witt's Blog

Brighten the Corner
Jul 22, 2011 | 2:40 PM PST

This is the little corner of the Butterfly Garden that I wrote about in the previous blog. You can see the pitiful little hosta that had about ten leaves on it before Mr. Toady-Froggy decided to dig out his tunnel. The picture, of course, doesn't show how pretty the little plants are. It sure is better than the ugly BES that would not bloom. I just wanted to brighten the corner.

Heat Break?
Jul 22, 2011 | 9:06 AM PST
One of my hostas that I had transplanted back in the Spring looked dried up yesterday, so I gave it some collected rainwater. When I started pouring it, I realized why it looked so bad. There was a huge froggy hole right in the middle of it. I guess he was keeping cool. Who knows how long that tunnel stretches underground? I did my best to collapse it and fill it back up so that the poor hosta could get her feet back into the ground rather than thin air! This morning I checked and the little dickens had burrowed it back open again. After reading Bill's blog about moving hostas, I decided it would be ok to relocate it. I moved it to my new area that I created where I pulled up a big patch of black-eyed Susans that wouldn't bloom and were just plain ugly. I put in a few things like Aztec grass (liriope--green and white), impatiens, begonia -- just cuttings. This morning I put in the yellow and green liriope. Something attractive HAS to grow there. I'll get a pic soon.  As I said earlier, the air is wet; the ground is dry. This heat has to break sometime!  

Mission for Today: Survive the HEAT!

Cleome
Jul 20, 2011 | 12:12 PM PST

These are the cleomes that were successful this year. They are from third generation seeds, which came initially from KeyWee. I never had them grow this well before. I am so thrilled. They are much more beautiful than my photography shows.

Another Experiment
Jul 18, 2011 | 2:50 AM PST

Here's another little experiment that I did just for fun. I had this seashell, which just happened to have a hole for drainage. I planted it with three pieces of an echevaria that was about to die. That was May 23.

 

 

Then it looked like this in June:

 

 

This is what it looked like on July 7. We had a little shower. It looks like diamonds.

 

 

 

 

At least it grew a little bit.

Mission for Today: Go grocery shopping. (Ugh) Then play in the yard.

New Rose Trellis
Jul 16, 2011 | 2:55 AM PST

Talk about crazy weather! We didn't get out of the 60's yesterday. I don't ever remember a day in JULY here in the South where it was that cool all day. At least it was good weather for Son to finish putting up the new rose trellis that he built for me.

 

 

It looks shocking and bare right now, but if that rose grows back like it did last year, you won't be able to see it.

 

 

Son assures me that the rose won't tear this one down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mission for Today: Transplant the zoysia that is growing over the stepping stones into the zoysia garden.

One of My Experiments
Jul 14, 2011 | 3:53 AM PST

This is one of my experiments. I thought that it would be neat to make a little succulent dish garden. I have baby hens and chicks, echevaria, and two unknowns. One I call Aunt Winnie's Alpine sedum, and the other was from a cousin. I don't know what it is.

Here it is first planted, June 13th.

 

 

Here it is July 7.

 

 

 

 

Here it is today July 14:

 

 

 

It appears that I have lost a hens and chicks, but it's under the apine sedum. There has been a little growth, but not much.

This is just one of my experiments.

 

Mission for Today: Be grateful for 3/10th inch of rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wherewithal
Jul 5, 2011 | 4:34 AM PST
OK. OK. I finally cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. I had to do something to get out of these blahs, not to mention how much a man can make a mess while his wife is gone. I made a meat loaf filled with the sweet banana peppers that my brother gave me when he came to relieve me at Mom's. Then I went out with my bucket and clippers to prune off the spent lily stalks. They are about to come to an end. I cut the shastas that were flopped and done in the Poison Garden. I used up all my collected rainwater. We had 2/10 inch of rain from the storm that passed through. I heard a little thunder but never heard any rain. Later I disentwined Aunt Winnie's mountain ferns from the nandinas and serissa and clipped off the ends of others so that they wouldn't twine themselves onto something else. It looks much better in the Back Flower Bed. Aunt Winnie's Garden was much in need of straw, but I had a hard time getting it around all the plants, so I did something crazy. I got a bucket of straw, sat on the patio and cut it with scissors. I have never, never, never done anything so obsessive as that, but I wanted the straw short enough to be able to get it where I wanted it. The first bucket didn't go as far as I needed it, so I did a second. Crazy person, hunh? I did a little work in the overgrown Herb Garden like cutting back some basils and sprigs of tea olive that were too happy so that I could get to my pelargonium. I took three cuttings from that. I hope I can get it to root. I had success with only one last year. I cut back some spent bee balm and lemon balm that were looking really ugly. I would love to get rid of all the bee balm that have bloomed, but the bees and hummers are having too much fun on them. I cleaned the birdbath in the Butterfly Garden and discovered toady-frog holes right beside and under a marigold. By that time of the day I didn't have the wherewithal.  

Mission for today: Joog toady-frog holes.