| Posted on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 08:04 pm: |   |
It's August 29th and I've been home from work long enough to have dinner and move hoses again. It is so hot and dry, no rain since the middle of May. The lawn is as brown as the dirt and I'm so sick of watering, I'd love a good week of rain. Thankfully it has been cool at night. I'm so anxious to do some serious editing but until we get some rain.......Some of the roses and clematis are having a nice repeat bloom and the fall asters are just starting. |
| Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2003 - 07:39 pm: | |
Spent part of the day in a shady area digging poppies. I love them when they are blooming but now they are dry and an ugly mess. They definitely needed to be thinned. It's amazing what a little cutting back and digging out can do to an untidy area. It looks presentable again! It's amazing how drought tolerant hostas and ferns are once they are established and how much better they look with the brown poppies removed. |
| Posted on Monday, September 01, 2003 - 09:01 pm: | |
The end of the Labor Day weekend, so where's the rain? It's supposed to rain on holiday weekends isn't it?  We had company for the weekend but very low key and relaxing, just spent a lot of time under the black walnut tree visiting and reminiscing. The only negative was all of the yellow jackets, we had to eat in the house instead of at the picnic tables outside. There are so many of them this year. Maybe it's because we've had three very mild winters in a row. |
| Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 06:48 pm: | |
I've spent the last two days moving plants and digging out more of the poppies, lady's mantle and violets. Three climbing roses got a major cut back/down. They had so much dead wood that I decided the only way to deal with them was to cut them clear to the ground. I may have killed them but I couldn't stand the way they looked for another gardening season. They are all on their own roots so hopefully all I've done is sacrifice flowers for next year. It certainly makes the arbor look very bare. Hopefully the rain predicted for this weekend will actually happen. I'm so sick of moving hoses. |
| Posted on Friday, September 05, 2003 - 06:12 am: | |
Yesterday morning just before leaving for work I was out moving hoses and got zapped by a yellow jacket right under my eye. It ached for the whole day and I developed a "lovely" bag under my eye. It's still somewhat swollen this morning but at least it doesn't hurt any more. Dratted things, they are so bad this year. |
| Posted on Monday, September 08, 2003 - 06:32 am: | |
Finally after almost four months we woke up to rain yesterday morning. At least the deck was wet, at first I was disappointed as it wasn't long before the sun was out but later in the afternoon it rained hard at times and it rained during the night as the deck is wet again this morning. Yippee! I hope it will continue to rain for the next few days, the ground is so dry and the plants are looking so forlorn. It will be nice to have the lawn green up again, it is totally brown right now. Then of course I'm hoping for some nice fall weather so I can do all of the editing projects that I have in mind. |
| Posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2003 - 07:01 am: | |
It's still raining this morning, lovely sound when I let the cat out. It will take several more days before the ground is re-hydrated. I spent yesterday cleaning the greenhouse getting it ready for winter. Hopefully next week I can start planting some of the plants I've been holding so that I have room for all of the cuttings that will need to be planted on into larger pots, an on going cycle. Between showers I planted five native rhododendrons that a friend grew from seed. I have eight more to plant whenever there is a break in the rain. In the meantime I'll try to catch up on the housework. YUK! |
| Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2003 - 08:10 pm: | |
We are still getting some nice showers with sun breaks in between. I spent part of the morning finishing the dreaded housework and then spent the rest of the day in the garden. Got the last eight native rhododendrons planted. I've created a new garden area that is mostly native plants that my friend Mary grew from seed she gathered. She had a native plant nursery for a while. She loved growing the plants but hated trying to market them. When she closed her business she offered me all of the plants she hadn't been able to sell or give to groups who were replanting some of our public areas. If I didn't take them she was going to burn them. How could I let all of that hard work and lovely plants go to waste especially when there were many cornus nuttallii, my favorite native tree. It's going to be nice to have a grove of them. I love their bark as well as their flowers. I also planted a couple of hydrangea asperas and dug up and divided a group of heucheras. I love them in the spring but they definitely have to be divided and reset every couple of years. |
| Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2003 - 08:41 pm: | |
I started out with all sorts of plans for cutting back, moving plants etc. etc. but ended up having company almost all day. First friends who I met via my garden who live in Utah but are now moving to Eugene. Kathy is excited about the change in garden climate and is a soul mate and we can chat and talk garden talk, kid/grandchildren talk etc. for hours. Next came a cousin with friends in tow who are avid gardeners in northern California so more garden tours and visiting. Last came my English friend who married an American soldier after world war II. She is also an avid gardener and brought her college classmate who is from Scotland and visited us seven years ago and wanted to see the garden again. Lots more garden talk and catching up. Wonderful day even though I only managed to move a peony and plant a clematis in between guests. |
| Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2003 - 07:16 pm: | |
Beautiful day, cool and sunny but definitely feels like fall is in the air. First garden project this morning was to help DH pull up the corn stalks. Then we pulled what weeds were left and put compost over the whole garden area. The only things left now are the tomatoes, peppers, pole beans and a few carrots. Sad to see the end of the vegetable garden. Everything tastes so much better out of the garden.
Next project was to spread compost onto a new flower bed and then I dug and divided some day lilies and heucheras. Also cut back a bunch of the perennials, definitely an improvement. The Purple Dome asters are starting to bloom. My favorites, stay short so they don't flop all over like most of the other fall asters do. Checked on the peony lutea seeds for Marie but they aren't quite ready to harvest. I hope I don't forget to watch them. Then it was time to make dinner, where did the day go? I had so many other projects in mind. |
| Posted on Monday, September 15, 2003 - 08:52 pm: | |
Today I decided to tackle a garden bed that has aggravated me all summer. It just doesn't work and is totally ugly. I dug out almost everything and then replanted the bed. Hopefully this time I'll have gotten it right.
I also planted two more clematis, Helios and a mismarked purple which might be Lady Betty Balfour. It was supposed to be Maureen. I've also recently discovered the Isiago is really a sweet autumn, which I definitely didn't need. It's only redeeming feature is that I think it is fragrant and the one I already have is not. I'll definitely have to move it regardless of whether I decide to keep it or not as it will be too vigorous for where it's planted now. I have a hard enough time deciding where to plant them the first time without having to move them. I have so many mismarked clematis it's almost a joke. |
| Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 08:08 pm: | |
It was raining this morning so I decided it was a good day to run errands and shop for groceries. We still need rain after our long four month drought so I'm not complaining....but tonight we had a thunder and lightning storm and then enough hail to cover the ground. It looked like winter. My poor tomatoes. Supposed to be showers tomorrow so maybe I'll be able to get on with more garden projects. I was so good today, didn't stop at one nursery.  |
| Posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2003 - 09:00 pm: | |
Everything was soaking wet this morning and believe it or not some of the hail from last night hadn't melted. I started my garden day by planting five clematis. I agonize and agonize over where to plant them and then suddenly it just seems more important to get them planted and out of the greenhouse before winter. Some how they always seem to look fine no matter where I put them. I'm amazed at how many of them are putting on new growth and blooming after we are getting some rain and cooler temperatures. After the sun came out and dried the foliage a bit, I did some trimming back on the perennials and dug and divided some of the others. Lots of editing to do and like Marie I have some problem areas that are irritating me. Hopefully one of these days I'll be hit by inspiration and the problems will be solved, at least in my dreams. |
| Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2003 - 07:43 pm: | |
A wonderful day in the garden. The weather was sunny and warm but still had the cool feel of fall. The leaves are starting to turn on the shrubs, particularly the viburnums and the sedums and asters are in full glory. It's amazing how the lawn is beginning to green up and even some of the perennials are looking fresh again. I started the day by moving several shrubs which turned into the domino effect as I had to move one before I could move the other one and then find a place for that one but eventually I got them all where I wanted them and hopefully I'll like their new placement better. I dug and divided several clumps of perennials and trimmed back some of the others. It felt good to be back in the garden again after my two work days away from home. I am as Deb would say "happy tired tonight" |
| Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 - 09:38 pm: | |
Wednesday already again, it has been a very busy week in the garden with lots of garden cleanup, deadheading and more dividing of perennials. Today was a fun day as we visited one of my favorite nurseries that always has wonderful end of the season sales. Everything in the nursery was at least 30% off and many plants were as much as 75% off. I bought another witch hazel, a winter hazel, a fothergilla major, a weeping styrax japonica, magnolia virginana, and a sassafras tree. Loved the leaves on the sassafras plus it looks like it will have good fall color. I also bought several more perennials, guara 'Crimson Butterflies', geranium 'Spinners', heuchera 'Green Spice' and 'Velvet Night' and some more ferns for the shade garden. It was a fun day. I planted the magnolia when I got home and will plant the rest of the plants this weekend. At least this time I know where they are all going to be planted, that isn't always the case. The weather has been hot again, into the mid to upper 80F but at least it is cool at night. |
