Hot.

The woman on the tv this morning seemed surprised that it gets hot in mid June in NC. We are only a little over a week away from the official start of summer. I bet she'll be surprised when it's cold in February too. It's already 84 degrees. The humidity is in the mid-90's. The heat index today could reach as high as 105, in the shade.

Some plants love this heat. The squash are producing. By mid week, I'll be eating fresh squash every day. The double orange ditch lilies are making their show now.



So is this unidentified plant, again from a trade last fall.



Maltese Cross has done much better in its second year. Last year a few blooms sprawled across the ground. It looked more like a creeping verbena than an upright grower.



Salvia subrotunda is cracking color too. With a few dozen self sown plants, the display should be great this year. The goldfinches can hardly wait.



That large blooming spidery rudbeckia is impressive too. I'll have to save these seeds separately from the others I collect.



The biggest disappointment this year has been the meadow garden. The cosmos are blooming and more are coming, but there's been a real lull since the clover died. It's reseeded heavily, so there should be plenty next spring too. I've got an idea to make this bed more interesting using grasses. I just need to divide some of my existing plants. I'll wait until it cools down a bit in 6 months.



Scattered storms in the forecast too. We could use the rain.

Who was I kidding?

I got up this morning, had some coffee, and went back to bed. The slow steady rain is still falling. It's 72 degrees. So that's the perfect weather for scattering seeds, moving reseeded annuals, and doing some general weeding in all parts of the yard.

I moved a few things into the upper meadow, like amaranthus.



A gazillion cosmos that were growing in the rose garden.



Perilla.



I planted out my 12 Salvia subrotunda seedlings. I replaced them with cuttings from Montauk Daisy, Salvia greggii, and a red mum that survived the winter.



Looking back towards the house from the gully, it's filling in with pokeweed and Virginia creeper. I'm okay with that, for the time being.



I also divided a few wintersown things that were planted out in big hunks. Ox Eye Daisy, that notorious weed, has been spread all over the Crape Myrtle Bed. I need more white in that spot. Not many of my cosmos seeds have popped up yet. Maybe after all this rain they'll do something.

I plan to spend the rest of the early afternoon weeding in the rain. I'll continue to move things here and there, filling in areas where seeds failed to germinate. There's a lot of crabgrass out there.

Not all those who wander are lost.

I opted for a glass of tea this morning instead of coffee as I wandered around the yard. I had planned to post about the progress in the backyard, but it's not very pretty from a distance. There's a lot of green. It's at the same stage the perennial bed was last year at this time. Plants will grow and mature as the spring turns to summer, provided we receive enough rain. I can't keep dragging the hose all over the yard.

From yesterday, this is a closer view of the perennial bed arbor and beds. I'm very happy with the way it's turned out this year. It should only get better with each passing season.



Wintersown in 2008/9, Rose Campion has found a home in several spots. I've already planted out seedlings in the backyard from seeds sown this year. The scabiosa bloomed a little last year. There are lots of nice buds on the plants this time around. Stargazers will be the next plants to bloom in this area.



Rose Campion with Red Hot Pokers.



Another Rose Campion. I'll let these reseed and pull the unwanted ones later.



On the backside of the arbor, the Pink Maiden dianthus are really showing off this year.



They'll continue to bloom on and off all summer with another flush in the fall as the temperatures cool down. I'll be checking for seeds and probably take cuttings soon.



Self-sown petunias are blooming. I love the variations in color.



Someone sent me seeds of Cornus kousa. I sowed them all in a clump in the garden last fall when they arrived. I think they like the spot. Brugmansia from cuttings (pink and yellow) are in the background. Beyond that, two clearance hydrangeas have found a shady home behind the camellia.



Near the mailbox, in some of the driest, hardest soil in the yard, the first breadseed poppy has opened. More to come. No idea what other colors may arrive. There were some peony poppy seeds sown as well. I guess it will be a surprise. These too will be left to reseed with a little help from me.



Gold Flame Spirea in the Shady Corner is happy. The two small plants I picked up last year for cheap have not returned. I will take cuttings of this one once the blooms have faded. I'd like to scatter them in the crape myrtle bed for some foliage contrasts and the pink blooms work well with my color scheme there.



Salvia subrotunda seedlings were pulled from the perennial bed yesterday. I'll be setting these out in the upper meadow once we've gotten some rain. It's very likely over the next few days that something will fall. The other containers hold cuttings of Autumn Joy sedum and Montauk Daisy. The Montauks will be planted around the backyard for some late fall blooms. More cuttings will be made as soon as the S. subrotunda is planted out. The containers hold in humidity which helps the cuttings retain moisture. I leave these in the shade on the side porch. The sedums should root in a couple weeks.



From the photos I was planning to show, this is the driveway border I started last winter. There's rosemary, a couple Rosa chinensis, peonies, a yucca, the one surviving Honeycomb butterfly bush, a lilac, and weigela. I'm sure I am forgetting some things.



And what it used to look like on February 17, 2008. I like the way it's matured.



It's 72 degrees and mostly sunny. There's a haze in the sky as the humidity is up. Rain possible this evening after 8pm. The best chances seem to be Sunday and Monday at 50-60%. I wouldn't care if it rained all day.

Dame's Rocket, clematis, roses, and a big pile of blue.

Dame's Rocket is suddenly one of my favorite early blooming spring plants. I wintersowed seeds in 2008. I planted out a few clumps and really just forgot about them as they grew larger and larger. They started blooming a couple weeks ago.



I have a lavender and a white. From what I've read, the white is less common. Both are fragrant.





Next to the perennial bed arbor, there's two large clumps. There's a weigela in there too. Golden Showers is the yellow rose. The clematis is blue, and came home with no tag.



Mountain Bluet was also sown in the winter of 2008. It bloomed nicely for its first year last spring. The show this year is much more stunning. I plan to divide and move some of these plants in the fall. I'll also scatter seeds into the meadow.



Salvia subrotunda seedlings are up near the street. I'll transplant some of these once we've gotten some rain. The finches love the seeds. The hummingbirds love the red dainty flowers that rise 5' or taller into the air. It bloomed all summer last year.



It's 63 degrees and cloudy. It's been sprinkling on and off this morning for an hour. No real rain, yet. This evening it should come.

2:35pm - It's 77 degrees. The sun was out for a few hours. I laid in the hammock, planted out a few more seedlings, and walked around the yard a few times drinking my second cup of coffee. I need a table and chairs. Need, not want.

The rose by the swing is blooming on last year's wood. That tells me something about when to prune. I'm going to be snipping off wayward canes after this flush of blooms. I'm hoping it sends out another. It may be a one time bloomer.





Charlotte got rain this morning. We got a sprinkle. It's headed right for us.

A summer day in April.

It's still 92 degrees. I feel like the daffodils, dry and crispy.



It's not all bad. The butterfly bushes seem to be growing several inches a day. Finally, I've got butterfly bushes that don't sprawl out across the ground.



While planting some wintersown seedlings in the perennial bed, I pulled some clover to discover Jim's alstroemeria. It's the one with the variegated foliage.



I scattered seeds like a mad man today. I even tossed out some left over potting soil on a bare spot where I walk a lot. Grass seed went over it and I watered it in.



Scattered seeds include Salvia subrotunda, Four O'clocks, lemon basil, cosmos, zinnias, melampodium, and others I can't remember now. It's the heat. Yeah, that's the ticket. I did sow a few more containers. Basil Gonovese, Lemon lime basil, sunflowers (a wide variety from mammoth to red bloomers), Limelight four o'clocks, and a striped four o'clock I have never grown before. It's not as though I don't have enough to plant out already.



I tried to relax in the swing, but after an hour in the hammock, I'm exhausted. The meadow is over a foot tall. Larkspur, red clover, and many weeds make up the majority of the tall seedlings. Rudbeckia and bee balm have been spotted along with a few cosmos around the outer edges. I'm afraid what might be lurking in the middle of all that clover. I bet something that slithers has made itself at home.



I just can't believe how fast everything's growing these days. We haven't had rain in over a week. Thursday, we're supposed to have PM thunderstorms. I hope so. The pollen was so thick at times today, I thought I lived on a dirt road again. All my roses have buds, summer blooming perennials are shooting up flowerstalks, all the crape myrtles are leafing out now, including the white and red ones I started from seed last winter. It's incredible.

After the long winter, I was hoping for a gradual transition into summer. Not a chance of that now. We're running 23 degrees above normal today. As I sit here with the windows open, pollen covering me and everything inside, I can hear the leaves on the trees rustling in the wind. The houses on Brown Avenue are quickly disappearing thanks to the foliage. The stream has dried up. I'm filling the birdbath twice a day. Two crows came in for a drink while I was laying in the hammock the second time.

Maybe on Sunday, things will be cooler and I can plant out more seedlings. They're getting watered twice a day too. Some have succumbed to the heat already. But reseeds will fill the gaps and get moved as spring moves forward. Today, I found a batch of self sown nicotiana and datura. I think every seed that fell has germinated. Lucky too, I was about to have to head downtown to snatch more datura pods. But it's too hot.

Next year...

New life has already begun in the garden. Seedlings are popping up all over as the temperatures fall. It's 48 degrees this morning. A heavy dew covers everything. It's sunny and should remain that way all day.

Mountain Bluet, the first wintersown plant to bloom, has reseeded all over the garden. It's true, I tossed out seeds haphazardly when I collected them earlier in the year. Seems they germinated best near the stone borders.



Cosmos have germinated all over too. The mountain bluet will withstand the winter. The cosmos don't stand a chance against even a light frost.



Another annual, Salvia subrotunda, has lots of babies.



I tossed out echinacea, rudbeckia, and other seeds in this area all summer. I wonder what I'll get next year. It's part of the fun, I think.



Echinacea seedlings in the crape myrtle bed out back from seeds sown almost a month ago. I scattered more seeds last week and yesterday. Some were white swan, some were plain purple.



Unknown seedling. It's popped up in clumps near the spring poppies. I don't think it's a poppy plant. Is it?



In the rose garden, a tomato was recently discovered. No fruits or blooms yet, it'll be cut down by the frost that will surely come in less than a month.



I hope my snow peas have a chance to bloom and fruit. I'll use a row cover if I have to. I love snow peas.



My hairy ball has gotten larger.



This winter will certainly see some differences in the garden. Where the old oak tree stood, sunlight now pours into the back yard and the perennial bed. Last year, the yard was still shaded this time of day. I may have to rethink some of the shade loving plants I had planned to fill a certain corner with.



More sanding in the kitchen today. I hope to get the final coat of mud on the walls and begin installing cabinets on Friday. I can't promise anything though.

I'm not ready for this.

It's 63 degrees again this morning. It really feels like fall. We should reach the high 70s today. No rain in the forecast until tomorrow. We got a whole 1/4" yesterday. The soil is only damp on top.

I'm on one crutch now. In the house, I can walk around without the crutches. In the yard and at the store, I don't trust my leg. It's been two weeks today since the hateful lawnmower stoned me. It's been two weeks since I've walked on the leg. It needs some time to adjust. But it is much better than even a week ago when the infection started.

So I hobbled around the yard this morning. The white bed is dead. I'll be pulling most of the plants later in the week once I can maneuver without crutches. The potager is done. My rooted and transplanted tomatoes didn't make it. Two weeks without water/rain didn't help. It was probably too late anyway. The perennial bed is still doing okay. A few plants need to be removed. Seeds need to be collected from the rudbeckias. I need to mark certain plants so I can move them this fall. All in good time. I still have a kitchen to remodel.

There were some good things in the garden this morning. The fig I raised from cuttings has done extremely well this year. I want to move it to the potager next spring, after I've built my raised beds using the cheap landscape timbers I bought more than a month ago. Grown from a 12" cutting, it's over 4' tall today. No figs this year...



The Miscanthus "Cosmopolitan" has done really well too. Trevor bought me this one for helping with the garage. That's a Red Texas Star hibiscus behind it.



Salvia subrotunda. Babies have already sprouted in the path and around this plant. The hummers love it. The goldfinches have been harvesting seed for months. It's an annual, but I've been told it reseeds like crazy.



Yvonne's salvia. I wish I had planted this in more sun. There's always next year. I've been collecting seeds. Joshua helped my collect a whole bag full of brown flower stems this past Sunday. I should have lots to share.



Finally, looking forward to next year, these are rooted/rooting cuttings. On the right, Jim's dianthus (Bath's pink). The others were rooted in the cloner and potted up during the last two weeks. I even got an oakleaf hydrangea to root. I'm really excited about that one.



Working today. Lots of mums, asters, and mums arriving from the greenhouses. I'm hoping I can spend an hour at a time on my feet. Yesterday I managed 30 minutes before having to sit down again. I'm not going to push it though. I have a lot of plans for Thursday, my day off.