Friday.

A few things blooming in the yard today.

Anise hyssop "Golden Jubilee"



Rudbeckia "Cherry Brandy"



A daylily from one of my customers. She brought it to me last year in exchange for a hardy hibiscus.



White Swan and Icicles.



Echinacea and Shastas.



Castor beans near the swing. These plants provide a quick, temporary summer screen. They grow to 10' or taller. Frost kills these plants in my zone. They outgrow the poke weed.





It's 72 degrees and hazy. The high today should reach the upper 80s. Chance of afternoon rain, 30%.

Burgundy

So it's not the color of passion, but it appears in various plants around the yard, usually in the form of foliage. There's also purple and pink.

Veronica spicata "Red Fox" with perilla.



Purple heart (or purple queen).



Etoile Violette clematis on the perennial bed arbor.



More bloody dock.



Thundercloud Plum.



Castor Bean.



Agastache "Golden Jubilee" and Perilla.



A sea of self sown Amaranthus and Crabgrass. Pink bee balm will bloom later in the summer.



Camellia sasanqua. This was the large pink flowering camellia that I cut down in the summer of 2008 to provide the backyard with more sunlight. It was probably 20' tall.



It's 63 degrees. The high today will reach the low 80s. No rain, plenty of sun.

Potpourri

In the perennial bed, there are two plants blooming that have similar blooms. One's a weed.





Hyacinths. This photo was taken this morning though I noticed them a couple days ago. We haven't even had a frost yet.



I'm still considering potting these begonias to bring in for the winter.



I did pot the last castor bean, the only really dark purple one I got out of the bunch. I also gave the Boston fern a haircut. It'll come into the basement in a couple days.



The castor bean has new growth, so I removed all the large leaves hoping to relieve some of the stress of being yanked from the ground.



Osmanthus fragrans is blooming all over the yard. They really put on quite the olfactory show after it rains.



I have to admit, I told a lie. I thought I had lost all my ginkgo seedlings. Apparently, several seeds germinated over the summer under one of the hostas I planted at the end of the driveway. I've marked them with a stake so I can keep an eye on them next spring.



It's a beautiful day with clear skies and leaves still falling from the oaks in the backyard. It's 55 degrees. The high today should reach the mid 60s.

Color Shift

The color in the backyard has shifted to the North.



I've got an idea about the garden "gate".



The lone deep purple castor bean is finally beginning to bloom. I have no hopes of seed from this plant.



And someone is determined to stay in bed all day.



It's sunny and 54 degrees. The morning low was 39. A heavy dew is covering everything. The high today should reach the mid 70s again.

11:36am - It's 64 degrees and warming quickly. The arbor in the perennial bed has been cleared of dead vines. The trellis on the chimney got cleaned too. While cleaning the gutters, I realized I had my camera in my pocket. So now, for something completely different...

click to embiggen.

The meadow garden just got a whole lot bigger.

3:31pm - I cleaned the bird feeders and refilled them with fresh seed.



I made a wire arbor from the grapevine trellis for the backyard gateway.



I moved a couple of birdhouses to better locations, further from another.



I sowed some seeds from Cornus florida and Calycanthus floridus. I topped them with sand. I can't remember why, but I've read it's good to do.



I took apart the leafblower, again. One bolt had wriggled lose and it would not start due to lack of compression. I got it all back together again and collected a sack of leaves from Larry's yard. I spread them beneath the thundercloud plum. It needs a new fan/blade. It's not shredding like it should. I need to remember to avoid the sticks and twigs. I also cleaned the bird bath.

All in all, it's been a simply stunning day as I pay no attention to the trim that needs to be caulked and painted.



The chickadees have already found the feeders. The doves will be along shortly.

Pineapple salvia

Earlier in the summer, I had considered not growing this next year. Now that it's blooming, I cannot imagine not having it. At the end of the driveway, it gives the hummers something to fight about.





The Miscanthus cosmopolitan is blooming at 4' tall. The tag said it should reach a height of 8-10'. Maybe next year.



Another bluish/white morning glory has bloomed. These must be the ones I got from Trevor. The same flower appeared on the chimney. I think I planted one there.



Castor bean seed pods were collected. I've laid them out in the basement to dry.



More rain in the forecast today. It's very cloudy, dark, hazy, and muggy at 66 degrees. Thinking about heading off to Lowe's to pick up the plywood for the kitchen countertops. I'm hoping to get those cut and the sink reinstalled by Sunday evening.

There's so much trash from remodeling projects. There's a huge pile of cardboard in the living room from the boxes the cabinets were shipped in. Looks like the beginnings of a new flowerbed or three.

Althea

At the back edge of the perennial bed, I put in a row of Rose of Sharon plants a couple years back. The idea at the time was to create a hedge that would mark the boundary and provide a backdrop. Another plan that hasn't worked as well as I thought it would, I want to move them this winter. As a deciduous plant, they can be rooted during the winter outdoors in a cold frame using sand as a medium. They need more sun. I'm going to use them along the top edge of the gully. They'll provide the screen hiding the new secret garden I plan to build down there.



The largest castor bean is about 10' tall. It's the one in the perennial bed. It gets more sun than all the others.



Yvonne's salvia. These were started indoors in late February.



Sunday's picture.



I've been really lazy the past few weeks in regards to collecting seeds. With several hot days and no rain in the forecast, I hope to get back on track. There's a lot of seed ripe for the picking. Cosmos, rudbeckia, and four o'clocks are dropping seeds like crazy. The Salvia subrotunda and S. Coral Nymph is ready too. I bet there's more if I just took the time to look around.

Taking advantage of the rain.

It's been raining since 7am, the exact time I arrived at work. Two hours of counting plants in the rain. Joy.

Since I'm not here to complain, I'll use the rain and side dress the corn and beans with a high nitrogen fertilizer. I'm doing this because my dad does it. The plants are still small so I hope to see some real growth on them next week. I'll also toss a little on the castor bean plants. As they are mostly foliage, they should enjoy the nitrogen too.

No picture today. Hopefully the weather will be nicer next week. Lots of things are starting to bloom or are pushing buds in the gardens.

Tonight, I've got my mind made up to do a good cleaning on the house. With the windows open, there's pollen on everything. I need to straighten up the basement too. All the rain has caused that funky smell that was here when I bought the house to return. I really need a dehumidifier for that space. Maybe I'll get one if I have a project soon.

It's 63 and raining. 45 tonight, 43 tomorrow night. Back in the 80s by Thursday. Ahhh, spring in NC.

Things change.

Bear with me here, this is how I work. It's 63 degrees and sunny. I'm walking around my backyard with my large trowel in my hand, because that's what I do sometimes, and I've got this Stone Temple Pilots song stuck in my head. You can find the lyrics here. It was the last thing I heard somewhere. I'm sure of it. I'm thinking about the fire pit I want to add. And the steps that need to be built to replace my front stairs. I need to paint the trim and remove the front porch and rebuild everthing including new stairs out of wood. Two large, massive columns of stone that match the new stairs and walkway down to the driveway, which also have to be torn out and built, all for the sake of giving the house an entry more suited for the style of the house. I'm thinking a pergola, to update the look a little. A fat, round column supporting the pergola instead of a 4x4 wrapped in aluminum siding. I'll build the thing out of heavy 2x6 material. It will be substantial, but not overbearing. The steps will be painted gray to match the stone. The railings will be a bright white. I've got a lot to do, right?

Well, you know me, I was also thinking about the butterfly bushes that are germinating and will fill the back woods. I'm thinking about the castor beans I want to get started next week for the "hot" bed out near the veggies. The castor bean will represent the size of the pampas grass just in front of the bed when it's mature. Too much shade and the grass needs to go. I also want something to draw in the bees and hummers. I planted red spider zinnias, purple zinnias, bee balm, Yvonne's salvia, and every one of my cherry tomatoes in that bed. I'll add red sunflowers and purple millet to the bed as the seedlings grow. I want a bed that will change year to year based on which seedlings survived. Best of all, it keeps the cherry tomatoes from reseeding all over my other gardens. This bed can wintersow itself.

That's when I realized, I'm thinking long term again. I'm actually thinking of how it will look when I am done. And I don't have to do it all today. But I do have to pay taxes. Crap.