Gardens

J has been raking in the tomatoes lately and sharing his bounty with coworkers. The 6 plants have gone crazy and it's hard to see where one ends and the next begins. He has all sizes, pea sized Red Currents, cherry, grape, yellow pear and two "regular-sized" -one red and one pink. 

 We found chomped stems the other day and located two of the culprits- the Dread Pirate Roberts of the gardening world:

 We knew there was at least one more since we could see the truncated stems on another plant, but these suckers are sneaky and hide under the many, many branches. I found it today and fetched my gauntlet of bravery. In case you don't know, these are big- 4 inches long and solid enough that you cannot ignore them in your hand. Plus they have like 10 sticky feet that they clamp on with as they rear up and wave their revolting heads about.

We call them tomato hornworms, but I found out today that this is actually a tobacco hornworm! The internet told me so, because it (the worm, not the internet) has straight lines and a red horn. No matter though, both can destroy a plant in no time. Both grow into big brown moths that do look cool, but this one didn't. It turned into a chicken snack.

I don't eat tomatoes, but I am keeping a close eye on my corn. I hope I get to it before the raccoons when it ripens. It's got a way to go still.

Many of our flowers have finished blooming and the landscape is turning browner by the day. There are still some bright spots though, like my hibiscus, and the sedum that is just starting to get it's color.

And my pink turtlehead:

As well as the gladioli that I planted among the mums. It was a discount grab bag of colors, so it is a happy chance that the colors match the pansies and mums nearby.

Not that I obsess over neat, matchy gardens, but I do enjoy serendipity when it happens.

I'm pooped

The weather was great this weekend and we made the most of it, starting several projects and even finishing some! It was cleanup weekend at our transfer station so we got rid of a big old monitor and some more random demo stuff, at no charge.

J mowed the yard and we cleaned up the winter mess from our porch. We had stacked and covered the furniture last fall, and I brought a bale of hay out there, to make a wind break for the dogs. They loved that and had the hay all over that end by spring. The hay is gone and the furniture now usable again. By humans that is- Boomer had climbed to the top of the stack and claimed that perch for himself all winter.

We installed two trellises out front and I untangled the rose branches to cover one side.

See that post in the back? Yes, the crooked one. That sucker bowed so badly over the winter that we should string it. After pondering several fixes for it we said the heck with it and just dealt with it as it was. I figure for most of the last 20 years no one could see our steps, or use them safely, so this is miles ahead of what we had.

I moved one 'baby' rose plant to the right side of the trellis, so I hope it lives well and prospers there.

This is an old-fashioned rose called Seven Sisters and it has small clusters of pink flowers. I got this from my folks' yard years ago- I'm not sure if it's a climber or a rambler, but it's not a bush!

This messy garden usually gets weeded before now, but I decided it is going away. I cannot keep up with the grass anymore. I think I will leave the spring bulbs there, and J can just mow them down after they bloom. I have to move 3 clumps of day lilies, some irises and some hollyhock mallows before too long though.

I also moved some hostas from out back to either side of our barberry bush. And yes, those should have been divided at the same time, but I once again said to heck with it.

The plants in the pots are my .50 clearance pansies and allysum from Lowe's. I didn't plan on buying them today, but how could I pass on that price? $3.00 for 36 perfectly good plants.

Oh, for any readers who have wondering why Ameranth has not updated her blog, she has not had the internet for the last few days. One person she stayed with in Syracuse had wireless, but had no clue how to let someone else access it. She got a couple of short rides with friendly folk, and assured me that she didn't accept rides from just anyone and had in fact turned someone down that day, Mom.

Camping in rain showers last night along the canal trail, she heard many coyotes yipping and howling, but Anna was not interested at all. Today was so hot that she carried Anna's pack most of the day, and let her wade in the water to cool off. Poor dog hasn't blown her winter coat yet, and does not like the hot, muggy weather they've had. 

She is a little more than halfway through her trip and getting used to carrying her pack and walking 7 to 10 miles per day. She calls every day so we know where she is so that's been good. Thank goodness for cell phones! Tonight she is sleeping in a dance studio which belongs to a nice lady, so she should be comfortably dry while getting her rain fly in the same condition.

Weeding, not reading

 

This mass of grass is a garden in our front yard. I really did weed this once but the flowers were overwhelmed. The evening primroses bloomed nicely, but are scraggly now, and the tall old-fashioned chrysanthemums have given up apparently. I found half a dozen single stalks that are just sad.

Ms M and Mr C are visiting Saturday, and I wanted the front to look nice for them, not to mention all the neighbors driving by, tsk tsking and shaking their heads. We checked them out(the mums not the neighbors) at WalMart and Home Depot, because I'm cheap and am happy if half of the plants come back next year. Both stores had tables of half-price plants that looked terrible- all the flowers were dead, browned as if burned. Strange that both stores had so many like that- did they accept delivery of them that way? Did both stores neglect them the exact same way?

Did I mention I'm cheap? Plus I hate to see plants wasted, so I went through all the sale plants, and found 10 that still had green growth and unopened buds. I am their second chance in life! I did splurge on a couple of bigger, healthy plants just in case the browning really is terminal. Now, after two days of weeding and planting the garden looks like a garden again. Ta da!

Amazing, right? Now, grow, darn it.

Sunday, Sunday

This was another productive, if tiring, weekend. J insisted we plant Indian corn, and the rest of his pumpkin seeds, plus more sunflowers. Done.

J also brought out our garden decorations, and placed them hither and yon. This is his favorite, the weathervane that was on top of our barn when we moved here. There were other spikes with the blue glass balls, all connected as part of a lightning rod system.



Trimmed some limbs off the devil tree, otherwise known as a Norway maple, a very invasive plant. There were no trees in our backyard when we moved here in 1987, since it was mostly cow pasture, so we planted some maples trees from my grandfather's yard. We should have wondered why he had so many young trees available!

Norway maples grow quickly, and are wonderful shade trees, but the dense shade quickly kills off any plants beneath them, and their little helicopter seeds number in the thousands. We did not know all of this, honestly, we didn't.

So, we cut one down that was killing the lilac bushes, and another three just because they were there. We have one left in the yard, and each year we trim the bottom branches so we can see down the field. You'd think the tree would respond by holding up it's limbs, and keeping out of our way. No, this perverse thing keeps drooping more new shoots down and we keep trimming.

A few years ago, Sectaurs took a bow saw up in one tree, and cut off every branch he could get to. This left a Serengeti plain looking thing, and we figured it would die, and we would get it taken down easier. Of course, it bushed out at the top as if it welcomed the pruning. The strange appearance did prolong it's life, until the amusement wore off.

The rhododendron that was ravaged by deer last winter has a flower or two. I really thought it was a goner when I saw it, but by golly, it is a fighter.


Ironically, all the hens are dead, and the plant lives on.

It's getting warmer!

Yay! It is finally feeling like spring here, especially since we have our garden planted- mostly. We still have to get some peppers and a cucumber in. We have some corn, potatoes and tomatoes(in pots this year, due to pillaging) but the bulk of the space goes to pumpkins. Have I mentioned J goes all out for Halloween?

He loves growing the giant pumpkins, with varying degrees of success each year. We also grow the white 'ghost' pumpkins- full size this year, last year the minis. I stuck some gourds in the mix and we'll see what we end up with, since it was a packet of mixed types.

I am feeling very satisfied, since yesterday I got the border covered with newspapers and mulch hay, to prevent the weeds from sneaking in, and today it was fenced in. Two foot high wire will hopefully allow us to let the hens out of their yard and keep them out of the garden, which is on their doorstep.



The front garden is weeded now, just in time for my old fashioned yellow irises to bloom. I still have two on the side to go, that face the other road we front. One of those may be tackled this afternoon, when the sun moves around the other side of the house. By weeds, I mean the grass that invades every garden I plant. Grass, and violets.

Years ago a violet or two showed up in my garden. How nice, I thought and left it there. Big mistake- violets qualify as an invasive plant in my book, if no one else's. Pretty little purple or white flowers in the spring, then massive leaf growth and knotted, stubborn root masses that crowd out every other plant they encounter. I no longer feel any compunction about ripping them out, although I do mutter 'collateral damage' to other flowers taken by accident.

Two hollyhocks are still in their pots. I want them to go in front of the porch posts, but need to protect them from the dogs, who will be attracted to the turned over dirt. Still pondering that.

Break time is over.

Beginnings

Finally, a sunny day that was fairly warm! It's been the kind of weather that warms up pretty well outside, but doesn't warm up the house. I must admit we turned the heat on last night, but J has a nasty cold, so that was the excuse!

One of my cousins (first cousin, but a generation apart in age) had a daughter born today. His first child. but the 3rd girl out of 4 grandchildren for that branch of the family. On J's side, his nephew's wife is due tomorrow with their first child. Another niece had a little girl in April- will it be 3 for 3 this year?

Tomorrow is also Shoeshine's 30th birthday, which just doesn't seem possible! And no grandchildren in sight for us yet. Ms M is the only married one of the four, so she is carrying all the weight of family expectations right now (pun intended).

It so interesting watching babies grow and to see what kind of personalities they have. Especially when they are not yours and you bear no responsibility for their quirks. Besides the genetic peculiarities that is. Strange how some traits are so strongly recognizable through the family. Besides premature graying, webbed toes, a well developed sense of humor appears in our families often.

Thank goodness for humor- I can't imagine living with people who can't find something funny to say in just about any situation. Of course, when it's teenagers who are talking, it can be hard to see the humor in the moment, but months (or years) later it can be recalled fondly.

While talking to my parents today, I mentioned weeding my flower gardens, and how I always underestimate the time needed and number of weeds. I told myself to plant my new flowers in existing beds- DO NOT START NEW GARDENS! My mother said she is downsizing her gardens even more. She concentrates now on the garden around her fish pond that she sees from her porch.

J and I have many, many projects around here, some started, some almost done and some we haven't thought of yet, I'm sure. However, we find we are slowly clearing out the attic, and empty rooms upstairs, now that the kids are all gone. I'm not saying we don't bring new junk home, but we tend to be a little more selective/realistic about the odds that we will actually use something now.

So, as our lives are beginning to shrink just a bit, others' are expanding with new homes, new spouses ( niece's wedding in July) and best of all, new babies. I can't wait to see how little Heidi, Leah and the one no one has met yet will fit into and change our families.

Mother's Day

It has been a soggy weekend, but a very satisfying one. On Saturday, we went to the wedding of our neighbor's daughter, a very nice time was had. It was a simple, moving ceremony and so nice to touch base with folks I haven't seen for some time.

All 4 kids called, of course, for Mother's Day, Shoeshine surprising us by calling first, from Colorado, two time zones behind his siblings! In fact he called while I was speaking to my mother, so I called him back.

We went out to do errands and Sectaurs called later, we spoke of some projects we each have planned. I wanted to know if he can help me with some decorative tiles for our porch posts, and he needs a shade for his cubicle to block glare. Symbiosis!

The girls had a shopping misson and it was accomplished- sandals for Ameranth were found, after much trying on of footwear. It's hard to find her in-between size sometimes, and the shoes need to be man-made materials, due to her vegetarian practices. That and her ADD makes shopping frustrating at times. Ms. M persevered and kept her on track for the other items on her list as well.

Thanks to Ms. M and my hubby, who both gave me shopping funds for garden items. Now, annuals, perennials, or decorations? J votes for gargoyles!

Oh, and our lawn tractor is back, ready to roll as soon as the grass dries out.