August already?

There's a lot happening in the garden. So much so, that I can't seem to keep up with posting. Last weekend, I suited up and weeded the back of the yard. There must have been 150 SF of weeds; some of them the size of trees. This fall, I'm going to set the perennials in motion, so that they will be on auto pilot next summer. I just don't think I can do much of this anymore. Life is so busy!


I shaped up the circle around the dogwood tree and built it back up. I reorganized the plants around the base as well. To the left of the photo are Irises that I moved about 1' away from the deck. Last year I transplanted some in that relative location, but they sprouted right up against the fence which is a waste because you can't see them from the yard and it's difficult to weed back there. I literally just moved the entire plant and root ball along with it. It hasn't wilted so I think I did good.


Do you remember this?

Well, here's a hint.



For the 3rd year in a row, my dahlia made it! I was a little nervous this year because I put the bulbs that I dug up in the basement without a bag or any peat moss. I just left them in a container and I was afraid they dried out. But she made it!

As for the veggie garden, I'm seriously going to do a raised garden bed next year and pots. They were so much more rewarding in terms of harvest and far cleaner to deal with. I'll make a patch for corn and cucumbers in the back, but as for the other veggies I'm going to plant in a raised bed. I've been observing the sun's movement across the yard to see where is the best place to locate the raised bed. We'll wait and see.


Last year, my carrots were a wash. The soil has to be really soft and even (no rocks or hard soil), so I did them in a container this year. It was perfect! I'll do this again next year.


As you can see I have lots of red chili peppers. I don't know why I grow this since we can't use them much. They are pretty spicy and only need 1 or 2 at most. I'd like to think that they keep the animals away. In the lower right hand corner, you'll see a little pumpkin. These were cute, but I am not sure I will plant the large pumpkins again. They take over the yard.


I've been using my bell peppers for salsa and stir fry, but here are a few that are starting to turn red! The plant could use a larger container as well, but this will do for the year.


I have this one lemon cucumber vine that is a monster! And there are tons of cucumbers! It seems that the afternoon shade prolongs the life of the vine.

A House Guest

We have a house guest for two weeks. Meet Tego everyone! His mommy and daddy are getting married in Punta Cana this weekend, so he's taking a vacay himself and staying with us. He's been such a good dog and companion to me. He's even helpful in the garden!

Salsa

Les Fleurs

Our crepe myrtle bloomed and to my surprise it's red! I really wanted a pink one. I'm not so sure I really like it. It's pretty, but it's in my purple-pink garden! I've also been thinking about moving our dogwood tree. It's not getting enough sun and hasn't grown very much. I might displace the crab apple tree for the dogwood tree.



I got a tiny piece of a bleeding heart from my neighbor across the street. It was squished under a gutter and I asked him nicely if I could have it if he didn't care for it. Now look at it! I know you can't tell how big it is, but if you rolled me up into a ball, that's how big it is. :D



I'm still getting more and more gladiolas. They are so beautiful and what a great late summer flower! All the colors have been beautiful.



My pumpkin vines have finally taken off. They have some really pretty flowers.

July=Hot & Rainy

Moving a Rhododendron

The front yard was an area that I kept ignoring, but really needed some shaping up. Besides being busy with the veggie garden and back yard, the reason I was holding out is because I really wasn't sure what to do about the front. Did I want to build it up? Did I want to plant more? Should I get rid of the hydrangea? The front segment just looked unbalance and had different needs - blistering sun on the south side and cool shade on the front side.


Before: Our meager little shrubs last spring '08. From left to right is my peony, a rhododendron (center) and hydrangea (that came with the house) and a new weeping cherry blossom tree.



After: I moved the Rhododendron over to the left about 2 feet and turned it 90 degrees, so it would grow more attractively. Doesn't it look like a totally new plant!?

I asked my neighbors who told me that the Rho had been there at least 6 years and hasn't grown one bit! So I did some reading online about how to care for Rhos and read they needed a shot of fertilizer in the spring, moist soil, natural compost such as leaves, and in extremely poor cases some strategic pruning. This spring I did give it some flower food pellets and noticed the Rho grew at least a foot! I also pruned 2-3 branches back that were growing funny.



Before I moved it, I filled the hole with lots of leaves and tree bark that I gathered from the lawn. Carefully I moved the entire Rho with the root ball intact into the hole and back filled it with very rich humus from the nursery.



Always water thoroughly. I made a "well" around the base and slowly poured 2 buckets of water into the area. Then I mulched over it.



To the left of the cherry blossom tree, I divided a large hosta into 5 smaller bunches. The area there was always a bit of a mess due to the run off and it's all shade now that the tree is there. The hosta will hopefully hold the soil down when it rains hard and it's a good spot for the hosta too.

It's a baby! Pumpkin that is!

I believe this is a little holiday pumpkin for decorative purposes only and not the large jack o lantern kind. It's so cute!



The pumpkin acts as a ground cover for the corn here. I'll have corn in a couple of weeks. I love how they look paired up with the black eyed susans.


There are 6 large (and 3 developing) bell peppers on my potted test plant. There are still none on my plants that are in the ground. I'm really proud of these babies.


Bottle neck gourd.


Aerial shot of the south east side of the garden full of perennials. In the upper left corner of the photo is where I may put the veggie garden next year. That area gets the most sun.


Over the weekend, I was able to do some weeding. There were quite a few weeds (3 wheel barrels full), but not as much as previous years. I am already thinking about moving certain plants for a better display next year. There's so much to do!