Kathy's Garden Journal ...and Musings June 1998

26 June 1998 - No more has been done in the garden, but this is a little "wildlife" entry. I was delighted to have the opportunity to observe a little hummingbird from my bedroom window this morning. He was feeding on flowers of a Phygelius 'Winchester Fanfare' that is just getting big enough to start making an impact in the garden. There were only two of the lowermost flowers open, but I'm sure this little guy will be back to check on the progress of the others. After sipping on those, he landed on the top wire of the ugly rose fence and rested for a bit. The humorous part was watching while he tried to feed from the Nicotiana blossoms which were drooped toward the fence (the wire on the fence is perfect perching size for hummingbird feet). If he could eat without working too hard for it, he was game! He finally had to do some flying for that and then moved to the Fairy's Fishing Rod/Dierama. After sipping from a few of those, he landed on the top of the flowering stem (which is a horizontal surface) and again, proceeded to try to eat while sitting down. I just love watching hummingbirds, and we have so many more since incorporating perennials in the back yard.

The second experience was not so charming and happened yesterday on my way home from the dentist. About a half a mile from our house, a bear almost ran in front of my van. I saw it coming up from a deep ditch to the right and thought it might be a bear (smallish), but when it crossed and I saw it behind me it was BIG! It was probably an adult male and the book I checked says that they are about 3' 4" tall (This is probably at the withers...if bears have withers!). This looked like a big great dane size only more massive and totally BLACK! This was at 6:00 in the evening in broad daylight. I will be a bit nervous from now on when I'm working in the yard! This is the first time I've actually seen one around here, although I've heard that people occasionally spot them and a delivery person told us years ago that he'd seen one in our upper pasture (we just missed it). I recently read in the paper that a bear has been seen a lot in Naval Base housing "next door" to our community and someone is probably going to take measures to get rid of him, since he seems to have no fear of people. Don't know if they'll shoot him or tranquilize and transport him to some remote area. Seeing coyotes in our field a couple of months ago was weird, but they don't pose such possible threat to life and limb as a big bear! (Another thing I hope I never see, although they are around our area, is a cougar.)

24 June 1998 - Our weather continues to be rather cool and rainy this summer, which is actually better for me with all the weeding that is still to be done. Once it gets hot and the soil dries out, it will not be such a "pleasant" job! :-) With the help of the girls, we have made some more headway in the back and you can now see halfway down the path to the arbor. On that part of the path, the pavers have been reset after weeding and there is bark mulch around them. It looks so nice! Great joy will be the result of restoring that area since it used to be my favorite. Once we can get back to the patio block pad and bench, I'll have to get Ron to help put the water feature back online. It was lovely to sit and watch and listen to the sound of trickling water. Even one of our cats seems to be excited about the changes. Puff was acting rather weird last time I was outside (might have been the fact that it was an hour before sundown and the catmint the kids gave her earlier could have done it as well!). She lazed on the newly spread bark and seemed almost in delight at her ability to walk down the path along the pavers without navigating the weeds and grasses. As her final act of ecstasy, she bounded up the trunk of the oak tree behind the carport, shinnied out onto the end of the lowermost branch, and dropped triumphantly onto the carport roof. Her triumph was short-lived when she walked around the perimeter and realized there were no cars parked close enough to facilitate her being able to safely jump down. I finally moved the van close enough to the roof that I could coax her!

	It's getting late in the day, but this is the back pathway being "excavated" during this past week. Since the photo was taken, I've weeded a bit farther and the path that you can see has bark mulch on it. It sure will be nice when it's done...the agapanthus and lots of other perennials are just about ready to burst into bloom. I hope we get done in time to make them shine!
You can see the Mock Orange in the top photo (Philadelphus) but this is how it looked from a different angle. The sun was a bit low to get the best shot, but I also kind of like that "halo" effect. The blurry white irises in front are Siberian and are finished now. They were supposed to be blue with a white edge, but this is what I finally got two or three years after their purchase. Oh, well.

I continue to be amazed at how many plants I am finding amongst the weeds and grass. A daylily that I remembered resetting last fall was actually still alive, but not where I remembered putting it! The mock orange has scented the air where I have been working, but is almost finished. Now I can start cutting it back where it has covered its neighbors with low droopy branches. The biggest thrill in the past day has been the discovery of many buds atop the Dierama/Fairy's Fishing Rod. I was pleased to see the two branches that have had color for the past couple of weeks and never expected the cloud of buds to appear all over the plant! Right now they look like the seeds on grass stems, but in a week there should be hot pink buds peeking out from the ends of all the branches and they will start to droop. It should be quite spectacular and I will attempt to get a good picture. Daylilies are opening everywhere and by next week there will be a lot more color in the back yard. Buds are also showing on the crocosmia but they will be another few weeks before they fully develop (maybe three?).

Also blooming in the past few days are Brodiaea, Madonna Lily, and a few more true lily hybrids. The hardy sages are opening and will be in color for at least a month or more. Another surprise were a couple of flower spikes on some Watsonia that I planted about 5 years ago. It has never bloomed and I think it was the shade in the back bed that prevented it from becoming robust enough to do so. Since we cut down the pine tree there, it gets much more sun. The flowers are beautiful and are a warm shade of coral pink and the other color is a soft lavender. They look much like gladiolus but are half hardy here. Our sandy soil probably ensures that they will come back from year to year.

15 June 1998 - Since I last wrote, I've been slowly picking away at the terrible bed in back, from the south end first. The closer I work toward the house, the more difficult it will become. The central portion of that area and especially near the pasture fence is terribly choked with established grasses (clumping AND running) and even some blackberry vines. With some luck, and if the weather continues to be cool this summer (it's been very cold for the season and the vegetable garden isn't growing very well), I might actually get through the whole thing by the fall. There are a few perennials I remembered transplanting last fall that could not be found when I weeded the other day. This is sad, but there are also pleasant surprises at some of the survivors. The up side of the fatalities, is that it leaves some open space to plant a few patient perennials that have been living in pots for two seasons! It will be great to find homes for them all.

Last week, I had jury duty and got called in on Wednesday. The whole day was spent at the courthouse and it took them until 2:00 in the afternoon to give me the boot (I was the last juror to be dismissed before they started the trial). I expressed enough opinions to concern both attorneys and fully expected they wouldn't keep me (I really didn't want to have to stay anyway and didn't want to be kept under false pretenses!). It was interesting and I met a few nice people in the jury room. One gal actually had a personal web page on the same server as this one so we talked "Internet" for awhile!

What's in Bloom Now?

The biggest change in the yard will be from daylilies and lilies at this time. Some of the lilies are already open but most are still in bud. Many of them have lost vigor in the areas that were neglected, but I'm hoping they'll make a reappearance after the beds are weeded and fed. A red daylily that I'd feared was gone (no bloom last season) has just announced itself yesterday with a huge, gorgeous bloom! For the sake of time and simplicity, I'll make a list (random, as I think of them):

Phygelius aequalis 'Moonraker' Campanula poscharskyana Hardy Geraniums: 'New Hampshire' 'Lancastriense' G. psilostemon G. grandiflorum G. ibericum x platypetalum G. ibericum G. cinereum 'Ballerina' G. 'Russell Pritchard' G. dalmaticum G. endressii 'Wargrave Pink' G. macrorrhizum G. x oxonianum 'Claridge Druce' G. phaeum G. 'Plenum Violaceum' Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' Fuchsia 'Maiden's Blush' Saxifraga/London Pride Centaurea montana Helianthemum, various Hypericum androsaemum Centaurea montana Leycesteria formosa (Shrub)

Sisyrinchium striatum Dianthus, various Dwarf Hardy Gladiolus Varieties Euphorbia, various Hemerocallis/Daylilies: 'Allison' H. lilioasphodelus 'Wally Nance III' 'Ginger Whip' Crosses: 'Wally Nance III' x 'Prairie Moonlight' 'Stella d' Oro' Lily 'Lollipop' Salvia superba 'East Friesland' Salvia 'May Night' Gaillardia 'Goblin' Gaillardia 'Burgundy' Catmint (Nepeta) Lychnis coronaria Lychnis viscaria Roses...ALL California Poppies Peonies Diascia fetcaniensis Oriental Poppies

Erigeron karv. 'Profusion' Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist/Annual) Papaver somniferum Dierama pulcherrimum Penstemon 'Garnet' Mock Orange (Shrub) Dorycnium hirsutum (subshrub) Achillea 'Coronation Gold' Knautia macedonica Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' Digitalis (finishing) Lupine (finishing) Nicotiana elata Borage Kniphofia (Red-Hot-Poker) Matricaria? Chrys. (Feverfew) Campanula persicifolia Cistus corbariense Cistus laurifolius Cistus x purpureus Baptisia australis Linaria 'Canon Went' Erigeron glaucus Thymus, various Osteospermum

I probably forgot a few, but that's a pretty good listing. The Madonna lilies are just about to pop open and baby's breath will soon be blooming also (the dwarf variety). I'll try to make another list in another week or two. It's time to get off the computer and clean the house!

3 June 1998 - There hasn't been as much progress in the yard as I'd hoped by this time, but things are getting done. Yesterday the girls started putting bark on the ash bed and we will finish that this evening. They don't have the interest their mother does in doing a completely perfect job so there is usually some touch up to be done after they put the first layer on. It's still a great help for them to do what they did, however! Many plants need to have the mulch tucked up around their crowns and there are some spots that are still too thin.

	This is a poor picture (lighting), but shows the ash bed after weeding and spreading bark. I just hope that it maintains this look for awhile and there aren't too many weeds that come back. Some of the ones with running roots have insinuated themselves in the root balls of the long established perennials, so I know they will raise their ugly heads again!
Here are the remnants of the Rhododendrons, 'Hurricane' and 'Tortoise Shell Wonder' (see below). If I were young again, I'd want to make some sort of little camp in this flowerbed! The trunk to the right is the Japanese Maple off the corner of the house (which is to the left).

While Diane and Karen were working on that, I tackled the murderous pruning job I've been trying to get my husband to do with the chain saw. Either the weather was bad, he was too tired or we didn't have gasoline for the chainsaw. I finally did it with my trusty little Felco pruning saw (the little folding ones...they are wonderful). The major victims were the two huge rhodies on the north of the house ('Hurricane' and 'Tortoiseshell Wonder'). Where they once towered at about 10 feet or more, now there are stumps. Lynda spotted some of the branches for me so they wouldn't crush anything when they came down and the few flowers that were on the one bush I salvaged for a vase. (As I typed this I realized they were still sitting on the porch and I rushed out to make sure the morning sun hadn't wilted them...all is okay!) I have faith that they will grow back. It just really had to be done. I'm sure some of the folks who have looked at them on the web page would have been appalled to see me attacking the bushes in such a fashion! ...but since no one was here to stop me, I had a wonderful time (just left me a bit sore). There is still a big pile of limbs that will need to be dragged to the back. When you read about pruning rhodies, they often suggest doing a third of the bush at a time so you won't lose flowers, etc. I'd rather just get it over with and forego the flowers for awhile. There are a couple of hybrids that might not come back after pruning ('Sappho' being one), but I think these will recover. I had to have foot surgery almost ten years ago and approached that the same way. They said I should do one at a time but I wanted to just get it done...it meant crawling to the bathroom for a couple of weeks, but I was glad that I didn't have to repeat the process after finding out just how much it was going to hurt! :-)

There are a lot of buds on the daylilies and a few are starting to prepare to open (only a very few...mostly some hybrids that I'd done a few years back). I was pleased to see that a Diascia that was salvaged in the rose frontal took off and actually has a flower on it. It consisted of about two springs with a little root when I weeded that area. I wish the whole bed was finished, but half of it is starting to look pretty nice. The roses are blooming their heads off and I took a few pictures which are getting taken for developing today. If any of them are good enough, I'll include them on the web page. I wish I could say they have been sprayed, but when the damage was noticed the weather was bad. It's nice now and I should make that a priority because they have lots of little rose slugs eating holes in the leaves. Ugh! Lychnis coronaria is blooming and there's a really nice lavender-pink one in the rose frontal that I'd reset after weeding. What a luck of the draw! I don't think I've seen quite that color before. It was obviously a cross of the species with one of the white ones I had in the back. Lilies will be coming soon!

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