no self-control...

It is hot again today, between 93-96 in the middle of the afternoon and currently 91. This is SO unfair! We had been having nice weather in the 80s and now to be shot back into the middle of summer... yuck. Not to mention that I had planned on planting today, but it is way to hot for that.

I started the morning by weed-eating the front yard, which was long over due. I also had to get rid of one of my containers of coleus, the one with Fishnet stocking and the green trailing coleus. It had gotten some sort of insect infestation (spiders I think) and was covered with what things that I think were eggs on the underside of the leaves. I figured it had to go before whatever hatched or it spread to other plants. I got it all bagged up, then washed out its pot with bleach. That pot is now ready for some pansies or something. I moved the fern over by the other coleus pot and tried to clean up the porch a little.

The heat pretty much halted any planting plans I had, though I did get Glowing Embers and Buttons N Bows potted up into their new pots and set in place. I think both of them are in pretty good locations. Buttons N Bows is getting more sun right now, but is also further back in, beside the pecan tree. Since it is not in a pretty pot (just a sand colored plastic pot) I'm going to work on hiding it behind other plants. Glowing Embers is in the shade bed right in front of a tree in Curtis's yard. Figured there would be no way I'd ever get anything in the ground there due to tree roots, so potted is the way to go. It is also right near Ayesha and will eventually have the Generale on the left side. I have moved the Fuji Waterfall and Mini Penny cuttings outside full time now. Fuji seems to be doing very well, while Penny is still a big question mark.

The Clemson gnome has joined the garden. He moved in with the daylilies today and seems to be settling in just fine.

This afternoon we went to Underwoods to look for perlite and peat moss, after I realized that the bags I had bought at Home Depot contained Miracle Grow fertilizer in them, and getting away from fertilizers was the whole point of getting them for the cuttings. So... I did finally find a bag of perlite at Underwoods, but they don't carry peat at all. Their 20% off sale was going on and first we found two nice hostas. Then we ran into the camellia area... My original plan for the year has been to get 2 additional camellias to finish out the part of the camellia border I had started. Then I had two camellias die (or maybe one is still alive, don't know) so suddenly I needed 4 camellias. Then I just didn't know what to do. Today I got 2 3 gallon camellias, which was actually what I had intended to purchase this fall. They will fill in the area next to Margaret Davis. I ended up getting a really nice looking Debutante (the maybe alive, maybe dead plant is a Debutante). I had been thinking that I would need to put it where the original Deb was, but I finally figured out I can put it next to Margaret. If the original Deb is dead, I can put another pink in there. If it is alive, I can either keep in where it is or move it later as I expand the bed. The other plant I got was Daikagura Variegated, which my mom says is one of the plants my dad had. It should be really pretty and as it is variegated, it will go well with Margaret.


So, I guess I did what I had planned to do all along, buy 2 more camellias. I'm looking for a 1 gallon Tom at Home Depot to replace the dead Tom. As the others are little 1 gallon plants, I don't think I really need a 3 gallon one there. So far, I haven't seen any Toms but I'm sure they will turn up later in the year. That will cost around $8. Now I REALLY need some cooler weather and actually a few days off work to get everything planted.