Rainstorms.

Yesterday, it came another downpour. We've gotten nearly 5" of rain this month. Our average is just over 4" in May. I'm not complaining. No, sir. The garden has really taken off. Loads of rudbeckia are ready to bloom, we just need some sun. The potager is growing visibly each day. Squash plants are about to bloom. Seeds that I had given up on in the meadow are germinating. New seeds were tossed out last night just after a heavy storm. The ground squishes when you walk. It's 64 degrees, cloudy, and humid. 30% chance of late afternoon drizzle again today.

Some random pictures taken yesterday before it rained.

















8:37am - The microwave is in. I told you I was serious about getting this kitchen done. It was easier than I thought it would be. The outlet in the upper cabinet isn't hooked up to the breaker box yet, but I picked up the breaker yesterday and if I'm courageous enough, I might just install it myself. Robert has offered to come back to do it, but that's a long drive just to install a simple breaker. He gave me instructions.



Next up, a test piece for the new countertops I intend to build in a few weeks. I've decided I don't like the laminate. I'm thinking concrete.

Vignettes

Main Entry: vi·gnette
Pronunciation: \vin-ˈyet, vēn-\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French vignete, from diminutive of vigne vine
Date: 1611

1 : a running ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter; also : a small decorative design or picture so placed
2 a : a picture (as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper b : the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering
3 a : a short descriptive literary sketch b : a brief incident or scene









It's 45 degrees and clear. The rain of last night has moved out. The high today should reach 70.

Problem Child

Under the dining room window, on the front of the house, there's a bed that gets little sun. Any rain that falls runs off the soil and into the "lawn" area in the front yard. This bed is a very dry, shady spot where little grows well. Not even the privet seedlings can take hold here.

Last winter, I amended the soil with leaf mulch and wood bark from the landfill. This morning, I mulched around my two rooted gardenias, the single rooted Aucuba, and the tea olive I planted. Nandinas have always (and will forever) be here. The camellia was one I chopped down in the spring of 2008, as I didn't know what it was then. It's been recovering since then, but it's being slow. It's a sasanqua, I believe.



I still need to do something with the front steps.



The coleus and impatiens were getting ragged. The cold mornings have taken their toll. They came out. I need two more bags of mulch for this bed. The tiny hostas I wintersowed and planted out in July are still very small. I don't expect them to come back next year, but I have been wrong before, once.





With rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, I raked and collected another sack of leaves for the upper potager. I'll spread horse manure over this bed on Thursday if the rain stops by then. If not, it will be another week or more before I have a chance to get out there.



I've already started spreading wood ashes on the lower potager. There'll be lots more over the winter for all the beds. I noticed last year that I had fewer slugs where I had spread ashes too.



I resprayed the periwinkle on the front slope.



Much of it seems to be dying.



Not a foot away, other plants are rebounding happily.



In the basement, the confederate rose cuttings are doing well. The brugs are doing better. I'll pot the brugs sometime this week. The CR will remain in water a bit longer.



Lots of leaves still to fall in the backyard. I think I want the fence to be purple, like the shutters and doors.



It's 63 degrees and overcast. The high today should be in the mid 70s again. Wednesday, we'll be lucky to break the 50s. Three more wheelbarrows of wood have been moved into the basement. I need to spend some time very soon splitting more of the cut pieces for the rest of the winter. The low last night was 39 according to AccuWeather.com.

From the front porch

The bed by the front steps needs major work. Spider mites have destroyed two Datura inoxia. The triple yellow seems to be fending them off. The sweet potato vine is growing out of control. And the Japanese maple is just sitting there waiting for the leaves to fall off. I've got some plans for this bed. I just need to decide which plan to use.

I can see the perennial bed from the front porch. I wish it were larger so I could put a chair out there. The roof needs to be rebuilt. Someone covered it with vinyl siding and metal flashing years ago. The wood is rotting underneath. In any case, here's the view.



The McDonald's sweet potato vine is doing great.



I managed to get out to collect Yvonne's salvia seeds before the rain comes. I hope the clouds bring us a couple inches worth. I've got dying pyracantha that I planted a few weeks ago. I've already lost three azaleas. My loropetalum, moved from the front bed, is drying up in the white bed. Lots of annuals have gone to the great garden in the sky. Perennials seem to be taking it in stride. The brugs are looking tired, even without sun on them. A nice heavy rain would be great to wash away all the misery of the final days of summer.

It's 75 degrees and cloudy. The sun breaks through every now and again. I'm sitting here waiting for the day to turn to night.

More odds and ends

I didn't sleep well last night. My usual day of running myself tired didn't happen. Sure, painting is a chore, and one that I don't really care for all that much (Sorry, Cat). But I didn't exhaust myself like I normally do on a given day. I tossed and turned until about 1am. I was awake again at 5. Going to be a long day at the store. Temperatures should be in the mid 80s. Any chance of rain has disappeared. It did rain a little overnight. Must have been a passing shower. Humidity stands at 93% this morning.

In the yard, the Heavenly Blue morning glory on the trellis is blooming. The Cardinal climber isn't putting on a great show. A few blooms every day is all I've seen. A hummingbird almost took my ear off this morning as I walked under it. Territory, I know.



The volunteer morning glory on the chimney is still not blooming.



At the base of the chimney, the knockouts, salvia (Blue bedder & Mystic Spires), and veronica are performing well. Next year should be better. Somewhere in this bed, I planted clumps of Spider Lilies. They should be appearing soon.



More blue bedder salvia is in the perennial bed. I need to start looking for seeds.



The biggest disappointment all season: Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia. Just plain ugly. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's a washed out orange color with a dried blood center. Not an attractive flower. I'll save seeds, but plant it out back.



This was supposed to be milkweed. Any ideas?



Finally, the Ecuador Whites are almost done. A new bloom opens about every other day. The real show ended a few days ago. The next flush of blooms are about 1/4" long. If they're going to see the next full moon at the end of the month, they'd better hurry.



Time to shower and shave. Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. I'm taking two rooted figs and one Turn of the Century hibiscus with me. Customers have agreed to trade a few things like daylilies for them. Aren't gardeners great?

almost forgot... I sprayed a gallon of glysophate around the gully where I want to do something next year. English ivy and vinca major run rampant back there. Baby trees of heaven (hell) are sprouting all over. Other wayward shrubs and trees are growing quickly too thanks to the sunlight they get now that the oak tree is gone. Mom and Dad will be coming up in a couple weeks to help. Dad has a 36" bow saw that should reach all the way around even the largest parts of the tree. Can't wait to see what that area looks like with the tree removed. The wood will be stacked between the two trees where the hammock hangs. Too many skeeters to enjoy it this time of year anyway.

A Quick Makeover

Ok, so I'll admit, I'm an impulse gardener. I buy plants because they're on clearance. I plant them with the understanding that it's only temporary. So goes the front bed under the living room window. This is also the most important bed in my mind because it's right beside the walkway to the front door. It should be a little more formal than the perennial garden. I also need things that do well in shade. For a few hours each morning, it gets spotty sunlight. Direct sun comes around 10 am and again around 3pm for just an hour or two. All told, I'd say 4 hours of sun is the average with some dirt receiving more, some much less.

A few weeks ago, I moved three knockout roses into the upper portion of this bed. I hated it. I filled in with purple salvias. I hated it more. The Green & Gold Euonymous was looking ratty. The roses weren't settling in well and had not bloomed again. Sure, they were in shock, but so was I. The plan had not come together the way I wanted it too.

When the lantana arrived at the store, I bought three kinds. The yellow, red/orange, and purple were planted on the slope with Provence lavender, a few variegated grasses, and several other really weedy looking plants. As of yesterday, I was still disgusted with the way it was filling in. I can't have this growing next to my front walkway. Dangerous as it may be with crumbling brick, I don't need people recoiling in horror at the sight of my mishmash. Here's the picture from yesterday.



Having been off on Sunday, someone at the store took it upon himself to pull a shelf of Forever and Ever hydrangeas that were not 100%. I took it upon myself last night to purchase two. At $5 each, who could resist, right? This morning, I moved a lot of things. Normally, I wouldn't do this with temperatures threatening 90 degrees. But the forecast for the next 4 days calls for heavy afternoon thunderstorms. If it doesn't rain, I'll water everything twice a day for a week until they regain their composure. What lives, lives. If it dies, another impulse will come along shortly.

The roses were moved onto the lower slope where they can get at least 4 hours of sun. The Euonymous went out into the azalea bed where they can die peacefully for all I care. The salvias were scattered in among the roses on the slope. The lavender was moved around to spread it out a bit. On the upper part of the bed, I planted the red hydrangeas where the Green&Golds were. I did leave the double yellow datura. It's about to bloom and I want to see if it's worth keeping before shoveling it.

The upper bed. I still need something to fill in the blank spots. I'd like a groundcover and some perennials, but I'm going to have to see what I can find on clearance.


Datura.


Persian Shield was planted in the front bed. I love the foliage. It doesn't love me.


Did I mention I planted a tea olive at the corner of the house. I didn't think so.


I still need some height. Hopefully the climbing hydrangea planted a few weeks ago will help soften this corner in a couple years. I plan to build a trellis soon for the chimney to replace my temporary wire trellis.


From the other direction.


So, impulses fulfilled for the day, I must admit I stole some ideas from other gardeners whose blogs I read. Cameron has Spanish lavender growing with her knockouts. I've had better luck with Provence (French), so I planted that instead. Nell has Persian Shield growing with Purple Queen. Along the top of the rocks I use to hold back the soil from the slope, I stuck some fresh plucked plugs. Last summer it rooted easily and should fill in quickly. I planted extra hoping it will spill over the top of the wall. The Pinks Maiden dianthus disappointed me in that space, but I left it anyway. Maybe it'll survive the winter.

Now I have to shower and get ready for work. Cycle counts begin today for every living thing in the store. If it's got roots, I have to count it. It's going to be a long 8 hours.

The lantana that came out? I planted it around the yard in various places, but mostly in the daylily border along the bottom of the wall. I also put the coreopsis Early Sunrise and Moonbeam in this border. I spread them out along the entire length with some in both sections. The purple went into the perennial bed where the Lemon Mint Bee Balm was. Some of it was uprooted on Thursday during a wind storm. What's left was sheared back and is putting out new growth.

Making Plans

I'm having a hard time getting started this morning for a variety of reasons. Yesterday I had planned to plant out some cool weather veggies, clear some more brush from the gully, and a whole list of things I could never accomplish in one day. Instead, I think I'll use today as a planning day.

Beside the front steps, I have a small bed that was filled with overgrown and ugly foundation plantings when I bought the house. Last summer, I paid a guy $20 to remove everything. In December, I tilled the area and pulled out what I hope are the last of the nandina roots. Those things propagate easily from root cuttings so the chances that I got them all are nil. I left the one camellia and it's regrown to a height of about 18". I had planted two "August Beauty" gardenias in this area last summer. Like most of that variety, they committed suicide shortly after blooming. I've got rooted cuttings of a gardenia from a neighbor that I'll plant here in the spring. It will take a few years for them to grow to a decent size, so I'm thinking of filling in with impatiens and other shade loving plants this summer.

Before. There is a camellia in there somewhere.



Today.





Other plans include trying to decide what will go where from the wintersown sprouts. I may sketch out a few plans while sitting in my adirondack chair. Or I might just make some mental notes knowing that it's all going to change as I go forward.

From the front steps, you can see two different beds. The one against the house doesn't retain a lot of moisture when it rains. I tilled this area in December and added a lot of organic material. I hope it helps, but I'm planning to use a lot of drought tolerant plants here just in case. I've got coreopsis, coneflowers, salvias, and creeping groundcover plants to put in here.





And then there's the back beds, the north side garden where I planted hostas, the perennial bed, the front slope, etc and so forth. All in all, I need LOTS of plants to fill everything in. I don't have a lot of patience, but I do have a lot of sprouts and rooted cuttings.



Sunday's picture.



Believe it or not, there are things popping up out there.

Daffodils


Ditch Lilies

Dreaming of spring

It's 25 degrees and sunny. Tonight, the forecast is calling for 30 degrees. Thursday night should be in the upper teens and windy. I'm boycotting winter today.

Azaleas on Azalea Drive


Petunias and Marigolds


Black Eyed Susans


Coreopsis 'Full Moon'


Rudbeckia 'Autumn Colors'


Hardy Hibiscus 'Turn of the Century'


The front bed in summer. A jumbled mess. I've already reworked the shrub layout and will continue the process in spring.


Three applications to fill out today. Seeds to mail for the swap. Trying to stay warm with a second cup of coffee and a two fires going.

105 days til last frost. Crap.