Lingering colors

Lingering colors
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Gardening on a warm November day

It seems that we had a very cool October but today's warm temperatures allowed me to get some of the gardening done that i had been wanting to do. I started by planting the dianthus that had been growing in various pots and hanging planters. I made sure to protect them with chicken wire since it seems that dianthus is a favorite of the rabbits. It was a glorious time to garden... early on sunday morning, temperatures weren't too warm or too cold. And no one else was out. It was sublime.

I dug out a lot of liriope, woodruff and lily-of-the-valley that was taking over a section of the main garden. I still have a ways to go with digging it out. In the process I moved the monks hood that hasn't been real happy in that spot. It is now in the center of the garden.

I finally did something that i have been thinking about for some time. I wanted a taller plant near the patio edge between us and the neighbor. I had a healthy fountain grass that I felt would be nice in that role. i dug up the fountain grass and split it into four pieces. three of the pieces were planted near the patio... the fourth was placed in the main garden... it adds some nice height.

So now i have a hole where the fountain grass was and i'm thinking of planting the huge mum that Richelle gave me in that spot. I ran out of sunlight today... but maybe it will happen on Wednesday when i am off.

Monks Hood

Monks Hood
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

One of the last flowers to bloom.
The garden is in its last pre-winter stages. A few flowers hang on... the snapdragons, some white alyssum that reseeded itself between the patio pavers, a california poppy, a shasta daisy, a mum.
A few little final glimpses before the winter nap.

First Frost

This morning i woke up to a heavy frost. Most of my annuals were hit hard... except for a couple of the marigolds. They looked beautiful this morning with their crystaline glaze... not so beautiful this evening when i arrived home... I spent some time this evening pulling out what was left of the zinnias and cosmos.

I still haven't had a chance to move some of the plants around. I had hoped to do so last week but the weather was cold and rainy. Maybe this week it will happen.

Fall Cleanup... winter prep

September felt like October and now October feels like November!

Last weekend i took in the plants that i want to overwinter. The rosemary, oxalis, a few favorite geraniums, an ivy, a couple spike plants. I didn't bring in as many as in the past... and my chiropractor is happy.

Today I spent a lot of time winterizing... there are frost warnings tonight. I took in the birdbaths that will split if they freeze-i have a few others that i leave out all winter. A good portion of the statuary has been cleaned and brought in. The hose, that was only used once over the summer, was drained and brought in... and a winterizing protector was put over the faucet. I drained the rain barrel... saving some of the water into a tub for potential use over the weekend.

I've done a lot of trimming of dead flower branches. Took down the fence around the vegetable garden and left the deer a few pepper plants to nibble on. I think thats it for now... a nap is next on my list...

Mantis Time...

Over the weekend i was weeding in the garden and pruning away the stalks from the daylilies that are coming to the end of their bloom cycle. As I was cutting i was thinking about the mantis... i'd seen the tiny little babies that were less than an inch long... but hadn't seen any good size manti yet. And then I saw the first one of the day... brown, 3 1/2 - 4 inches long, perched in the white lavender. Absolutely delighted i called joseph over to see it. A short time later i spotted a pale green one in the spanish lavender... and then another brown one in a different bed on a daylily... and a forth one (green) on the white lavender. Four good size manti so far. I also saw a small (2 inch green mantis in a flower pot that i was watering... So five manti all tolled. :-)

Experiments in the Garden

This year my father advised me to place wet newspaper around my vegetable garden and then layer it with grass clippings. This holds the moisture for the roots and keep weeds down.

I decided that the wet newspaper thing might be helpful applied elsewhere. When planting my big clay pots, i added newspaper around the inside of the pot. It has really helped the plants in the pot... no drying out.

I also did a similar thing for some of my hanging planters. The ones most prone to drying out... i added newspaper.

I felt that the newspaper in the garden, in the pots and planters all were really helpful to keep the soil moist. So my latest experiment with newspaper is... shredded newspaper, turned in to the soil that i was prepping for planting. I had a pack of marigolds waiting to be planted. I know that the marigolds struggle with the clay soil and the need the consistent moisture. So we'll see how this experiment works out.