red bell pepper, jalapenos and the Thai hot peppers again this year. I also want to see what varities of eggplants they have. I remember seeing 'Ichiban' last year and I'll try that this year. After the very small yield last year, I'm looking at something other than 'Black Beauty'.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

starting tomatoes and after effects of freeze

The weather was worse than originally thought on Monday night, getting down in the 20s. The only plants I'm really worried about are my hydrangeas, which all have probably lost some leaves and probably flowers on some of them and my weiglea, which may also lose some leaves (don't know about flowers on it). My biggest concern is Masja hydrangea that was just starting to leaf out with some new growth. The top of that new growth is definitely dead now. I don't know if some further down survived or if there is any other new growth that was protected, but I am afraid if the only new growth was killed by the frost that I might lose the whole plant. None of the old wood had shown any signs of leafing out yet, of course that doesn't mean it is dead but still... I am almost SURE I have lost any blooms on Ayesha, I may build a hoop house over it next year. I am also a bit worried about the Generale as he was starting to leaf out but looks like he got hit pretty hard. Hopefully there is enough new growth that was coming up that will pull through. I plan to take a closer look at everything on Friday when they have had a couple days to recover or not.

I did start some tomato seeds today, two pots with 5 seeds each of 'Henderson's Ponderossa' and 'Pink Accordion'. I will try to start the 'Ananas Noir' later this week. I am thinking about trying melons this year, I saw so many great varieties in the Baker Creek catalog... I am particularly obsessed with the 'Tigger' melons and must find some way to grow them, even if the seeds are pretty expensive.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

working in the yard

Today the high was in the mid-70s, so I was looking forward to doing a lot of work in the yard. However, it is still a bit early in the season and I don't have any shrubs I'm planting so...

Last night at Lowes I saw they had a bunch of hydrangeas out. Turns out they are new versions of Forever and Ever, which is a rebloomer. I got two, 'Double Pink' and 'Peppermint'. Looking on the Forever and Ever site, I think these hydrangeas at least some of them, were part of the You Me series, that includes 'Romance'. In fact, I believe that my 'Double Pink' is in fact a version of 'Romance'. These are claiming that they rebloom and bloom on new wood and are good for northern climates. Time will tell about that. I seem to remember that one of the criticisms of the You Me series was that they were beautiful but tempermental and I don't remember reading about reblooming. My current plan for them is to plant the 'Double Pink' in the front yard at what I think of as the mouth of the tunnel. 'Peppermint' might go in a pot for a while. I think it is probably another version of 'Harlequin'/'Buttons and Bows'. My current 'Buttons and Bows' is alive, but I am not sure if any of the old wood made it through the winter, so I might not get any blooms.

I started the day by repotting some herbs. The rosemary in the pot with the thyme and sage has really grown and was crowding out the other plants, so I replanted it in its own pot. I think repotted the thyme and sage into a new 14" terra cotta pot that matched the rosemary's new pot. I'm going to get a baby rosemary at the FFA plant sale up in Greer next month and will add it to the pot with the sage and thyme. I've put these pots on either side of the baby lorepetalum to protect it. I moved the pot with the licorice plant over to the perennial bed area. I'm planning on planting out the licorice plant once I get the other half of the perennial bed dug in.

After that, I wasn't sure what else to do. I spent most of the rest of the time in the yard either pulling chickweed or picking up sticks. My yard is covered in chickweed and sticks! I want to get Mark out to mow, but I have a lot of stick picking up left to do before it is safe to run a mower. During my weeding, I unearthed some of the irises I planted out last year when I moved them from the side of the house. I accidentally uprooted a few small ones while pulling the chick weed but tried to get them replanted. The whole area around the daylilies is looking a lot better now that all the chickweed is gone. I also weeded out the whole area where the ginger lilies grew last year and even found one ginger lily that is sending up a shoot.

One thing I did not find today was any sign of the lilies of the valley I planted last year. I got these from Mrs Phillips and they hung on nice and green until frost so I figured they would be fine. But, so far I have not seen a single sign of them. I am going to spend a bit more time in the side yard tomorrow trying to see if I see any signs of my bleeding hearts. They have been absent from the scene as well so far. I have seen signs of life on almost all my hostas, which is great. I am missing one marker back in the nursery bed, so I have two of the Diamond hostas that I will have to wait until they are up and hope I can figure out which is which then.

I made brief trips to Lowes and Home Depot closer to home today but didn't see anything I can't live without. I think the nursery selection is much better at the Lowes out on Woodruff, and I expect they do quite a lot more business.

We are expecting lows under or around 40 for the next three nights, so I will have to bring the tomatoes in each day. I forgot to set the fern out today with such nice weather. I may wait until it warms up a bit more then try to get it used to life outside. I need to start bringing the spider plant outside as well.

Tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 60, but the forcast rain has now been called off and certain places in my yard felt dry enough that I think I will need to water. I plan to do that tomorrow afternoon when it is at the warmest.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

first day of Spring

Today is the first day of spring. I didn't get much chance to do anything more than take pictures in the yard and they are calling for frost overnight, so the tomatoes are in for the evening. We got a bit over 1/2" of rain earlier this week. The weather report is calling for rain again on Sunday, so that will only leave me with Saturday to work in the yard.

At this point, I'm not even exactly sure what all I need/want to do. I still want to fertilize the hollies and maybe work on digging in the other 1/2 of the perennial bed or digging in the area I want to plant hellebores in the front yard.

I had a TERRIBLE time trying to get a picture of my 'Margaret Davis' camellia today, the camera seemed to want to focus on the ground BEHIND the flower rather than on the actual flower. I did get a few good shots:

Camellia japonica 'Margaret Davis'
Margaret Davis camellia

Wallflower 'Fragrant Sunshine'
wallflower in bloom

Pansy 'Delta Fire'
Delta Fire pansies

Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire'
Mountain Fire pieris blooms

Sunday, March 16, 2008

vegetable garden up and running!

We got a bit over 1" of rain yesterday. I went to yoga this morning and in the afternoon we set out to do some errands. I was still pretty windy some of the time which made it a bit chilly. I got a large bag of potting soil at Sams (should have gotten 2), a plastic window box at Big Lots, 3 4-packs of lettuce at Country Boys, 2 tomatoes at K-Mart and 2 silver scrolls coral bells and a new pair of pruners at Lowes.

My new pruners are very nice and I hope I don't end up tearing them up as quickly as I have the other pairs of owned (though one pair had a spring that popped out and that is not entirely my fault). Lowes really has their spring plants out. Lots of spring blooming perennials and even a bunch of flats of annuals. My pansies are so pretty right now, I know it will be a while before they come out. I was very happy to find the two big pots of 'Silver Scrolls' coral bells as I have them making the edge of the bed that runs to the side door. I had not bought enough plants to reach to the steps when I originally got them and finishing that area was on the "do it sometime" list. When I've looked recently at the farmer's market (where I got the others) and else where I have not been able to find that variety. So, finding some big pots at a good price was a coup. I got those planted in this evening and it looks nice. I need to try to figure out what I'm actually going to do in that area of the yard, after I cleared all the irises that never bloomed out of it last year.

Speaking of the irises... they are starting to come up back in the nursery bed, in the area where I dumped them along side the azaleas and also in the area around the yew that died. So, we will see if we get any blooms this year. With all the other irises coming up, I was starting to worry just a tad about my Japanese variegated iris, as I had seen no signs of life from it, but today I saw some green on it as well.

In veggie news, I planted up the lettuce with 4 lettuce in the window box, which is near the gate and will get full sun and the rest back in the nursery bed where they will get part sun. I hope I can keep at least some if it going until early summer. I planted up two early tomatoes with the hopes of ripe tomatoes in early June. Both are in containers and will be brought in when the outside temp dips below 40. Tonight will be one of those nights!

I used my new pruners to do some much needed yard clean up. I cut off all the dead looking parts on my creeping rosemary, I am thinking the cold may have damaged it. I then cut back dead parts of my oregano and mints (which I had to think about as they are near the hydrangeas and I didn't want to get carried away and start cutting the hydrangeas).

I finally threw away one pot of paperwhites. I had overplanted them with cilantro last summer an of course that is gone now. They never bloomed this year, so they are done for. I now have the 'Husky Cherry Red' tomato growing in that pot.

creeping phlox in bloomMy creeping phlox by the side of the house looks wonderful, it is just covered in blooms. At least one of the sedums I have planted along there seems to be coming up for the spring. But, I think I am going to dig it up and plant daylilies there instead. I think they might be a better plant for that location.

Still did not get to Underwoods to get some fertilizer. That will have to wait for next weekend. I also need to get the irises I got from Bobbie the patron planted as well. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?? Of course, the weather forcast is rain on Wednesday.

Viola 'Antique Shades'

Saturday, March 15, 2008

raining again today

The weather this winter and into the spring has been a blessing and curse. It seems like every time I have the day off and can work in the yard, it is either VERY cold or raining or I've been sick. The good thing is that I have not had to water. The bad thing is I have done basically done almost nothing in my yard since the fall. I had hoped to do some work today, but we got a lot of rain today instead. Tomorrow if it doens't rain, it will be too wet to work in the morning, but maybe I can get some work done in the afternoon. Now that it is daylight savings, it is light until after 7:30 PM.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Tom blooms, plus frosted

Spent most of today going to Charlotte and back, but did get a quick turn around the yard this afternoon. Overnight the temps had dropped into the high 20s and we had frost this AM. It was cold! Looking out the kitchen window, I thought I saw a bloom on the furtherst right Tom camellia and when I got home, sure enough there was.

The euphorbia that I have temporarily planted in the whiskey barrel is just starting to bloom, it has a bunch of flower buds. My Mountain Fire pieris is also just barely beginning to bloom, though I think some of its buds were damaged either this summer or over the winter. I'm still not sure if the fatsia is okay or not. I don't think I'll know until the weather really starts to warm up. I hope this last frost didn't do any damaged to my hydrangeas that are starting to leaf out.

I took some pictures today but they were ALL out of focus.

Friday, March 07, 2008

raining- so no yard work today

The promised rain has arrived today, which is good as we are still in semi-drought conditions, though it seems we have had enough rain this winter for me to get by with not much watering. I have today off, but with the rain obviously it will not be a day for yard work. I need to move all my porch plants down so they can get watered as well. Currently the forcast is calling for rain tomorrow as well and also for a cold night tomorrow night. Ferny will need to come inside for the weekend.

Sunday the rain should be gone and I'm hoping to plant the irises a patron (another Bobbie) brought me on Tuesday.

I might make some more coleus cuttings as the end of the cold weather is fast approaching.

We got 1" of rain this morning and early afternoon. Hopefully it will continue to rain this summer. I was already discussing watering plans with my mom.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

someone picked my daffodils

When I left for work this AM, I saw that I had what looked like 5-6 fully open daffodils. When I came home from work today I only had 2 and one that was partially open. Someone picked my daffodils!

I realize that the are right along the street and if I had a ton of blooms it woudln't upset me, but geez folks... I went out again and actually counted FOUR snapped stems, three of them all in one little patch.

Well, I have some more patches with bloom stalks and some other foliage that hasn't even sent up bloom stalks yet so hopefully I will get some more blooms.
daffodil bloom

On another plant, the native creeping phlox is really starting to put on a show and it is creeping up the foundation of the house. Too cool!

native creeping phlox

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

over 1" of rain yesterday

brandywine hellebore blooms

We had a big storm yesterday and got over 1" of rain and also some hail. It never really cold though and it doesn't look like any of the plants were damaged by the hail. The heavy rains bent over the two blooming daffodils I had, but I have a bunch more whose blooms are starting to open. Now I just have to worry about the cold temps forcast for overnight on Friday night.

Just found out this evening that I am working on Saturday this week, so I'll have Friday to work in the yard, maybe fertilize the hollies and the Miss Biloxi camellias.

Debutante is still blooming:
another debutante bloom

Hyacinths- back for another year in the pot:
hyacinth blooms

Monday, March 03, 2008

gazebo is gone

When I walked out the door to go to work this morning, there were two men with a truck that were loading up the remains of the gazebo. Not bad at all... it was gone by 9:00 AM today and I had just hauled it up to the front yard late yesterday afternoon. Oh well... it seemed like a good idea at the time but we almost never used it. 20/20 hindsight says it was a waste of money, though if we hadn't bought one last year we might have bought one this year. I think the yard looks bigger without the gazebo as well.

I also noticed that my first daffodil has bloomed.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

productive day

My house- March 2, 2008I had a really productive day today, probably the first one of 2008! I started off this day by weeding the foundation bed. I dug up the clover that is coming up through the mulch but left it where it is hidden by the hollies for its nitrogen fixing abilities. I also tried to clear away the leaves from the lirope and the edge of the bed, giving it a cleaner and more defined look. I pulled out any dead pieces of lirope as well. I can see new lirope coming up, but as the old foliage doesn't look bad, I think I will not cut it back for right now.

After my morning in the yard, it was off to run some errands and spread a fairly surprising about of money. Does it ever add up fast! I got 5 frames at Target today to frame up the rest of the prints for the living room. I will finally hang my Grunheid prints that I have had for almost 8 years. I also picked up 2 big planters to grow tomatos in, some mats for the picture frames, then swung by Underwoods and got another hellebore for the front yard. Once I got and got everything unloaded, I decided it was time to tackle a job I've been wanting to do for quite some time... getting rid of the gazebo.

Due to rust and everything else, there was no way the gazebo was going to come apart like it went together, but since it was just made out of pot metal, I was able to twist it apart at already damaged areas. The four side parts are essentially intact, it is just the cross supports that were destroyed. I bundled all the netting up into the garbage can and hauled the metal part up where the trash goes. As it is several days before trash day, I figure someone who could use it or recycle it might pick it and if not, hopefully the trash will haul it off on Thursday AM. The back yard looks much better without the wrecked gazebo. If only I could get rid of the shack as easily...

After that I did a bit more weeding. Earlier in the day I had noticed that my large pieris seemed dry, so I watered it and the azaleas and camellias. It actually got up to 70 today and I figured they might like a little extra moisture with the sudden warm weather. I pulled the chick weed away from where the hostas are planted under the big catalpa tree in the side yard. The area around two of the hostas seemed pretty dry, so I hope they are okay. I watered all the hostas under the tree and the two along the side of the house. So far, only Wide Brim, under the tree is sticking its head out.

In the evening, I got three prints framed up and hung on the wall. So far I only have two of the Grunheid prints framed and hung, I will work on the other two tomorrow when I get home from work.

I am happy with all I got done this weekend. Maybe if I am feeling good later this week I can get some touch up painting in the house done. If the weather is good next weekend, I will either work on redoing the bed under the front yard catalpa tree or get back (finally) to painting the windows and trying to get the old duct tape residue off the aluminum window trim (what a mess...).
Grunheid prints- framed at last

Saturday, March 01, 2008

finally got to work in the yard

purple crocusI am still getting over the lastest version of my cold, so I did not have a lot of energy. I went out a did a few errands this AM and that left me wiped out, but when I came home it was really nice out. So, I tossed on my yard clothes and set to work doing some weeding. Weeding while sitting was something I could do and I got the whole front side yard shade bed weeded out. I also got some weeding done a bunch of places in the back yard.

While I was weeding, I got to check up on all my plants. All my day lilies seem to be starting to come up, but I don't see any signs of hostas yet. Almost all of my hydrangeas are trying to break leaf bud with the exception of Buttons and Bows, Masja and Romance. These were all small plants (Masja and Romance were 4" pots) planted last fall. Masja is in the ground, the others in pots. They seemed fine as they went dormant, but they were so young I was worried. We shall see what spring brings. I can replace Masja and Romance through ebay and would probably give Buttons and Bows one more shot if I could find another at Pike for the same price. So far, no signs of life on any of my small hyrangea cuttings from last year, including the two from ebay. It is still early in the season, if they aren't leafed out by May, then I'll worry.

No buds yet on my azaleas, but I guess they look okay. I do have some buds on Margaret and Tom camellias, Miss Biloxis are still looking ill. My hollies are also looking a little yellowish. I need to treat with with epsom salts but will need to wait until I can haul a hose.

I did a little cleaning up of stuff around the yard, took a few things down to the tool shed. I really wish I had a larger garden shed so I could store all my pots and potting soil and not have a mess by the side of the house. Maybe next year... I did finally get the two six packs of pink pansies that I bought back in oh... October or something planted finally. I planted them up in the two pots that had held the cabbages and had enough pansies left over to make a hanging basket. I also dumped out some dead hanging baskets had held petunias that seemed to hang on forever.

I figured out the problem with my 2nd water wand so that is working now. My 3rd water wand is trash, as it got stepped on and broken. My fault for leaving it lying in the middle of the yard. I did get the hose rolled up, but that was about all I could do, I was very tired after that.

I went to Home Depot this afternoon and got an English daisy to replant one of the front porch planters. I had seen some lettuce packs at Country Boys out on Woodruff earlier today, so if I have a lot of energy, I might got buy a window box at Big Lots and some lettuce at Country Boys tomorrow. I did see a few tomatos at Home Depot today. I'm all for pushing the season, especially since I use containers, but this is just too early. Maybe in a few weeks.
forsythia blooms- March 1st