Trellis

Today I built a trellis for the chimney. The wood members are a little thicker than I had planned. The 2x6s I had purchased weren't the best. I bought culled lumber for 1/2 price. You get what you pay for. The best pieces were used to build the shutters last Sunday. I painted the trellis white, designed, and built it as I installed it.





I think the white helps tone down the purple of the shutters and especially, the garage door. That's a lot of purple.



Last fall I moved a Star Jasmine to the base of the chimney. Morning glory volunteers that were supposed to be Scarlet O'Hara are coming up. The vine last year was purple, not red.



Along the wall near the steps, I have my knockout roses, lavender, salvia, and a few miscanthus.



It should be nice next month when everything is in bloom and the morning glories really take off.

Out back, the Magnolias are starting to bloom.







The photo is blurry because I was standing in snake infested ivy and periwinkle hanging onto the branch I had used a stick to pull down the nearest flower. Even though there are only a couple blooms on my side of the tree, I caught several whiffs of the lemony smell as I was working. Another week and it should be breathtaking when the smaller tree starts to bloom too. Removing trees last year gave it lots more sun and it has really put out some impressive growth with all our rain.

Speaking of rain, 2" collected in this container I left out yesterday. This container was empty except for a few styrofoam cups when I left for work.



When I went to Carla's this morning, her gardenias were in full bloom. I plucked a nice one and took more cuttings. I'll stick them in the cloner this evening and see if it works on semi-ripe growth. Right now, they're in water on my desk. The whole room smells of gardenias.



It's 81 degrees, muggy, and rain is on the way again. I've got to finish cleaning the basement. Lots of sawdust mingled with rain water from last night's storm needs to be cleaned. Laundry needs to be folded and put away. All my tools are scattered about. But first, I need something to eat.

Waiting for Petunia

For three days now, I have been waiting for my first wintersown petunia bloom. As of this morning, it's still not open. These seeds were collected from a pink, trailing variety similar to the wave petunia. It's not pink, as you can see.



Purple is the dominant color for petunia seedlings. I'm glad I bought a few other colors and didn't depend on my "white" ones from wintersowing for the white beds. Those in the cloner are putting out roots. I should be able to create 20 new plants each week without much trouble. Once those in the cloner are done, I need to clean and refill the holding tank. It's been a while, and some gunk has collected in the bottom. I hope to do that on Monday.

Today's chores including mowing the yard and edging with the weed whacker. I may try to get some zinnias planted out in the perennial bed. Or, I might just sit here with my coffee contemplating how my thermometer currently reads 48 degrees and Accuweather tells me it's 37.

10:49am - Planted out 10 asparagus crowns given to me by a fellow wintersower from GardenWeb. Planted out a few petunias, some glomphera(?) (white), and allysum. Pruned a few things, set up the bamboo teepee for the peas I sowed last month, and got the cucumber trellis mounted to two pieces of pipe I had laying in the basement. I'm going to buy cucumber seedlings. Mine are starting to commit suicide. No idea what the problem is, I've never had issues with them before. I'll pick up a 6 pack today from the store. I'll get a couple cayenne pepper plants too. If there's eggplant, maybe one of those as well. 63 degrees and sunny. Another nice day.

Day 2 of spring 2009

I spent most of the first day of spring driving. The model was delivered to a small town about 2.5 hours from me. It will be in their paper next week, so I'll be able to show you what it looks like then. They might even mention my name when they cover it.

When I got home, the first thing I did was unload all the dirt I picked up at Lowes. I've been saying I needed dirt for several weeks now. And now I have it - 8 bags of it to be exact. I've got tomatoes that need to be potted into larger containers. I've got cherry tomatoes that need to be potted into individual containers. I've got lots of annuals in the basement that need to be repotted too. The plan is to get all of that done this morning. I hope I have time.

Today is also a day for starting root crop seeds. I don't eat many, but I'm going to direct sow beets into the garden. I found a pack of sweet peas that might do well on my trellis in the perennial bed. They should have been planted last week. I'll also direct sow morning glories and cardinal vine. This year, the trellis will be covered by annual vines until the climbing rose I planted gets some size to it. I also want to plant a Carolina Jasmine on the opposite side, but I haven't bought one just yet. Maybe I'll bring one home on Monday.

Other seeds I'll be starting today include:
Nasturtium (moonlight, Dwarf Cherry Rose, and Jewel Mix)
Moonvine
dutchman's pipe vine
millet (Purple Baron and Purple Majesty)
Convolvulus tricolor - a dwarf, trailing morning glory
Dill
Fennel (bronze and green)
Dusty miller
Four O'Clocks (white and Limelight)
and finally, Mammoth sunflowers

These will all be started in small containers for transplanting in another month. Some of these I have never grown. Most are accent plants for the garden, or companion plants for the veggies. The Four O'clocks will be used as trap plants to keep my roses and veggies safe from the dreaded Japanese Beetles. I hope all those Robins I've been seeing in the yard for the past couple of weeks are helping. I think they're probably eating earthworms instead. Stupid birds.

Walking around the yard last night, I noticed the ginger lilies are returning in the rear bed. The grasses there are coming back too. Unfortunately, my Kleims Hardy gardenia wasn't as hardy as they claimed. It's been slowly turning black over the last three weeks. That's too bad. It had a great smell this summer when it bloomed. Maybe I'll consider getting another one this summer when they arrive at the store. Maybe not.

It's 5:06am, clear and 37 degrees. One more night of frost in the 10 day forecast. Tomorrow, the indoor plants will go back into the hoophouse, hopefully for the last time.

8:15am - 34 degrees now. The basement is clean. Time to make it dirty again.

Sunny Sunday

It rained again last night. Must have been a good storm. I slept through it. It's partly cloudy and 50 degrees. The few rays of sunlight are a promise of what is coming.

I'm not sure what I will do today. There are dishes to wash, floors to sweep, the basement of course needs to be cleaned again, and coffee to drink. I had better get started on the coffee.

2:31pm - I finished the trellis.



I used the chainsaw to chop up the rest of the pallets for firewood. It's a lot of work using a hammer and a chisel to break them apart, and I can't think of anything else to build with them. With the coming cold weather this week, having a hot fire in the basement will be nice.

The sun never came out. It's still cloudy and 52 degrees. The daffodils don't seem to mind.



Nor the ditch lilies at the end of the driveway.



There's even a sprout on the very tender purple queen surrounding the oak tree.



The 'Full Moon' Coreopsis is putting out lots of new growth. I need to divide this next month.



The camellia is still going strong.



Each week, I try to take a few pictures of the yard from the same vantage point. At the end of the year, I will be able to create a slide show with the 52 images showing the progression across the seasons. Right now, it's obviously pretty dull, but here's today's image.



I finished early today. With no more chores on my list, I think I'll head to the grocery store. I've got some beef in the freezer and I'm thinking of making a stew. I need some potatoes and onions. Maybe next year, I can eat the ones I've grown instead.

Mother Nature is bi-polar

Yesterday we got into the 60s with clouds, high winds, and late afternoon sunshine. This morning, it's 43 degrees with overnight temperatures in the mid-30s. The clouds are still here, but the sun is trying to break through. I'll spend some more time this morning trying to find a job. This afternoon, I hope to get part of the perennial bed trellis built. I'm getting tired of looking at those 4 ugly posts sticking out of the ground.

3:55pm - 50 degrees, mostly sunny with light winds.

I installed the top rails on the trellis. I also installed the eye bolts and the wire that my vines will climb this summer. Not sure how I want to proceed, so I'll think about it a while longer before adding anything else.





Found more spring bulbs popping out of the ground. I think these are hyacinths. They're at the edge of the daylily bed between the mailbox and the sidewalk.



I applied for more jobs this morning. I even applied at Wal-Mart for anything from cashier to management. I passed the test, so we'll see what happens. I also applied for a couple of city/county positions. Next on the list are grocery stores and Family Dollar. I want my high school guidance counselor fired.

2009

First day of the new year. It's a brisk 31 degrees. I'm still sick though it seems to be getting better than the past two days. It's a good day to sit on the sofa, watch some movies, and sort through all these seeds for the swap I'm hosting. Or maybe a nap.

Later the same day: It seems a nap was out of the question, so I took the time to wintersow a couple of things. More rudbeckia (green wizard and cappuccino), green nicotiana, sweet autumn clematis, and some wormwood. I also added a few cuttings to the aero chamber - pineapple sage from overwintering plants, white camellias from Cheraw, and 2 tiny trimmings from a yellow brugmansia I made cuttings from this summer. I also added two pink rose cuttings from my own yard yesterday.



It may not be a good time of year to take cuttings since everything is dormant, but inside, under light and heat, I'm hoping it will force them into root production. The roses have already started growing new leaves from the buds after only 24 hours in the chamber. With 100% humidity and lots of air, I hope this system works as well as the ones I've seen online. I hope to see roots forming in 7-10 days or sooner. I sound like our next President with all this "hope".

3:40pm. It's still cold out. I'm sweating like a pig. The coughing has subsided and has been replaced by another onset of fever/chills. I only have myself to blame. I spent some time in the basement breaking apart two more motorcycle pallets. I decided to quit the third time I lost my grip on the hammer and had it land against my face and chest.

This is the stack of pallets I picked up for free from the Charlotte Ducati dealership. They have to pay to dispose of them, so they were more than happy to let me load the truck with as many as I could carry. I may head back this weekend for another load if I'm feeling better.



So far, I've broken apart 2 regular pallets and three motorcycle pallets. It's been almost a week now. I really thought I would be done with them by now.



I plan to use the longer pieces to frame in the top of the trellis at the entrance to the perennial garden.



The waste wood I'll use in the basement wood stove to keep the house warm whenever the temperatures fall below freezing at night. This stuff is so dry, it should last about 6 hours.

Before the rains

After spending several hours cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen last night, I needed to play in the dirt in the yard. While the kitchen may not be pretty, it's clean. Ok, it will be when I finish this evening. With rain forecast this afternoon, I didn't get to the landfill for mulch. Instead, I started building my trellis for the entrance to my perennial bed.

Lowe's had landscape timbers on sale. Normally, these would be used horizontally on the ground. At $1.97 each, I couldn't pass up buying 4 of these. I already had the Quickrete in the basement and the 2x6's for the upper supports. Next week, after the concrete has cured, I'll cut and install the headers and cross members. I may even use limbs cut from trees in the back yard to give it a more natural feel. See, I make plans. I just don't always stick to them.

From the front walkway.



From the driveway.



Looking back at the house.



I also got my birdfeeder back up using a piece of fencing rail I snagged from my dad's collection.



And finally, the camellia is blooming. It was here when I bought the house. I chopped it down because it was so large. I'm very happy with the way it's coming back. It's one of the few plants in my yard that blooms in winter.