Winter animals

We have quite a menagerie in our yard this winter. Last week I walked out the back door to find two possums in my compost pile. Yuck. But they have to eat too. We have the usual wide variety of song birds, squirrels and chipmunks. We also have a hawk who we see frequently, which may be why I am seeing fewer chipmunks. The blue heron is back this year. And he has eaten ALL our gold fish. If any are left, they are so small, and are keeping so deep, I can't see them.

I've tried to get a picture of the heron. Here is one, but it is rather blurry.

In the garden, unfortunately, one of my daphene bushes is dying. I have no clue why. The other is full of buds, and should be in bloom in the next few weeks. Pansies are doing rather well too.

Winter garden

My blog, just like my garden, is not getting much attention right now. But a recent post made me come back to say a few words.

My late bloomer, such as Angel Trumpet and Obedient Plant, were great right up until the middle of November. We had a hard frost right before Thanksgiving, which made everything die or go dormant.

I did get a number of perennials planted this fall, and added a few bulbs.

Pansies are doing fairly well. My daphine bushes have buds, although one is looking very sad. I fertilized it this week. I also have one pink camellia blooming. I have two reds that bloom later, and both have blooms.

I have asked for two truck loads of mulch for Christmas! My husband laughed.

I have been having fun adding new plants and moving some old ones. Some of the new ones inclue Anisacanhus wrighitt "Texas firecracker"; Phlox paniculata "John Fanick" and Phlox "Peppermint Twist"; Vernoica x "Fairytale" (Fairytale Speedwell); Montauk Daisy; Iberis sempervirens "Candytuft"; Delosperma "Ice Plant Starburst" Asclepias tuberosa "Butterfly weed". We also put in tow Pink Indian Hawthorn bushes and added two more Tea Olive trees. I have moved my purple salvia from the back yard to the front yard.

Below is the yellow iris, in full bloom in mid October! The purple plant is an aromatic aster and the white is also an aster. Notice I finally have grass in the front yard!

October blooms

I planted this hardy begonia several years ago. It has lived, but never bloomed until this week. What a pretty, delicate bloom! And can you believe this yellow iris with buds? I have never seen one come back to bloom in the fall. I thought the morning glory was pretty, so I posted it too.

I have begun fall planting now. The last photo below is two windflowers, Anemone x hybrida "Honorine Jobert". I have planted them in the south side of the front yard, next to spiderwort (which I moved to that bed last week).

I do a little indoor gardening. Yesterday I bought paperwhite bulbs, and have put them in water. I will track how long it takes for them to bloom.

Great Fall days

Thanks for the comments about Moon flowers. Although I love to catch the lucky moment of seeing them open, I've never timed them. What fun. I also adore the beautiful, light scent of the flowers.

I realize that I have very few fall bloomers in my garden. The sedum "Autumn Joy" is a glorious red now (pictured below). I also have an aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius) blooming. It makes a delightful bush, with the small purple flowers. Although the flowers don't have fragrance, the leaves do, when brushed or crushed. This will grow almost wild, so I usually cut it back at least once in early to mid summer. It still blooms its heart out in October.

Oh, my gardenia bushes are in bloom again. What a great treat to have them return in the fall for a second bloom.

I'm trying to track down some interesting perennials to plant this fall. I will post what I find.

Blooming in fall

We've had enough rain in the last two months that my angel trumpet and moon flower are finally beautiful. The angel trumpet is below. It smells heavenly at night!

We reseeded the front yard and are finally getting some good looking grass. Hopefully this time it will survive.

I divided and moved my spiderwort plants, putting them in the front garden on the southside of the yard. I hope they will do better with less late day sun. I bought a rosemary bush and planted it next to the driveway. I also pulled up the back gardens and planted pansies. I hope to add more perennials soon.

Grass, again

I am still struggling with grass in the front yard. The high heat in early June killed the fescue that we planted in the spring. We planted bermuda after that, but is has only grown in patches, leaving big bare patches and weeds in the yards. So, I'm at it again. With the wet and cool weather this week, I decided to try some fescue blend. Scattered over the bare spots.

Two bright spots though. The lantana I planted in the middle of the front yard is doing great. Also the Ruella planted earlier in the summer is blooming. Pictures of both.

Getting ready for Fall

I plan to rework a couple of beds in the front yard this fall. So, we've been working hard to get them ready. The bed in this picture is on the north side of our lot, but gets full southern and western exposure. It is about 15'x45'. My husband removed a small crepe mrytle tree, we weeded it, then added 3lbs of 10-10-10 fertilizer. I then worked in lots of coffee grounds (free from Starbucks) and 6lbs of lime to counteract the acid from the coffee. We then mulched the entire bed. I have a list of perennials I want to plant this fall.


We also used a weed/feed on the front lawn. Unfortunately it is more weed than grass.

Next weekend is the fall open house at PlantDelights nursery. I've never been, but hear it is a great place to buy a wide variety of plants. I'm looking forward to going. They are open to the public just a few weekends a year.

Late August

There is not a lot happening in the garden right now. My Obedient plants are now blooming. I realize that I don't have many late bloomers. I would like more.

We cleaned out the south garden in the front yard, and mulched it. The garden needs some serious work! I've got small azaleas in the back, but I think they will get bigger. I also have several hellebores which are doing well. In the upper part of that bed, I planted some daylilies to the front. I need to move those this fall. I have some spiderwort in the bed near the driveway that I will move into this bed. I need some other 'short' plants too. It gets partial shade, so I can put annuals there. The vinca is doing well, and I had impatians there last year, which reseeded a bit. This will be one place I will work on for the fall.

I have loved the caladiums in the boxes near the pond. I will pull up those bulbs and try to keep them for next year. I'll plant some in this south bed, and more in those same boxes.

Neither my moon vine nor my angel trumpet has bloomed much again this year. I think the dry weather is the problem, since they otherwise seem healthy. I'll save moonflower seeds for my friends Swampcat.

Had soil tests done on the front lawn (which has been a wreck this year) and on 3 beds. We will amend that all accordingly.

Photos below are of the caladium, the obedient plant and that south bed.

Heat of the summer

My blue/black salvia is blooming now. I have had two moon flowers so far. The vine is doing pretty well, going up the light post, but not heavy with blooms yet. The weather has been a bit dry the last two weeks. It would like more moisture.

Last week I noticed a blue flower blooming out near the airport. I got some pictures of it, but have had trouble making an identification. Saturday morning while out walking I saw some in a neighbor's yard. She happened to be out watering, so I asked what it was. She didn't know, but gave me some small off shoots. I planted them, and have since found that it is Ruellia brittoniana or Mexican petunia. Not a petunia at all, actually, but a woody perennial with a blue flower. I think I will enjoy it, as I always like a passalong plant.

Oh, the photos here are the blue/black salvia, moon flower vine and sedum "Autumn Joy".

New blooms

As much as I dislike the heat and humidity of mid summer, I love the fact that nearly everyday something new is blooming. We have had a rather wet summer so far, so the yard is growing wild. I can't keep up with the weeds, but all the good stuff is growing well too.

My angel trumpet has just the one bloom right now. I'm sure it will have more. It is a huge plant this year. I like the pale salmon color and the wonderful fragrance in the evening.

The red crinums are now blooming. I got the bulbs from my late mother-in-law's yard in Edenton. It took a couple of years for the plants to establish, but now they are huge. My husband called them 'flame plants'. They have several other common names, such as Confederate lily, angel lily and candystick lily. They were very popular plants in the south decades ago, but seem to have lost their popularity. I really like such heirloom plants.

I have morning glory all over the place. The are growing up in my abelia bushes. I should pull it up, but I like the morning blooming.

I think the bees and butterflies feeding make nice pictures. They love my flowers.

This week

Its that time of the summer when most of my time in the yard is spent pulling weeds and swatting mosquitoes. I am doing lots of both.

I have a bare spot in the front yard where grass just doesn't want to grow. So, this weekend we planted a Sizzlin'Pink Fringeflower bush (Loropetalum chinensis). It has nice dark purple leaves and bright pink blooms. Around this I planted a variety of lantana. All should do well with that full sun.

I picked my first cukes and squash. The pond hyacinths and the sun flowers are also just beginning to bloom. Some nice picture of all of these are below.

I had a comment that I should show my compost bin and my water collection system. The compost area is great, as in I have great compost, but it isn't very nice to look at. We will work on that. Our really nice water collection system is almost finished. Just have to get the gutters installed on the tool shed. Photos will be forthcoming. Now that I have rain barrels we seem to be having lots of rain!

Blooming today

I have beautiful orange daylilies which have a triple flower. I've seen doubles before, but not triples. I also have a white lily, which may be a type of crinum. I know I have red crinum, but I did not realize I have white ones. I have a few nice yellow canna, which I need to move since a gardenia is blocking the view of them. The purple flower is a rose of sharon. I also have white ones blooming.

New grass?

Well, we will try again. We raked up the entire grass areas today and planted bermudagrass seed. The planting season should be until mid July. We covered it all with wheat straw and dampened it. The we had almost 2 inches of rain. Maybe this will survive! It is a good grass for this area, although it will go dormant in cold weather.

I planted five crocosmia plants a couple of years ago. The had not bloomed, and I had actually forgotten what they were. They are blooming now, and are quite nice. They grow from corms and will spread. I have a nice picture of them.

The heat abates, some

The heat wave destroyed the grass we planted this spring. It was a beautiful green in the back yard. Now it is brown. I need to rethink the lawn areas for the rest of the summer.

Everything else seems to be doing pretty well. I've done maintenance this week. Lots of weeding. I've fertilized all the potted plants and sprayed roundup where all the weeds are growing in my patio and driveway. As soon as the gardenia stops blooming, they will need another round of pesticide.

I moved one of the Shepard's hooks to the front yard, and put a hummingbird feeder out there.

Some pictures of what is doing well are below. Purple coneflowers, a cantaloupe plant in front of a St. John's wort bush; black eyed susans and sedum and zinnias, which have just started to bloom today. I also have my first bloom on my four o'clocks.

THE HEAT

Wow, what a heat wave we have had. I've talked with fellow gardeners, and we are all seeing our plants suffer. If we dig down a couple of inches, the ground is still moist, but everything that has shallow roots has been hurt by five straight days of temperatures at 100. Even my daylilies have yellow leaves.

The water level in our fish pond has dropped about 4" in a week. Oh, the water hyacinths have indeed multiplied. Have they ever! I'll probably be advertising them for sale on craigslist very soon.

My butterfly bushes are now blooming. The seem to like the heat, as do my cosmos. Zinnias are close to blooming, and my sunflowers are healthy. Blackeyed Susans, coneflowers and salvia are also beginning to bloom. Obedient plants and four o'clocks seem to be doing well, but neither are blooming yet. Two of my rose of sharon bushes are now blooming.

Someone's reading!

I'm delighted to get a comment here; and a positive one at that.

Black eyed susans are now blooming. My gardenia bushes are loaded; weighted down with flowers. Also blooming are St. John's Wort bushes, cosmos, which reseeded this year, a yucca. The rose of sharon bushes have buds.

I haven't mentioned vegetables much, but I have a tomato plant, a squash, cucumber and cantaloupe. Three small tomatoes right now. I really prefer flowers, but it is fun to have a few veggies.

Zinnias are coming up nicely. I am now trying to note areas in my beds where I need to add plants, so that I can plant perennials in the fall. Here are pictures of the gardenia and St. John's Wort.

The first of June

Hot weather has arrived! 90 yesterday, and 86 and humid at eleven o'clock this morning.

My gardenias are blooming, which seems very early to me. Also blooming are day lilies, hydrangia bushes, easter lilies, rose campion. My black eyed susans and coneflowers have buds. Spiderwort is also still blooming. Here are pictures from this morning.

Memorial Day

Here are two nice photos from my garden this morning. I weeded, moved a astilbe to a shadier spot, watered and did general cleanup today. Also bought some vinca to fill in the back garden.