Got around to transplanting about 30 baby hellebores. Looked at milky spore and said wait for a decent rain. Got a wheelbarrow replacement tire half the size needed. Decided to sharpen a few hand tools as it is about 65 F. and oak pollen says get out and about. Might organize a little bit about the small patio but I know might means perhaps future son in low may offer to help out ;))
Bill meanwhile house dad tasks remind me of the sirens from Odysseys way back home travails.
Must mow. Traded 1 oregano for 3 cosmos yesterday - I put them in last night. I already trimmed back the volunteer trees this morning.
Cold this morning - low 40's, but soaring into the 70's this afternoon. Beautiful day.
Kate
Read my garden diary at to see what a day's tasks might be.
Of course, I try to putter around every day, pulling a weed here and grooming a rose bush there. This reduces the need to bother with those many minor tasks on a day when I really work in my garden.
It was 85F at noon today with an overnight low of 59F.
Started puttering but didn't get all that far.... phone calls were coming in hot and heavy for the business...
I need to
Tie up the peony bushes.... row of about 15 feet... the buds are getting ready to bloom and they need a lot of support. Going to cut back the buds to 2 per branch... probably will dump a load of miracle gro bloom booster. They put on a pretty display... white, white with red and 'Taki' (rose) Plenty of flowers to give out to the neighborhood. They should be in bloom in 8 more days.
Sinking posts for a deer fence...five more to go...
Mow Lawn... we had several weeks of rain, so mowed it kinda high about a week ago... it's time to bring it down to normal height.
Slug getta.... heaped a lot of cut grass around the shrubs to keep the moisture in.... slugs have been hanging out.
Cut down a few shrubs.... need to trim trees and get a chipper/shredder in.
12 azalea shrubs ready to be planted...Fix one garden hose
Fertilize everything that doesn't move.... got a lot of roses coming up which need feeding. Some badly deer damaged shrubs could use some encouragement also.
The significant other trimmed a Forsynthia bush the other day..... I suggested taking out the dead branches... perhaps trimming back one third. Next thing I knew the ground was covered with brush and the shrub was completely bare. This was a forsynthia that was trimmed to a tree shape over the past many years.
She's a sweetheart, (the s.o. not the forsynthia) but her gardening skills need some improvement. There are some fun moments.... the other day I was getting ready to transplant some liriope .... took a plant out of the pot, laid it on the ground and went to get a shovel. Came back... the plant was no where in sight. Okay I'm scratching my head.... I knew where I put it.... thought I did... Maybe I'm going crazy... early onset dementia....losing what little mind I have left. She pops up... excitedly tells me about this new plant she just planted.. In the 90 seconds I was gone looking for the shovel, she wandered by, found the plant and decided to plant it in the other part of the yard. She's here only on weekends... maybe it's better that way...
Weather has been beautiful after several weeks of daily rain. Everything is growing... Geraniums, peonies, roses are blooming... even saw a few container day lillies blooming. Some Azaleas have already dropped their blossoms, but others are just coming into bloom.
Significant other found a few amaryllis in the commissary the other day, brought them home and was getting ready to plant them outside... These were 'red lion' zone
8 to 11. Probably not a good idea to plant them outdoors as a perennial in marginal 6/7 so she'll add them to her indoor garden.Funny thing, the temps were in the low 30's this morning.... very unusual for zone
7/6 Maryland.This was my Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.... life is good....
Peter....
It had been raining so there was no need to water. The zuchini had gotten knocked over so I staked that up and re staked the tomatoes.
After such an exhausting morning there was nothing left to do but have a glass of 12 year old Chivas Regal on the patio overlooking the garden with my neighbor. I love gardening.
BTW, I've encouraged the neighbor to get into gardening also.
Jeff
Back grass needs to be mowed again. Front is looking a bit long. Need to finish putting up front fence - posts are cemented in ground, just need to nail up boards. Truck has a yard of mushroom compost that needs to be hauled to it's final resting place.
And with that, I think I'll go back inside and play another round of L4D and pretend like there is no garden...
Yesterday moved the tomato plants outdoors for the first time. The peppers and eggplants are happy for the extra elbow room.
Sad: Aunt Gertie's Gold tomato plant, with it's big 'potato leaves' snagged on a neighboring plant and was almost entirely snapped off below the seed-leaves. I carefully potted it in a deeper pot and staked it upright. Now it's in intensive care, with a plastic bag to keep the humidity up.
And I spent some time pulling out some of the thousands seedling trees that are all over the yard. (Apparently last year was a banner year for maple, ailanthus, and wild cherry tree seeds.)
Today I have to screen some compost and prep the tomato beds.
And I have to get my hair cut. Too much hair + hat + sweat must be remedied.
Well, yesterday, I did pull out about 100 sorrel weeding their way through my garden. Could still get about 10 times that out too; useful in it's place, but that's not the flower bed.
Today - I'm straight out again, but I'll try and weed while DD and I wait for the bus. I really have to get some mulch down on the paths, they are quite over grown now.
Cheryl
On 5/19/2009 5:49 PM, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote [in part]:
Peonies!! I had seen them in bouquets from florists in the past but saw them on the plants for the first time last year at Winterthur and Longwood. They were magnificent. I asked at nurseries near my home and was told that they are impossible in my climate; most nurseries here refuse to stock them.
But I have roses in bloom in December; they would bloom in January if I didn't prune them. My dwarf lemon tree blooms on and off all year long; I have three large ripe lemons on the tree right now. My alstroemeria is in constant bloom year round. And my wife can send me out in front to cut some rosemary for a recipe she is cooking; the rosemary bush is about 30 years old and taller than I am.
Here, lilacs are marginal, even those specially hybridized for mild winters. While I have lady tulips (Tulipia clausiana), the traditional "Dutch" tulips will not naturalize and bloom a second year; they must be treated as annuals. Dogwoods and rhododendrons are mostly unknown here (but I do have some nice azaleas).
Each climate has its positive and negative aspects for gardeners.
Perhaps of interest. Notice many ****** for tree peony.
Bill
......................
Marcia Reed says : Hi Patti, I am a peony grower in San Jose....yes you can grow them in the bay area. Visit my web site 4irses.com and plan a visit to my farm in the spring time for a wonderful garden experience. I grow over 160 varieties of herbaceous and tree peonies.
lisa says : Patti This is my Q, too! I am just moving to Carmel from Chicago, and can`t live w/o peonies! Check out Crickethill.com or Treepeony,com (all they grow/breed/sell are peonies!)....click on the link on the left for "southwest peony culture". It gives me hope!
*******They say tree peonies are more likely to survive above Z8, and that you have to nip the green ends/foliage off (not wood)to induce the dormancy necessary to make them flower in Feb/March.****** Good luck! Lisa Fellow Peony Fan
Yesterday, I did one of the most exciting things I've ever done in my garden. And it wasn't even a gardening task.
I was grooming (deadheading) my roses and some other flowers when I heard a shriek high above. I looked up and saw two eagles circling. I've seen this before but was never able to get a photo. This time, I was able to run into the house, grab my camera, and dash outside again while they were still circling. The photos are at the 20 May entry in my garden diary (see my signature below).
No, I don't live in the mountains or a rural area. I live in a suburban community of tract homes, condos, and apartments. One mile west is the city of Thousand Oaks (population approximately 130,000). About five miles east is the city of Los Angeles (population more than 3,000,000). But between my home and Los Angeles is a spur of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area with a significant nesting area for golden eagles.
I've been moving stuff over to the new house, one bit at a time. I've moved all of the clematis now, and have started moving the lilies. I'm going to work my way down and then do bulbs.
First thing I discovered is that the pavers didn't have a base under them, so I pulled all of them up, figured out I didn't want to do this after the plants were in and started digging so I can put gravel underneath. That's my goal this weekend - finishing digging out the bed. It's very thick, gummy clay. My clogs usually have an inch of clay mud stuck on the bottom afterwards.
I'll be doing a lasagna bed on one large triangular piece of the back yard. Not enough boxes unpacked yet though.
Meanwhile the woman who is moving in to my present house keeps asking me if I have my plants out of the garden yet. She has this big garden order coming in and seems to be of the opinion that I should keep my plants in containers for a month so she doesn't have to.
Ah well. It will be done when it is done. Three more weeks. Dora
I am SO jealous.
My "best" bird sighting was the bald eagle flying over the Target (next to the river where there are several nests).
Cheryl
"David E. Ross" wrote in news:5tydndfzxvotb4jXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@posted.docknet:
tell your neighbors to keep their cats & small dogs inside from now on... they make lovely eagle snacks. lee
Here is a Eagle cam. You can watch the babies grow and see what is for dinner.
Very neat.
Bill
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