flowers

The Joe Pye Weed around the mail box is about to bloom.

The Agastache (rupestins) I grew from seed a few years ago are in bloom.

A red daylilly.

These marigolds came up on their own and I left them.

The daisies are blooming and the marigolds in fron but not the zinnias in between.

Friday night we were in Medford Lakes. There are still some people without power or phone and some might not get it back until Tuesday. It wasn't a tornado but it was 80 mph winds. We were spared at home and the wind wasn't that bad either. I did empty 0.5" from the rain gauge.

First beans and cukes

My other day lillies have started to bloom. I planted this one last year.

Thursday afternoon I had a large dead oak tree cut down. It died last summer. I don't know what from. Gypsy moth caterpillars were really bad two years ago and this tree did survive that but then died a few months after spring started last year. I wanted the tree service to it cut down on Friday when I had the day off but it was a cash deal and they finally called me back Thursday afternoon while I was work and said we'll be there in a half an hour. Wouldn't have been a bad day if my wife's car battery hadn't died when she tried to move the car back in the driveway after the tree was cut down.

I had Friday off and I got a bunch done before we went to some local fireworks. I picked the first picking from the first green beans. ( We had them for dinner tonight in a green bean casserole at my brother's house celebrating the 4th and mom's 82nd birthday. They were good). I then tied the tomatoes and trimmed their suckers. The third green beans started to sprout a few days ago.

I finished mulching flower bed #4 and then mulched all of flower bed #5 and began mulching #3. Before I mulched #5, I planted some more marigolds, zinnia and cosmos in flower bed #5. Yes I know I am going out of order but these two gardens needed more attention first (they're the youngest) flower beds 1, 2 & 3 are closer to autopilot.

With the tree down I had to install a post in the ground for the birdfeeder. One end of the hanging wire was attached to the dead tree. I bought a 10 ft 4x4 post a couple of weeks ago in anticipation. I also installed several new posts for the clothesline and removed the hooks from the trees.

This afternoon I watered the veggie garden and the recently planted marigolds, zinnias and cosmos. I really don't like to water in the afternoon but the family schedule left me no choice since we were going to dinner at my brother's house and this morning I did make it to church. After I watered I noticed that I could pick several cucumbers and I ended up picking seven. So this weekend I picked the first fruits of green beans and cukes. Yummy!

The cucumbers are growing nicely. I grow a seedless burpless, which is the family's favorite.


The Bee Balm is starting to bloom. My teenage daughter has even noticed.

I just planted my third green beans. Each row was planted three weeks apart. I will be picking from the first row (on the far right) this weekend and when its finished in three weeks, I will be picking from the middle row. I noticed the third green beans are starting to sprout.

The tomatoes are growing but in the past they have been bigger but its been a mild (not hot) June with plenty of rain.

It hasn't measurably rained since last week so I watered my veggies tonight as well as the marigold and zinnia I planted along the house on Sunday.

5-4-3-2-1-speed marigold planting

Well the weather radar looked like it was going to give me a few hours of time this morning but I forgot to check it again right before I went outside. I got about 45 minutes. It was just enough time to tie up the tomato plants and start to speed plant the yellow marigolds in between the tomato plants before in started to pour. Okay I did get a few other things done. I transplanted four volunteer tomato plants replacing four very small tomato plants that weren't growing well for what ever reason. The volunteers were about 4 to 5 times larger than the ones I dug up. I also planted several cosmos along the fence of the veggie garden. I worked about ten minutes in a light drizzle before I had had enough. This afternoon I emptied 0.35" from the rain gauge. Just after dinner we had a couple of downpours.

Notes for June 11, 2009

I got a little bit of time last night after dinner and knocked out a few chores and parts of others.

First I transplanted a yellow marigold that was freelancing on the outside of the veggie garden and transplanted it to inside the fence. Then I planted three of the cosmos that I started back on May 13Th. Only three of them were big enough. It was then that I noticed that almost all of the mixed cosmos I started back on May 30Th had been dug up and the roots eaten by some critter. So I replanted some cosmos seeds in seed starting six packs. I guess I'm really going to try to plant my annuals earlier so that they are of a good size by now and maybe not interesting enough for food for whatever critter. I also noticed that the two remaining sunflowers had also been eaten. Hopefully whatever critter will leave them alone after the seeds I planted this past weekend germinate. But if they get eaten, there will be no sunflowers this year.

Next I did some mulching in the veggie garden. The one (smaller) compost pile is nearly gone but I still have one and a half left. I still have a bunch to mulch but I would say that the veggie garden is more than half mulched. I am waiting for some of my marigolds get bigger to transplant so I can plant them in between my tomatoes and peppers and then I will mulch those tomatoes and peppers. In any case I did mulch all of my cukes and one double row of tomatoes (I planted marigolds among them from the freelancing marigolds I transplanted). The second row of green beans will be ready to mulch soon.

Then I cleaned out the dead stems and leaves from my five large pots of chives. I have two kinds of chives, regular and garlic. The regular chives are rounded and the garlic chives are more flat or oval. Now there is a small pile of leaves and stems that will get mulched by the mower (probably on Sunday).

As I reclined on the patio after working in the yard, I did notice that my yellow Stella D'Oro daylilly is in bloom. The rest of my common orange daylillys are are about to explode in the next few weeks.

I also noticed that all the leaves on my beautiful Columbine (see pictures June 4, 2009) have been eaten. They are nothing now but stems and dead flowers. this is so disheartening. I started these Columbine from seed last year and was so glad how they survived the winter and how beautifully they exploded in bloom this year. I was so proud and thought I got to start more from seed next year. Now I'm not so sure.

I have been in this home since the fall of 2000 and its hard finding what works and what doesn't. What will survive the winter and what isn't food for my local wildlife. So far I can really only say Iris and Tiger Lillies. the tiger Lillies I am told they are a favorite of deer. Thank goodness I don't have a problem with them. Last fall I was wondering where I was going to plant any new perennials, every flowere bed was full. this Spring I noticed I had lost a bunch of stuff either to the cold (we had negative temperatures one weekend) or to be being buried in leaves that i couldn't get to until mid Spring. I lost a whole bed of dianthus and gloriosa daisies and several spots of Iris and Daylillies. I lost a Bleeding heart and several hardy Geraniums. My Spiderworts and Yarrow are severely diminished. Several but not all of my large Sedums are down to one stem which were a nice bunch. I wish I had started some new perennial from seed this year but I still have to experiment for what will survive winter and critters.

Notes from May 28, 2009

This Hosta was saved from a friend's house where their Hostas were deer food. Of all the ones they gave me, this one is doing the best. To the right is Agastache.

I bought a white Rhododendron two years ago and this year it bloomed.

This is a painted Daisy (in the chrysanthemum family). It doesn't look impressive because its become rabbit food. Five other nearby have also been eaten. Not surpised because the leaves are similar to carrot leaves.

Can't remember the name of this perennial. I started it from seed a couple of years ago and its been steadily growing in size. I think it was called Centaurea?

Here is a painted Daisy that the rabbit didn't get to. And for a bonus there is some sort of bug on the flower.

Stayed home from work today but didn't get to work in the yard until the afternoon.

Today I planted the remaining cukes, replacing several cukes that had died and picked a handful of radishes.

I fertilized the cukes, tomatoes and peppers with a drink of fish emulsion.

I planted tithonia along the fence of the veggie garden along with 6 of the transplanted marigolds that I dug up last week.

I trimmed several trees of lower branches (two holly trees, a dogwood and several oak trees).

I watered what I didn't fertilize (radishes, beans, onions and two patches of young grass in the lawn).

Then I started mulching the paths of the veggie garden. I didn't mulch around the plants yet, I'd like them to get a little bigger.

Some of the sunflowers have started to sprout and all of the annuals I started two weeks ago appear to have sprouted.

I am planning on planting another row of green beans on Saturday. I hope to start a row every three weeks.

Notes for May 13, 2009

Started the following annuals in six packs: yellow marigolds, cosmos, mixed marigolds and two different color zinnias. The yellow marigolds are for the vegetable garden, the cosmos will go along the edge of the vegetable garden and in a flower bed, and the zinnias will go in one particular flower bed. The mixed marigolds will be planted throughout the flower beds where needed. The six packs I moved outside (don't have enough room under the lights).

Notes for October 11, 2008

Yes its October and I am still picking. Today I picked tomatoes and a pepper and then watered the tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots.

I didn't cut the grass or mulch leaves. This morning I had to go to my mothers place and do some work for her, so pushing a mower will have to wait until next week.

I still have flowers in bloom, but its any of my perennials. I have marigolds all over the place (kind of nice that I started them from seed and planted them all over) and my cosmos are in bloom (red, pink and white). Did I mention that they are 7 feet tall. I swear to you that I did nothing to them but water them every few days as I did my veggies. The stems are an inch thick at the bottom.

Notes for June 4, 2008

Was able to work outside last night after dinner. It was such a wonderful evening, not hot and there was a breeze most of the time. I didn't water much since rain was forecasted (and it did rain throughout the night and was still raining this morning and more is forecasted today). I watered the newest perennials and the seedlings still in pots.

I am not happy with the germination of my cucumbers. I had 5 sprout out of about 50. The same goes for the row of cosmos I planted along the edge of the veggie garden. I counted two. So the first thing I did last night was to start some more cucumbers and cosmos, but this time I started them in the six packs and will transplant. I really don't understand what happened to the cukes. The past years I have had no problem with germination in place. Maybe next year I will start them in the six packs and transplant them.

My sunflowers are about 5 inches tall and I thinned them some but will have to thin them some more.

Then I started to mulch some more. The first area I mulched was my row of yellow marigolds in the veggie garden. I thinned them fist and transplanted the ones I thought worth saving (I now have about 8 in pots to transplant later) and then weeded the area before I mulched. Then I mulched two of my flower beds.

My mulch is probably really considered leaf mold. It is in three compost piles and is a combination of ground up leaves, grass clippings, pulled weeds, shrubbery trimmings and sometimes kitchen scraps.

Notes for May 26, 2008

What a beautiful weekend!

Saturday...

I went and got some manure, didn't have use of any family owned trucks, so I ended up using my car and five gallon buckets. Cleaned out my trunk (been wanting to do that for three years) and fit seven buckets in the truck and 8 inside my car. I made two trips.

Picked some radishes and spinach. Had cooked spinach with dinner, delicious!

Dug a trench under the cucumber fences and filled it with manure and placed soil back over top and planted cucumber seeds.

Transplanted marigolds. I started mixed marigold seeds in my veggie garden to transplant throughout the yard and transplanted about six. I have a fair amount of freelancing marigolds coming up in my veggie garden and since I have planted only yellow in my veggie garden, I suspect they are yellow.

Planted two rows of tomato plants (about 14 total plants). For each tomato plant, I dug a hole and filled it with the aged manure along with a pinch of Epsom salts and a sprinkle of wood ashes and then added in half of the excavated soil and mixed it all by hand. The rest of the soil I used to build a bowl around the plant to channel water to the plant when I water (since my soil is sand).

This morning (Monday, Memorial Day) I was awakened by a Robin attacking our front window and my wife's car at 7 AM this morning and so I got up. I continued planting my tomato plants and then my pepper plants. I have room to plant about a dozen more tomato plants and the are more than enough freelancing volunteers to transplant. I hope to transplant them during the week or by the weekend. Then I cut the grass and after a shower it was off to the family picnic.

During this weekend, I noticed that my tiger lillies are starting to bud, the rhododendrons are in full bloom, my yard has chipmunks and today I saw a toad in my yard.

Next week I hope to plant some more green beans (the next wave) and mulch, mulch, mulch.

Notes for May 18, 2008

Wanted to get a quick entry before going off to church...

Emptied 0.9" from the rain gauge yesterday. Planted sunflower seeds and cosmos. Transplanted marigolds and planted my red Rhododendron. And I picked some radishes. I also moved my tomato and pepper seedlings from indoors to outside so I can plant them next week (hopefully).

Never did pick up the manure for planting my tomatoes and peppers (I have a good chance of using a pick up truck late in the week).

Its a beautiful sunny morning today but its supposed to be gray and thunder storming this afternoon.