Ozma's Blog

Today was my first real day of work in the garden since we got back from Alaska.  I weeded the berm first since it's the prettiest part of our yard.  I also wanted to cut back the lamb's ear to prevent it from suffocating everything else planted there.  

 There is so much to do this autumn -- mostly transplanting.  I let the agapanthus go to seed last year so that I would have seedlings to move to the entry garden and under the curly willow.  I need to thin out the sedum "Autumn Joy" and red daylilies on the berm, and transplant some to the front edge of the SE rose garden. 

Talking about roses, there are so many that need to be moved around.  I'm hoping fall is a good time to do that.  One of the roses I moved last year did very well this year, but now it's infested with aphids and the attendant ants.  None of the other roses near it have this problem, so I'm a bit puzzled.

The sunflowers that I planted in the front yard now have flowers that bow down from the weight of their seeds.   I think they will lend spooky aire to my Halloween decorations this year.  I wish I could find my pictures of last year's decorations to help me remeber what to do.  Their dissappearance is quite mysterious.    oooo000OOO000ooooo

It's time to get ready for the holidays.  I love decorating and entertaining from Halloween to Valentine's Day.  You can see my galleries at Better Homes & Gardens.

Happy Celebrating!

(I fixed the link)

I've created a couple of albums of pictures from our vacation.  Take a look.

I've had a chance to stroll my garden all around.  Our house sitter did a good job of keeping things watered.  So now I have a lot of weeding and deadheading to do. . . When it's not raining.

Got home from our vacation late last night. When I turned on the light on the back deck, seeing my garden took my breath away.  Sleeping in my own bed was an unexpected pleasure, too.

I slept all day today, and when I got up, it felt like I was still on a rolling cruise ship.  I guess it'll take a few days to get my land legs back again.

Paul and I set the second pair of posts for the pergola at the SE end today.  He and Scottie (DD's ex-BF) installed the first two closest to the house several days ago, so we used them to help brace the ones we did today.  Whenever we pour concrete, we like to give it our Circle-Z brand.

Good thing we didn't do this work yesterday because it rained hard that afternoon.  Today the weather was as perfect as it gets.

 I got another pic of Rosco in the garden.  Shadow is more of a house cat, I guess, and I seldom catch a snapshot of her outside.  But Rosco makes up for it.  He loves to follow us around when we're working in the yard.  He's so cute.

Cheers!
Ozma

We finally got the arbor done in the NW end yard.  Paul put up the structure last year, and today he attached the cross pieces. 

This is all we planned to do on this arbor, but it looks like it's missing something.  We should run some 2" x 2"s along the length of the top, to support the trumpet vine.

The SE end yard looked like a big ol' weed patch this summer. We cleared it, laid down landscape cloth and covered it with bark. Hopefully this will keep the weeds at bay until we can landscape it. 

Tomorrow we're going to install posts for a similar but wider arbor on this end of the house. We plan to grow wisteria on it.

While I was out snaping the other pictures I saw the way the light fell on the sunflowers.  The leaves look like they are glowing.

I  have six new blooms today!  Hooray! The three on the fence are a good 4" across, and the ones on the trellis are a bit smaller.

I never thought it would happen. I just knew it would grow like Jack's Beanstalk and disappear into the clouds before I'd ever see a flower head. But at long last, here it is!

No, I'm not a midget!

The inmates at the Circle-Z Ranch(house) chill-out in the garden more this year than last.  And it's all because we erected our portable canopy on the deck.  Such a little change made such a big difference.

Deanna and Paul, just chillin'

Rosco, in the shade of a lilac

That's how I feel when I plant things in my garden.  I think I need to put a wishing well somewhere on the property.

Transplanting daylilies - September 2007

The NOAA posted an excessive heat warning for most of Western Washington and Oregon today and tomorrow.  All we should do is make sure nothing wilts -- especially ourselves.

Last night I waited until sunset to get out into my garden.  There are few moments during dusk when all the flowers look luminescent -- surreal.  I strolled around the property drinking in the beauty. 

Then I deadheaded the Lamb's Ear stalks that were dried up.  They filled a wheelbarrow.

On a walk through a nearby neighborhood, I saw several yards with large white Asiatic lilies in full bloom.  All my Asiatic lilies bloomed in Spring/early summer and are done for the year.  I'd like to get some of the lilies that I saw, but what kind are they?  They would grab the baton from the faded Adam's Needles to provide the tall white element in my entry garden.

The first sunflower that I planted in the entry garden is taller than the eaves of the house and is finally producing a flower.  The others that I planted at the same time were done in by snails.  I sowed sunflower seeds again, and they are much shorter of course.

There isn't much to do in the garden now but wait.  That's okay with me, since I tend to be a patient person.  That being said, I don't want to miss any opportunities.  Is there anything I can plant or sow now for fall and winter?

I haven't done much in the garden today because I'm focused on planning my family's Alaskan cruise.  We're going in September and getting so excited about it.  Besides the cruise itself, I've booked an excursion at every port.

Has anyone else taken an Alaskan cruise?  What should I pack?  Any tips?

While I was looking at cities that are in my zone - zone 8 - I noticed that these places really had very different climates.  For instance, zone 8 in the Pacific Northwest is very different than zone 8 in the Southwest.  Plants that do well here in the NW become crispy critters in the SW.

Check out Heat Zones at http://www.ahs.org/publicatio
ns/heat_zone_map.htm

I've spent the better part of my day at my computer  reading and posting things on this site.  I'm and ADDICT!!!!

I'm going to click the Post to Blog button, and then shut down my laptop...  I swear!

I was so hoping that I would have a wall of morning glories by now.  I want to hide a more utilitarian area with them.  I also planted them at the SE end of the house to make the most neglected area on our yard more appealing. Although they haven't filled in yet, it seems that I should have some blooms by now.

The morning glories haven't covered the screen, so the utility area is still visible from the house and deck to the left.  (Please ignore the dead lawn.  DH is killing it to make way for a flagstone patio.) 

Trellis placed at SE End of the house, between the two windows.

The backyard has been a little dissappointing this year.  That's due in part to the very cold Spring we had, and in part to my focus on the Entry Garden.

On a positive note, we are using the deck more since DH put up the portable canopy over it.  Even Grandma sits out there now.