Random Wednesday (without pictures)

1. I am still getting used to being retired. Every day feels like Saturday. It's hard to give myself permission to sit down and read a book or watch a movie, as I'm not used to having enough hours in the day for such leisure activities.

2. Yesterday, I weeded the hosta bed and moved 'Love Pat' from one end to the other where a space had opened up as a result of said weeding. Then a Japanese painted fern went into the spot formerly occupied by 'Love Pat'. The fern (Athyrium nipponicum (goeringianum) 'Pictum') was a departure gift from my co-workers. The plant tag says it prefers to grow by water or in bog gardens. No such environment exists in my yard, so I hope I can keep it alive.

3. My co-workers also gave me a petunia hybrid known as Supertunia 'Indigo Charm'. That went into the bed by the front walk.

4. Speaking of the bed by the front walk, I have been slaving away there recently. Last year, I move some 'Clara Curtis' painted daisies there, and they were so happy, they rapidly began overwhelming everything else. I relocated those, then realized the few surviving coreopsis were blocking the view of the delphinium (which I was surprised to see survived last winter). I shifted the coreopsis to the back of the bed. I have alternative plans for the beds that are by the patio, so I moved salvia, scabiosa, and lavender from there to here. So now there is a big hodgepodge of plants in the bed by the front walk, including several sedums both low growing and tall. We'll see how they sort themselves out.

5. My experience with coreopsis is they rarely last more than a few years. The exceptions to the rule (knock on wood) are 'Route 66' and 'Zagreb'.

6. I have been picking almost a quart of raspberries on a daily basis, eating some, freezing the rest. A half pint of local organic raspberries goes for $4 in these parts, so I am feeling rather smug about my harvest.

7. When I planted potatoes in raised beds this year, it was with the intention of moving some of the dirt from the patio beds to the potato beds as the potatoes grew. The potatoes got ahead of me, WAY ahead of me, but I did add some of that dirt this week, topping it with straw. I learned from the first potato bed that I should work the outside edge before the interior areas, to keep everything propped up.

8. Sadly, it appears that my asplenifolia has died. It leafed out this spring, but now all the leaves are dead. Perhaps a delayed reaction to the harsh winter? I'm doing a wait-and-see, maybe it will recover, but so far, it does not look good.

9. I found my gas meter yesterday. During the month of June, my yard received over 7" of rain. Great for plants, even better for weeds. In the past, I have received a letter from the gas company, informing me they could not read the meter due to the weeds. Now they read the meter remotely, but I still want to keep that area clear. And the air conditioner.

10. No need for AC today. It is a lovely, breezy, partly sunny 75 degrees. Open the windows!

Signs of November

The burning bush:



Under the burning bush:



The asplenifolia:



Under the asplenifolia:



The maple tree:



Under the maple tree:



And ornamental grasses:







(Don't tell the others, but the sea oats are my favorite!)

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

For once, Chicken Little was right: the sky is falling. Or something is falling out of the sky. Rain? Snow? Freezing rain? Slush? Hard to tell when you can't see out the windows.



Power at home (despite the flickering of the lights) but no power at the office - the perfect storm! I planned to glue my butt to the couch all day, but the poor birds had a problem: icicle bars on the feeders prevented access.



Even goodies from the wild were locked away.



So I ventured out, thinking maybe the crap in the driveway was movable. Not yet, so I checked out the damage around mi casa.

The Japanese maple is not liking its first winter in situ.



Obligatory artsy fartsy shot of ice encased asplenifolia branches against a gray sky.



Ornamental grasses sagging. Notice neighbors vehicles in the background. My garage may be full of crap, but at least I can park my car in it, thank god.



My temperature-indicating rhododendron will not be unfurling their leaves until it warms up enough to melt their icy coat.



Even the chicken wire is a thing of beauty.



The lights keep dimming, so I am going to post this while I can. Besides, there is a butt dent in the couch with my name on it.

Dingleberry

After all my hard work, chopping and bundling brush, I forgot to put it out for trash pickup this morning. *sigh*

The thrill of spring is giving way to the steady rhythm of summer. The honeymoon is over, but there are still a few interesting things around the yard.

Up close and personal, the milkweed blossoms await their pollinators.



This plant grows from a crack between the driveway concrete and a wall of castle block. The volunteers in the 3B garden are not nearly as robust, in spite of having real dirt to grow in and lots of mulch to keep their feet moist.

The burning bush is starting to make these little fruit? seeds? that the sparrows like.



Hmmm. I just did a little research. The burning bush does produce fruit which the birds do like, BUT it is also considered a non-native invasive. I did not know that. I have not noticed my bush doing any invading in my yard, but the birds may be spreading the seeds far and wide. In my defense, this bush was here when I bought the house.

Yuccas are forever, but this one is struggling to bloom.



If memory serves me correctly, once upon a time I planted three yuccas in this spot. When I added more plants, I tried to eliminate some of the yuccas, but like a bad weed, more keep popping up. What remains has to compete with the asplenifolia and sandcherry for sunlight. The flower stem is quite spindly and not full at all. Not sure if I will do anything about it, though.

The next two pix were an attempt to showcase the 3B garden but my photog skills are lacking.



3B stands for Bees, Butterflies, Birds. This garden is successful in attracting all three. From a distance, it appears meadowlike, very green with highlights of color. The above photo shows the catmint and daisies, the picture below yarrow, pestemon, and keys of heaven.



The 3B is prettier in real life.

The two-leggeds need to eat as well.



The first pepper!

And here is the Mad Rabbit.

Just So I Will Know Next Year

When most perennials and shrubs are bursting with life in the spring, there are always a worrisome few that are late to get started. I'm not talking about late bloomers. I'm talking late-to-show-any-signs-of-life-after-a-long-cold-winter. So here is proof that some of those ten o'clock flowers are still alive.

It is difficult to see in this shot, but the hibiscus survived.



It's surrounded by the Queen Anne's lace I let into the garden last year. (Big mistake.)

And the trumpet vine.



I planted this four years ago and it has yet to bloom. I think it doesn't get enough sun, but now that the silver maples are gone, maybe that will change.

In the foreground is the Rose of Sharon.



A neighbor a couple of blocks away has a larger specimen, and it is just as late as mine.

Now, onto the current bloomers.

Not a good shot, but this is thyme that is planted in the pot with a miniature apple tree.



It is just starting to bloom. We moved the apple trees to the north side of the backyard, so that they will be close to the other potted plants, just to make watering easier.

This is not a good shot, either, but it is yarrow that is starting to bloom.



I hope its neighboring bee balm holds off until I can get it moved. Tonight I pulled "weeds" where I want the bee balm to go, so maybe tomorrow I will move it. I read that bee balm is relatively shade tolerant, so it is going next to the fence and hopefully will block some of the invading catnip and nettles.

I have two peonies of one variety and one of another, so while the former are past their glory, the latter is just coming on.



This one is also more white than pink.

Some blossoms are easy to miss. These are on my asplenifolia.



They will turn into little orange berries that the sparrows love.

And the burning bush blooms as well.



I can't recall if there is resulting fruit. Probably. Mother Nature would not waste a perfectly good flower, would she?

Well, maybe she would, if it is true that the white onondaga blooms are sterile.



These photos show better the different stages of the blooms, from closed red to open pink to white border.



This is the best year ever for the onandago.

And for the "Blue Muffin" arrowwood viburnum as well.



This will be the first year I will get to see the blue muffin effect that earns this shrub its name. (Knock on wood!)

Now, what is this nestled amongst the bee balm?



Might be Keys of Heaven. I planted some but I don't think I have ever seen it bloom. I'll have to try not to disturb it when I move the bee balm.

And the columbine is still with us.



Tonight the weather is threatening. We really need a good soaking rain. Maybe if I wash my car....