Friday, June 5, 2009

It's a Jungle out there.

Walking around the yard this morning with my cup of coffee, I kept hearing Randy Newman in my head. It's the theme song to the tv show, Monk. And it perfectly describes me in the yard. Hey, who's in charge here anyway?



Apparently, not me.

My direct sown bed of zinnias, cosmos, and marigolds has done very well with all the rain and heat so far.


The scabiosa needs to remember who is in charge here.


Rudbeckia hirta flops and flops. I hate this plant, but love the flowers.


The lemon mint bee balm found out yesterday that I am the one with the pruners. It should regrow fuller and more dense at the base.


Yvonne's salvia is a long way from the advertised 4', but it's blooming so prolifically, I'm going to say it was a success.


Anise Hyssop "Golden Jubilee" is huge. I'm worried it might swallow the bird bath.


Red Cardinal Climber is a thug until the first frost. It will have the arbor covered in a matter of weeks. Hummingbirds love this plant.


The potager scares me. Tomatoes are climbing all over each other. The squash has outgrown its tiny space. I forgot that lots of water and heat will do that.


The perennial bed hasn't matured the way I envisioned it. Next year, I will be more aware of what I am planting and growth habits. Lots of things are on the list to be moved and divided this fall/winter. I'm too busy making plans for next year to actually enjoy the garden this year. Patience. It's not one of my virtues.


Finally, something I do have complete control over. Here's the culled lumber I bought this week. I'll use it to build my new shutters for the front of the house. I'll have lots left over. I plan to use the extra to build a trellis along the side of the front porch. It may be too late to get much growing there this year, but I will be ready for next summer.


Heading downstairs soon to clean the cloner. Nothing has rooted in the past two weeks thanks to a nasty fungus that came in with some petunia cuttings. I need to bleach everything. Tomorrow, it will be ready for the tomato suckers and other softwood cuttings I want to take. My blue spires salvia in the front bed is about to bloom. Once it has started, I'll take lots of cuttings and fill in the empty spots in that bed.

Last night it rained. A LOT. It's raining again now. More rain expected this afternoon. My transplants from Carrie and the newly installed clearance plants are enjoying it. 70 degrees and muggy. I suspect today will be a slow day at work.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Good morning Tom! It all looks lush and full! I was wondering where you got your plan for the cloner? I would like to try one and thought I would ask you first. Thanks in advance!

Jan said...

Don't fear those thugs and spreaders...at least not this year--they are adding to your gardens fullness and beauty! It looks really nice!

Jeff Vandiver said...

Oh! Rooting tomato suckers. Cool. I hope you share some photos of rooting them in the cloner...

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Heather, I found the cloner by doing a google search. I'll warn you, they are used a lot more by cannabis growers than gardeners. So be careful the links you click. In the tag cloud, you can click on aerochamber and find the post where I built mine. Can't link here in the comments.

Thugs...I've got the pruners. ;)

EG, I rooted one beefsteak, but all the others got the petunia's fungus. So tomorrow I will be sticking new ones that I've got soaking in water right now. Should take about a week.

F Cameron said...

Your garden looks great! Your plants are really ahead of mine, here. You started your annual seeds in pots and I waited until after frost to direct sow. I should winter sow next year.

Rainy here today. I just gardened right through it as it helped me dig out a clump of clover that was trying to take over a section.

Cameron

Jean Campbell said...

The first year gives you no idea how wonderful the second year of perennials is going to be.

As far as annuals, my rudbeckia hirta is wallowing all over the Purple Heart. I'll be glad when Madagascar periwinkles get tall enough to bloom so I can pull the yellow devils.

I grow cypress vine instead of Cardinal Climber. The flowers are about the same, but CV has fernier (is that a word?) okay, wispier , foliage. It runs up a little trellis and some seed I scattered by the stick house late last year is coming up, too.

Anonymous said...

Isn't is crazy, a good soaking rain and a few hot days and everything takes off. Your garden looks great. Don't be afraid of using the pruners.

Anonymous said...

Your pictures make me smile...especially the first one. What a lovely mixture!

Your gold agastache? Mine is well over 4 feet tall. It never really goes away - just gets small during the winter but it roars back in spring. This will be the third year. I cut part of it back so it's like third graders in a school picture - shorter in front and taller in back. It's cool but pretty ferocious.

Lindakimy in SC

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Hi Tom ~ What a difference given a little time, rain, heat and sunshine. Everything is looking great.

FlowerLady