Gardener's Advent calendar

Gardener's Advent calendar
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Snow on the Sage

I'm Back!
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

November Rose

November Rose
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

It's hard to believe that we've had freezing temperatures and yet the rose is still in bloom... along with some lavender, california poppies, and daisies.
The trees are finally dropping their leaves, but some are still hanging on.

Is it finally freeze time?

Well after seeing a pair of mantis in the garden last weekend (good bugs), i found myself detaching a tick from my belly (bad bug)! yikes!... they should be dead by now. We haven't had a hard freeze yet to kill off the insects. But it looks like tonight might just be the night. I'm sad to see my roses go (they are still blooming). But we really need the cold control on the insects.

More autumnal maintenance...

Emptied out the second rain barrel today and brought both in to the basement. I've got to make sure that they are both sound next year before putting them out. They both had "issues" this year. I disconnected the downspout diverter and attached the regular downspout. Finished bringing in the clay pots. Was going to plant a tangerine sage outside but i couldn't get it out of the clay pot easily... so i brought it in to the garden room. Pulled the tomato plants and dead herb plants. Feel like i am i little closer to being on schedule now.

End of Season Daylily

End of Season Daylily
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

What month is it ???

Well today felt a lot like October. I was able to trim back some of the asters, the creeping phlox that has decided to travel across the sidewalk... a long with the other plants that have died off. I emptied one of the rain barrels and it is drying out before we bring it into the basement for winter storage. I was surprised and delighted to see two mantis... One high up on the house (near the second floor window) and the other in the lavender... she wasn't too happy with me disturbing her. We can't recall ever seeing mantis in November before. Things are strange...

First frost warning

Tonight it is to go down to freezing... first time this season. Usually this happens weeks earlier. So today i spent doing prefrost activities. Bringing in pots to overwinter. Bringing in the garden hose, statuary and glass birdbath. We got most of the pots in. There are a couple big clay pots that we'll bring in later... too much to do today.
I also transplanted a bunch of the asters out of the main bed and to various other beds around the yard. I moved the orange daylily that the deer love so much from the side garden to the main garden. I also placed more tree fertilizer stakes.

End of Season Daylily

they say that tomorrow night we will be getting our first frost. The latest that i can ever remember...

Saturday morning transplants

Today finally felt like fall! Cool breezes and cloudy skies. I started my morning by "planting" tree fertilizer stakes. Trying to help out the trees as much as possible.
I also did some transplanting of more stella d'oro daylilies to the outside sidewalk bed. A total of five daylilies... and one daylily added to the central bed. I dug out some liriope and placed under the birches. I also moved a clump of oatgrass over near the new spruce tree. The was also a lupine mixed in with one daylily... i separated it and planted it near the butterfly bushes.

Fall Planting & transplanting

This evening the weather felt cool and the clouds moved in. The breezes helped to motivate me to plant the Austrian Pine that I purchased on sale. It's about 2 ft. high. Planted along the property line near the lilacs. I also transplanted two stella doro daylilies from under the birch tree to the outer sidewalk bed. I think it will be a nice compliment to the creeping phlox. I want to transplant three more stella d'oros.

Cool and Rainy- YEAH!!!

It has finally cooled off and it's raining off and on... mostly drizzle. I am so happy to finally have some fall weather. I was getting really tired of carrying bucket upon bucket of water to my new trees. Even my older trees were looking stressed from lack of water. So I'm hoping for more (a week maybe?) of this cool, wet weather.

Cooling Down...

After 21 days of at or well above normal, we are finally going to have some autumnal weather. 60s and 50 for the next week. hurray!!! And hopefully some much needed rain will arrive as well. We have had only a trace amount of rain for October so far. sigh...

Too Darn Hot...

We continue with a heat wave in October. Instead of the norms of highs in the 70s... we have highs in the high 80s... and another hot one tomorrow. I'm really concerned with out newly planted trees as well as our smaller trees (they are showing signs of stress). We have been carrying water form the rain barrels up until today. The barrels are empty and it's still hot. This evening we got out the hose for only the second time this growing season. They say that it will cool off to normal on Tuesday and then it will be cooler than normal... geesh. I just want a few weeks in the 70s.

Joseph and Spruces

Joseph and Spruces
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

TREES!!!

We have two new trees. Both of them are Colorado (blue) Spruce. They were delivered yesterday and it was well worth the extra money to have them delivered and plopped in to the holes dug prior to their arrival. Joseph and I worked for a solid two hours back filling the dirt, carrying water and carrying mulch to give these two a proper welcome. They don't block the offensive lights... yet. But in the meantime, they provide a visual block that is helpful to the psyche.

Back Yard

Back Yard
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

This is a view of our back yard from the eastern corner. The place we call "joy" is becoming more and more our space. We have the site prepared for the larger of the two blue spruce. We also picked out where the smaller spruce will be going. The trees will be delivered on thursday.

Blue Spruce

Today, we traveled down to our favorite nursery (Kleber & Sons) to purchase a tree and get prices on arbs too. We wanted a blue spruce to help us "take back the night" from the lights of neighboring buildings. We found a beautiful specimen, a blue spruce that's approx. 7 ft. high. It will be delivered next week. I also found a smaller blue spruce (5 ft.) that i just had to have... it made me smile... and was only $25.

So now, we are clearing turf and preparing the spots where the trees will go. We decided that it is our anniversary present to ourselves.

p.s. the quince continues to do wonderful since it was transplanted.

Wild Asters

The wild asters have started to bloom. The bright pink ones are first... the purple are behind in their bloom cycle.

The Quince has moved...

In preparation for the light-blocking blue spruce... we moved our little quince. She is now located on the upper part of the yard and looking lovely and well adapted. Joseph created a bed for her and she sits up higher than before and has a really nice presence.

Windy Day

Plumage
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Last evening I decided to move the heuchara (creme brulee) out of the main bed near the birdbath. It wasn't happy in that location... too much sun. I moved it under the maple tree near the back patio and i believe that it will do much better in that spot. It was showing signs of recovery very quickly. This morning i had to rush out and rescue the heuchara and a hosta from the clay pot with melon sage that blew off the patio. the winds have been wicked today. I'm still trying to figure out how it blew off... big plant in heavy clay pot. The heuchara was only hit by the foliage. The hosta took a direct hit from the clay pot. Oh well, it's the end of the season. I do believe that the neighbor taking out the three big pines from her yard has effected the amount of wind we receive... sigh.

September Maintenance

The garden is going through a transition time. The last of the brown-eyed susans are dying off... and the asters haven't kicked in very far (I have an abundance this year of both wild aster and domestic ones). I've been trimming back the lavendar, heuchera flower stalks and susans. I decided that the creeping phlox had grown too far over the sidewalk. I started trimming them back and didn't like the rigid feel of the trim... so i ended up pulling out phlox along the edges. Of course what i pulled out was planted down near the stepping stones. I also transplanted some susans from the main bed. They are now down along the edge of the property near some oat grass. As you can see from the image, i have a nice sunflower along the sidewalk... planted by a bird, probably a blue jay. I also noticed a peanut plant nearby!

Brown eyes

Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The Brown-eyed Susans have been putting on quite a show for some time now. I really like them along the edges of the property. In the fall i need to transplant some down to the edge of the property straight back from the house. It seems a little bare at the moment... and i have plenty near the house.

Garden Flames

Garden Flames
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The vibrant red daylily takes center stage in the garden.

Back to the mulch pile...

After a week of really hot temperatures, and another week of rain... and last week, i just feel like working outside (i think it was the humidity) ... i finally starting using up my mulch pile. The front flower beds near the house will be expanded with undulating beds. One side is well underway and will eventually link the front flower bed with the bed around the patio. Later in the fall i want to take out the small shrubs that are near the front porch and also at the ends of the bed. In their place, i will divide the blue hostas that have grown to an immense size. and have three per side.

Hmmm, what are the deer up to?

This evening I was mulching around one of the birch trees when i noticed that the group had been stirred up and the small sunflower had been nibbled upon. As I continued to mulch around the trunk it dawned on me that the way the tracks were laid, seemed that the deer was eying up the tree... hmmm, are we closing in on "rubbing" season, I wondered. So I decided to wrap the trunks on some of the trees, as a precautionary act.

White Butterfly Bush

White Butterfly Bush
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

I'm certifiable...

It's official, we now have a certified wildlife habitat on our property. nwf.org This means that we are providing the four basic things required for wildlife to survive. Food, water, cover and a place to raise their young. It's something that we've been doing for years. Now I have signage that tells everyone.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

I decided this year to plant morning glory seeds. They are starting to bloom now and i am really enjoying their color.

July

Today i spent a good deal of time pruning. Clipping off spent blossoms and reshaping plants. Some of my earliest lavender plants needed some shaping... especially the ones near the back patio.

I also finished the side long bed. This bed now has the six burning bushes along with oat grass in between each burning bush and a Serbian spruce anchoring the end.

I continue to pick Japanese beetles off of the plants. Today i noticed how many were on the weeping larch!

Lavenders and Daylilys

Lavenders and Daylilys
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Rainfall and Second Bloom...

Yesterday we had 6/10th of an inch of rain. A gentle rain fell for hours during the night. it was such a relief to go to sleep by the sound of rain and wake up again to the same sound. We really needed it. The rain barrels are filled... and we got a new downspout diverter to replace the one from years ago.
My rose is on its second bloom cycle of the season. These ones look to be much healthier than the first cycle that got frozen.

Beetle Bag...

So on Saturday we decided to put out the beetle traps in gather the beetles off of the birch trees. It seems that our waiting until the beetles were on the birches worked out well. Two days later, the birch trees are less infested and on my evening beetle hunt rounds, i didn't capture nearly as many beetles as a day ago. So it seems that milky spores help reduce the beetles coming up from the soil... and once the beetles come from neighboring lands, the bag traps go up. It was astonishing today... two days after putting up the bait traps... one trap (the one with the newest scent disk) was full and then some. Joseph and I had to work together to close up the bag, since the beetles were about 2 inches from the top! Never had that happen before and it was sort of creepy... but effective.

Above is a photo of the pots on the patio! Below is a photo of the main garden and the paper bark maple tree with its crescent of grasses.

Janice Brown Daylily

This and that...

The daylilys continue to put on a show... one type stops and another one starts blooming. The peachy colored daylily is called "Summer Holiday" and it is one of my favorites. I've had them for quite a few years. I think it goes really well with the white lavender.

Yesterday and today i continued to dig out the turf between the long arc of burning bushes. Between each burning bush i added oat grass. I've only got two more to go which feels really good... its been waiting too long.

Joseph say and pointed out a young mantis today!

And today was the day that i put out the beetle traps. I had resisted until the beetles were all over the birch trees. So i figure that the traps are pulling the bugs off of the birches. I put out three bait traps. This evening the bags were half filled. It was quite the experience putting up the traps. Next year i must remember to put them out late in the evening or early in the morning, to avoid being swarmed by beetles. I went through beetle trauma today!

Public Enemy #1

Yes, tis the season of the Japanese Beetle... the bug that wreaks havoc on my garden, trees and shrubs. They are especially fond of the birch trees, the burning bushes, azaleas and the asters. So daily i go around with a small bucket with some water in the bottom... picking of the beetles. I do believe that the milky spores remedy is working pretty well... i just need to keep up on the applications. In the meantime, beetle picking i go.

Garden Wall

Garden Wall
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

This is a view of the main garden taken from the driveway side.

Trim Day

Currently, the asiatic lilys are in bloom. Here's a picture of a pink one.

Today I spent some time trimming the hedges around the front of the house. Instead of using the electric trimmers whose noise unerves me and is really hard on the upper arms... i used a new pair of hand hedge trimmers. I like being able to put them down on a minutes notice without hurting the shrubs. I was also able to trim the backside of the hedges that were too close to the house. I wasn't able to be in control of the electric trimmers to do that previously (without hitting the brick).

I also started the process of trimming back the wild asters. I have found that if i trim them to half their height sometime around the fourth of july, they respond well and get really thick and bushy (and not too tall).

Today, i also harvested columbine seeds. Shaking the seedheads in to a bucket... i noticed a bunch of tiny little beige beetles. I need to look them up and see what they may be.

The Newest Daylily

I purchased this one last year at the garden show at the Succop Conservancy. The ruffled edges delight me and the tones of yellow make it like nothing else i have. I need to find the paper that came with it. It was created by a hybridizer in West Virginia.

Moving Milkweed

Saturday i had to do some emergency moving of plants. The nighbor was going to mow down the patch of milkweed that is near her property. I've watched the onarch butterflies feed on this patch of milkweed and i was very distraught at seeing her push it over... So i very hurriedly created a bed (which i will use for wildflowers) and transplanted a bunch of milkweed. I'm hoping that it will take. The day was hot and sunny, so the plants are stressed. I put up sheets to protect them from the sun. I'm concerned that when i dug them up, i noticed that they are on runners undergound... and i had to cut the runners when i dug them up. So i'm hoping for the best.

I also transplanted some snap dragon that were volunteers growing up through pea gravel.

This evening was cloudy so I finished edging the front bed near the sidewalk.

pests

So this evening after digging out more from around the birch tree, i glanced over to a small crabapple and something caught my eye... oh no... tent worms. So we attended to their elimination and i turned around and joseph pointed out... a japanese beetle... OH NOOOOOooooooooo!

Rain Barrel Adventures

So we had wonderful rainfall on Tuesday... filled up both barrels, but last night we became aware of a drip in the smaller barrel. So we gathered all manor of buckets and bins to put the water in... and used some putty compound to hopefully plug the hole. And then today we got more rain and it filled up the small barrel again... and the dripping got worse. So i decided to clean away the old putty (not a good idea)... i had rain squirting out all over. When i tried the water putty, i ended up having to keep pressure on it for some time or the water would push its way through. It was absolutely maddening. I ended up draining some of the barrel, in an effort to ease the pressure of the water on the putty. It seems to have worked, but we'll see...

RAIN!!!

This evening we finally got some measurable rain.

We kept getting passed by with the rain... or only a sprinkle or two. So, my garden has been in need of rain. My rain barrels were empty... last night i even broke out the hose for watering purposes. This evening we got 8/10 of an inch of rain (and counting). The larger of the two rain barrels (75 gal) is full and the second one (60 gal) is well on its way to filling.

Recorded rainfall:

• May 16- 1 inch
• May 17- 1/10th inch
• May 19- 3/10th inch
• June 3- 1/10th inch
• June 8- 1 & 2/10th inch
• June 19- 8/10th inch

Total: 3.55 inch

Average rainfall:

• May: 3.8
• June 4.12

i've got some catching up to do...

Garage Sale Rake

On Saturday Joseph and I wandered around the neighborhood visiting all the garage sales. My big purchase of the day was an old rake/hoe tool... shorter handle, perfect size, black tape on the handle for nostalgia. Perfect for pulling mulch into the buckets. And with the quarter price tag, i've already gotten my money's worth! I also got a couple liatris (blazing star) from Charlotte... and a window box (for herbs) from Amy. I planted the liatris and planted basal seeds in the box. I also started trenching around the second birch... it's about half done. It was a good day!

I'm still waiting for some rain. This evening i thought for sure that we would get some... but once again it went all around us. Maybe tomorrow...

another birdbath...

I purchased another birdbath today. I was aware that the goldfinches have a rough time trying to use my current birdbaths... the rims are too wide and they can't get a good grip. The birdbath in the main flower bed is great for the robins and bluejays and the song sparrow has learned how to make it work for him. So we went down to Trader Horn and purchased an inexpensive ($6.99) white plastic birdbath. The rim is very small and the bath is shallow... i think the gold finshes are going to like it.

We could use some Rain!

It rained all around us yesterday... i thought for sure that we would be getting buckets (like what i drove through on my way home)... and we got a drop in the bucket instead. One rain barrel is about empty, and no rain in the immediate forecast.

I'm noticing that the garden is showing the stresses of lack of water. An Aster is starting to bloom! It's only eight inches tall and its starting to flower. I guess the plant feels that its mid August. My Shasta Daisy is also starting to bloom... and is half the height of normal.

Today I stripped away the grass from around one of the birch trees and alfter pouring on buckets of water, i mulched it in good. One down, one to go. Luckily there was cloud cover today so i wasn't sun blasted.

The Stella D'oros and California Poppies seem to be happy and continue to grace us with a profusion of flowers.

NOTE for 08: Transplant Stella D'oros out fro under birch trees.

Nature's weed-eater

Nature's weed-eater
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The quieter weed-eater... doens't spew toxic fumes either...
The baby bunny in the garden has been taught well by his parents. They were very good at eating the dandelion stalks that were abundant in the yard a month ago. This little bugger proceeded to show me that he's fond of dandelion too. So i don't need to weed my garden... just leave some dandelion for the bunny.

Bluejay

This morning when i got out of bed and raised the blinds to the window... a bluejay came flying towards me. He flew from a tree at the bottom of our property straight towards me. He landed on the roof briefly (and in a story and a half, that's pretty close. Then he hopped down to the wire two feet in front of me! Looking in and ready for peanuts. There are tow in particular who are always near the door waiting for me. They are getting used to me being around... still a little on edge about me getting too close. But I think we are training each other...

Two Bees or not two bees...

No, they were definitely two honey bees spotted today! I was surprised and delighted to see the two on the clover in the yard. These two bees were totally focused on their task at hand and went from one clover blossom to the next, unlike other bees that i have seen this year (and that is very few). The bees previously spotted looked hyperactive and unfocused... they wouldn't even land on a flower for me to get a better look. That's why these two today were so special, they didn't look like the had attention deficit disorder or too much sugar in their system. Here's an image of honey bees from last fall... they loved the wild aster that i left grow in the garden. Needless to say that this aster is coming up in the garden again this year.

Rose

Rose
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Transplanting Day!

Today has been a perfect weather day for moving plants around. It's been some time since we've had 72 degree weather with cool breezes and moist soil. Today is that day and i moved a lot of oatgrass from the center of my main flower bed. I trasplanted it to the bottom edge of the yard, a spot between two burning bushes (i've connected them with a bed... have more to do but haven't had the right amount of shade in the area) and also in the top of a plastic urn whose base brocke down. With that pot i took the base off and planted the whole pot a couple inches then added oatgrass, creeping thyme and chicks 'n hens. I created a bed around the holly that was in the middle of the yard and added the pot there.
I also took some liriope and thyme and planted along the paver path in the east corner of the yard. In hopes that it doens't look so bare there.
Currently in bloom are the rose, peony, stella d'oro daylily, california poppy, veronica and coreopsis.

Raindrops & Baby Bunnies

YesterdayJoseph and I realized that we have a pair of baby bunnies taking up residence in our garden... or rather, they were born in the garden and now are growing and hopefully we can get them to move on out. As Joseph says, what better place for a baby bunny than in Paula's garden. sigh...

After a month (May) of rainless weather... 3/10 over that time period... Today the rains came. We had thunderstorms and a whole lot of rain. 1 and 3/10 inches to be exact! Both rain barrels are full and a few other buckets were brought in to action. It felt nice to not be carrying the watering can around this evening.

Hummingbird in the Garden

The garden has been graced with the presence of a pair of hummingbirds. As you can see from the photo, they really like the heuchara (coral bells). They are also happy with the fuschia plant.

carved out gardens

carved out gardens
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

i continue to dig out turf (part of the "lawn -elimination" program) and mulch varying areas around the yard. I have finished the outer bed along the sidewalk... and now the crescent behind the paper-bark maple.

P.S. we have been getting some much needed rain today... a tenth of an inch so far... not as much as many other places, but i'll take it. it has been so dry. thank you tropical storm barry.

Coreopsis & Veronica

Coreopsis & Veronica
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Sometimes you get a great combination of colors... and this is one of them...

Bird Bath

Bird Bath
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

new configuration...

Garden under the pines...

Garden under the pines
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

When we first moved in I had a lot of plants that needed divided. I created a bed under the pines and referred to it as my "refugee bed"... as you can see, the refugee bed has filled in nicely.

Welcome Raindrops

Lavender Iris
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

We had a brief show on Saturday afternoon... and a longer shower on Sunday evening. We really needed the water and the plants are responding well to the moisture.

Annual Day...

After thinning out a bunch of perennials and sharing with a friend... i decided that i needed some annuals to flesh out the garden and patio containers.

I purchased:

• Hanging basket of impatiens and lobelia (hummingbird already tested it out)
• Lobelia
• Salvia (burgundy red)
• Geraniums (salmon)
• Coleaus (4.. planted in twith the tree seedlings)
• Plum tomato
• Dill
• Poteulaca
• Begonia

I also planted the Black Cohosh... and transplanted the verigated hosta...

PINK!

A year ago I purchased a pink iris and pink poppy... neither bloomed for me last year. This year they are blooming simultaneously and looking gorgeous! My wish list for next year is going to be an orange poppy to balance out the purple in the garden.

I've been digging and mulching around tress and beds all week... even between the paver path that i have through a wet spot. It looks so much nicer and so much easier to mow around. I've been going from one shady spot to another and praying for a cloudy day... there hasn't been one this week! Which is unusual for what is known as the "grey triangle"... between Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

dig, dig, dig, mulch, mulch, mulch...

So today i took maddock and shovel and proceeded to trench around a dogwood tree and a crabapple tree. That was this morning when they were still in the shade. This afternoon and evening i cleaned out the flower bed near the back patio. trenched it and mulched... it was really overgrown with weeds. i'm hopeful that i can maintain it better now.

View of the back patio steps

Fuschia
Originally uploaded by pjslomer.

I've had a three day rest from chopping away grass and mulching... Many things a blooming at the moment. All the varieties of Columbine are stunning. The latest bloomer is one of the many clematis, rhodadendron and orange azalea.

I've noticed that the blue hostas out front could use some thinning out. And the zebra grass looks sort of sparse at the moment. It may need thinning out as well.

Pretty Pot

So, i had this scented geranium (coconut) that has a rather gnarly stem to it and it's sort of small... so i decided to plant it in this shallow clay pot. It reminded me of a bonsai, so i added a couple rocks and some shiny pebbles along with some mulch to complete the look. I have no idea how this will look at the end of summer, but i'm happy with it now.

RAIN!!!

We finally got rain today... all day! It had been a month since we had a good soaking and i was getting concerned. One rain barrell was empty and the second one was being used up quickly (they are both full with some extra buckets filled up too). I had to water my latest grasses because the ground was cracking around them... and the burning bush transplants as well. So today's rain was a very welcome sight and sound. I could feel a collective sigh from Mother Earth. I also decdied to take a break and go get an adjustment... much needed from weilding the maddock so much and carrying around bucket upon bucket of mulch. I'm making some progress on the bed on the outside of the sidewalk... some parts are really easy and then others have lots of weeds to thin out. It's a challenge...
New blooming in the garden: Spring Star flowers (after many years of no blooming), pincushion flowers, lily-of-the-valley, buttercups.

All Day Digging!

All day Saturday was spent with maddock in hand digging away turf and adding trenches around the new beds and then mulching them in. I kept moving to where the sun wasn't... there are now beds around the pampas grass, dogwoods & spirea in the eastern corner of the yard. I would like this to eventually be one big bed. There is also a bed connecting two of the six burning bushes. It took me forever! I have a blister on my left hand and it totally wiped me out. But it looks great!
I'm thinking that tomorrow night i'll mulch the bed on the western edge of the property... it needs to be defined and trenched but that can come later.
Today i dug out a bunch of oatgrass and took out and planted for Mom.

More mulch stories

So this is my massive mound of mulch!... and i had even been taking buckets off of it. But it feels really good to be able to clear out grassy areas (with the help of the maddock) edge the bed with a trench and then mulch it in. I still haven't finished the main bed out back. I needed a change and cleared and mulched around the bleeding hearts. It looks wonderful.