Winter Solstice

Too much time has passed since my last gardening post although a lot has happened in the yard and soon the winter solstice will be upon us. Time for merry cheer around the fireplace not out in the yard… However…

Today I have to share the survivalist. We’ve had some nipping cold temps, near freezing and the blanket flower is loving the dry cold.

Today the sun was shining, the high was 50 degrees and there was very little wind. After a long walk along the lake shore Molly and I settled on the “veranda” to enjoy the afternoon. The birds are loving the new feeder that Tommy gave me for my birthday. They were flocking around it. One at a time, two at a time, up to five at a time.

I think the big hog is a wood pecker and notice the other biggy hanging by for his turn to nip some free seed is a blue jay. The big boys were being nice today and letting the smaller birds in for their fair share too.

What a wonderful day to enjoy along the shore of the lake.

Hot July

The dog days of summer are upon us. Triple digit temperatures and high humidity. Today it is 101 and THI is 105. That's HOT.
The yard thrives, the grass is growing, the zinnias are huge and everything is living.
Almost everything.
We were away for 10 days some thing decimated the pumpkin plants that were thriving when we left. The cantaloupe vines are doing well but only one vine has set any fruit.

BEFORE
Here is a picture of the yard last July, 2009.














AFTER (or today)




So you can see the progress. Sidewalk, shrubs, and flowers grace the front view. The grass is growing, still a little thin in spots.




More to do....
Tomorrow we are going to work on the shade bed off the edge of the back porch.
Work on the rest of the sidewalk, path and steps to wrap around the back are on hold until cooler weather arrives.

Water-Wise Landscape Tour

June 5

Jennifer and I toured three yards, Water-Wise Landscape Tour showcases beautiful yards that use little water. After viewing the beautiful landscapes we went to a nursery.

“Under the Sun” nursery on Campbell just east of Coit. We went (or should I say I went) a little crazy.

Jennifer bought some asparagus fern and a purple shamrock (Oxalis Triangularis) for a hanging basket. What a lovely combination. Of course the need of the basket, sheppard’s crook and potting soil prompted a trip to Home Depot and then Walmart. Jen decided she needed a begonia for a small square planter that was a housewarming gift. So now she has some variety in her front yard and we are full of ideas.

Now for the craziness. I was going to just buy some light green sweet potato vines for contrast … but 25% off perennials and I went just a little nuts. I did not blow the budget. Now my two flower beds have a lot of variety and texture. Very few annuals (potato vines are an annual -- I substituted the contrast in color that I was looking for with a perennials.)

Planted in the east bed.

Artemisia in the dark corner for contrast.

A white flowering hibiscus in the center bordered with celosia and the rusty red sweet potato vine.

Just for fun lamb’s ear planted behind the marigolds.

Planted in the west bed

A conversation piece for sure, an agave. Don't hold your breath, I won't be harvesting the juice for tequila, not in my life time.

Also planted some purple heart (wandering jew) for contrast and because Jennifer liked it some blue fescue ornamental grass.

So far the plants have survived, 95% success rate.

The marigolds are not doing well in the south side of the island bed. They may be getting too much shade or not enough water. Probably not enough water at the tail end of the drip system. Marigolds are not as drought tolerant as I thought, they are rated by the aggies as a 5 on scale of 1 to 10. Most of my plant selections are in the 8 or 9 (very drought tolerant) range.

The acapulco agastache didn’t make it over the long week. I cut it back and mulched it, so shall wait and see if it will survive and come back.

This past week was a good test of the hardiness of the plants. I watered last Sunday and did not return until 6 days later on Saturday. The week brought us our first triple digit temps and not a drop of rain, so I call it a success to have plants that survived the week. The few zinnias that did pop up from seeds are lovely.

The melon patch is thriving, blooms on the pumpkins and cantaloupe. The few vegetables are holding their own against the bugs, the rabbits, the heat and no rain.

After much time, work, effort, thought and not as much upfront planning, I worry about the clay in the east and west flower beds. I will give it a few years and see if the plants do survive. Although I have a feeling that you’ll hear me moaning and groaning in a few years when I decide that it is time to dig out the clay, add compost and garden soil and till it all up. We did till the areas before the brick edging (and now sidewalk) was laid but it is still pretty clayey. The island bed has much better soil. It is surprising, some of it natural and some of it due to the construction the variance in the soil types across the yard. We have a heavy red clay, an even heavier whitish clay (but it is very rare) and lots of sand. The house foundation was 6 feet of sand capped with 6 inches of red clay. The whitish clay was moved and graded in from the pile of dirt from the septic tank hole. After all the clearing and grading across the yard, we were left with very little organic material or topsoil. We are working on it.

Ever a work in progress is the garden and the yard.

Dueling tractors.

Friday

May 28, 2010

The big rocks were moved. After waiting for nearly a year, the big r
ocks were moved.

Look at the size of that tractor.

Look at the size of that rock.

Dueling Tractors. The baby tractor driven by Tommy, held the rocks in place while the big guy picked them up.

Now more work to do. The rocks are moved so we can finish wrapping the flagstone around the porch and build steps.

Memorial Day Weekend was a blast.

Tommy and Jennifer had friends, some who came and went, some who just stayed. Mike and Charlotte joined us for one night. They slept thru Jennifer and her friends rinsing off in the big tub at 3 in the morning. I heard there were three in the tub and three sitting on the edge.

Does anyone have a head count? I would guess somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 or so all total. Lots of food and beer were consumed.

Ornaments - Living and Not

Thursday
May 27, 2010
A Long Memorial Day Weekend

A long productive and fun weekend.




I splurged at the nursery and spent $100 and planted a variety of nursery specimens.
White salvia and pink dianthus in the west bed near the pink roses.
Purple ornamental grass, acapulco agastache, an ornamental pepper and purple salvia in the corner of the east bed with a barberry bush.







A lavender plant, orange mint and dahl daisies in the opposite corner of the east bed.



All are perennials with the exception of the ornamental pepper. It was just too cute to pass on. The grass will need to be heavily mulched and may not survive a severe winter.

I am not sure I like the settings of the plantings. I put the dark colors tucked up in a corner that gets late afternoon shade so during that time of day the textures just wash.
For now I will leave the placement and watch what does well and grows. I really like the barberry bush and if it thrives may get more.

Time to wait and see what grows.
A solar powered light on a rain gauge ornament adds a soft glow to the garden at night although it competes with the lightening bugs and fireflies.

Progress -- Happy Mother's Day.

Spring is here. Progress has been made in the yard. Flowers are blooming, the grass is growing and the weeds are flourishing. Indian Paint Brush flowers blanketed the outer yard for a few weeks. David mowed around the denser patches. They are hard to capture in a photo.

May 1, 2010. Chris and Sara (nephew and new niece) were married. The young couple gave me a flowering bulb in a pot as a hostess gift back in March. I pirated the flowering bulb home on the airplane stuffed inside a shoe. I planted the Ornithogalum bulb in the island bed. I hope it grows and flourishes just as Chris and Sara will grow and flourish in their new life together.


More flowers, more flowers. I planted some Blanket Flowers, some Texas Rock Rose shrubs and Cherry Skull Cap in the west bed. Patricia thinned her iris and daylily beds, so I planted more bulbs in the island bed. As seen in the picture, the east bed has a few struggling seedlings. Happy Mother's Day was a busy and productive day. Jennifer and Tommy came on Sunday for dinner. While Jennifer snoozed, we worked in the yard. Flagstone was set to the edge of the veranda. Hurray. We had lots of help from Molly and Bella.

Tommy gave me a glass globe hummingbird feeder. It is a beautiful addition to the garden. I plan to leave it on the plant hangar so I can move it around the yard.

The lily bulbs are blooming. The white blooms opened first.

Gardens are full of wonder and delight; full of mystery and quandaries too. For the “wanna be gardener” who tries to do her homework, here is a dilemma. I purchased two pots of Salvia from the store. The label clearly states part sun, 4 to 6 hours and that it is an annual. I planted the lovely red bloomers in the island bed. Later that night, I researched the Salvia, which is a native Texas plant and the data on the Texas Smartscape page clearly states that the salvia needs full sun and is a deciduous perennial. Which is right? I’ll let you know next year. Perhaps I purchased a hybrid type or that the label is generic for most of the US. Who knows. However the red plants are a nice compliment to the orange marigolds.

The grass does show signs of sprouting. The unusually cold spring has kept the soil temperature below normal for this time of year but it is finally warming up. As the sun shines, the grass seed will sprout. David and Tommy are both engrossed in searching for signs of bermuda sprouts.

The melon patch is flourishing. I thinned the sprouts to three in each mound. The pumpkins have taken root in the sandy loam. Now to keep the weeds, dogs, pests and critters at bay and we'll have pumpkins in the fall.

After much debate, I broke down and installed a flexible composite plastic edging along the flagstone walkway. The grass and weeds were already invading the edge of the path and it will help contain the decomposed granite filler. It has rained and stormed this week, the moisture will help the grass take root and grow. The blessing of having a solid surface path from the front to the back is so nice when letting Molly in and out. No more muddy quagmires unless we step off into the abyss.

Next on the agenda for the yard and garden. More compost against the new path, more grass seed to plant and grading. We are waiting for some huge native limestone rocks to be moved. Then we can finish the flagstone around the edge of the veranda where the out door shower will be placed, then steps down to the area that will be fenced off along the north side of the house and more.

Always more, progress has been made but as we finish one project more just seem to crop up.

Blooming Flowers

The mystery bulbs are blooming, a beautiful riot of color. I bought a whole bunch of bulbs last fall on sale at Home Depot. I picked up this bag because the picture was pretty. I have forgotten what they are and didn't keep the package. They were the strangest knarliest little nutty bulb too, not at all like the typical "onion" bulb. If anyone knows or wants to guess at what the colorful blooms are - go for it.



Progress in the yard is still slow. The rain demon plagues us every Friday, especially the days when we have young men to help. The flagstone is still not done. Two thirds of the stone still sits on pallets awaiting a good day to set it in place. We did lay the weed barrier fabric and the base of decomposed granite to the edge of the veranda. Next time young men visit, stones will be set regardless of weather. Next will be to finish the plumbing, grade the landing and set the stones around the out door shower. Soon... maybe not soon but sometime in May, I hope.


Compost. Four, yes 4 cubic yards was spread across the soon to be lawn area and bermuda seed was planted. We used a hydromulch formula for the front yard area and a plain bermuda seed elsewhere. The green grass in the photo is the rye grass that is dying. It was planted last fall to hold the topsoil and slope in place over the winter. The grass will grow if it rains or we water. The challenge of being a part time absentee gardener is the worst during germination. Do I dare say, "Pray for rain." No because we've already had too much rain. So instead, I hope David will have time in the next 10 days to stop by and water. He does have several business meetings in the area next week and week after.




The Master Gardener's of Grayson County held their semi annual plant sale, it was a huge success. Members are the best customers. I bought two Marie Daly rose bushes -- an easy care shrub rose, few thorns, lots of very fragrant, double pink blooms. Successive flushes of bloom spring to frost and it was developed for Texas.

I bought three shasta daisy plants as well. All were planted in the west flower bed.





Time to mow.

The weeds and grass grew over a foot in just one week. Here is a picture of the pasture before mowing.
David mowed the pasture while I mowed with the small riding mower.
No after pictures -- too tired and in a rush for a pizza dinner date at Jen's house. But the yard and pasture are really beginning to shape up and look like a yard.


Busy busy weekend.

Tommy and Trip did work hard, they cut up tons and tons of firewood from the dead tree in the bunkhouse yard. They also tore apart the read end of the '53 Chevy. You remember my mention of "Tator -- Mater's cousin".

I transplanted the mystery seedlings (more mysteries) from the planter box to the east flower bed. Time will solve that mystery, I'll know when they bloom whether they are dahlias or coreopsis. The six strongest of the leggy straggly tomatoes were planted in the vegetable bed. The rest were tossed out. David planted his melon patch. Ten mounds, six with cantaloupe and four with pumpkins should be sprouting in a week or so. Eighty-six days for cantaloupe, not 90 but 86 according to the package and 120 days to harvest for the pumpkin. I'm sure we'll have a big weedy patch.

We had a lot of help from Bella and Molly all weekend. I swear I've cast more grass seed on Bella that she should start sprouting any day. The pair ran and rolled through the melon patch too. They love the freshly tilled soil, the feel, the warmth, the smell. They are dogs, they love to roll in anything.

Peaches, peaches and more peaches are clustered on the one year old peach tree. The fruit will have to be thinned soon to protect the young tender fruit bearing limbs.