| June 2, 2001 Still too wet to work on the front bed--rain yesterday. Bought some seeds today: Lavender, Coleus 'Rainbow, Mixed Colors', Rosemary, Marigold 'Dwarf Bolero', Zinnia 'Lilliput, Mixed Colors' 'Mini-Zini Mixture' and 'Cut and Come Again Mix', Wild flax (Linum perenne) 'Saphyr', Pepper 'Carnival Mix', Delphinium 'Magic Fountains, Mixed Colors', Poppy 'Shirley, Double Flowered, Mixed Colors', and Pumpkin 'Frosty Hybrid'. I think the white million bells is rooting in water. Fingers crossed. Pulled one 'Stuttgarten' onion. Not bad--about 2 inches in diameter. Picked another half-pint of peas. Got 6 Japanese black snails for the pond. They went right to work! |
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| June 3, 2001 Lovely day today. Ack!! Found aphids on almost all my million bells, with no ladybugs to be seen. Tried insecticidal soap. They look sad. Beets doing well, and are quarter-size in diameter. Garlic is not looking so good, however. A beautiful dark pink morning glory has been blooming for about a week, but I always miss the photo op. 'Blue Lake' snap beans are climbing well. Rain predicted for tomorrow. |
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| June 4, 2001 Froggy's back after a long absence. Pulled a few garlic. Small bulbs. I think they didn't get enough sun. Got another pint of peas. Miniature yellow rose is about to open, but something's chewing on the buds of my 'Heritage' rose. |
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| June 5, 2001 Bought 8 'Pink Wave' petunias to replace the million bells. Also got Coreopsis grandiflora 'Tequila Sunrise'. |
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| June 6, 2001 Moss verbena starting to bloom. Transplanted quite a few seedlings into peat pots, still using my capillary matting system. |
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| June 7, 2001 'Festiva Maxima' peony seems to be sprouting. A few beets are at least 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I'm in real danger of actually having beets for once!! Both patio dahlias, 'Rembrandt' and 'Bluesette' are blooming and are very pretty. Great additions to the deck. |
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| June 8, 2001 Planted 'Chubby Checkers' sweet corn and two more short rows of 'Mokum' carrots. |
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| June 12, 2001 'Chubby Checkers' sweet corn peeking through the soil already. Crocosmia 'Lucifer' has buds!!! Mulched the cantaloupe and watermelon plants. Finally got to start on the front bed last night. Making decent progress. Hope to be able to plant by this weekend. Blackberries starting to turn. |
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| June 14, 2001 'Sweet 100' tomatoes starting to turn. Finished front bed construction. Soil to be delivered tomorrow morning. 'Pink Perfection' trumpet lily blooming. Violas and pansies are looking ragged. Will pull them out ASAP. Blue aster is starting to bloom. 'Polish Spirit' clematis has finished it's first flush, but has a few more buds coming along. |
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| June 15, 2001 Made it!! The front bed is filled with soil. The last major bed is finished. Replaced million bells on front rail with 'Pink Wave' petunias. |
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| June 16, 2001 Got just about all the planting done in the renovated front bed. Plan to mulch tomorrow. Sweet peas are blooming!! So sweet! 'Blue Lake' snap beans have blossom buds. Picked 3 cucumbers tonight. At least 10 will be ripe next week. Planted monarda, 'White Swan' echinecea, and winter savory (because I want it close 'cause it smells so good!) in pond bed. Pulled a 'Mokum' carrot out of curiosity. It's as large as my index finger and quite sweet. 'Pink Perfection' lily has a heavenly scent. |
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| June 17, 2001 Did get the mulching done. Most things are looking OK, considering the heat and dryness. Picked 3 cucumbers. Planted alpine strawberries on either side of new stone walkway between the front bed and pond bed. |
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| June 19, 2001 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony looking fried. Hopefully the roots are OK. No rain in sight. Picked a few 'Sweet 100' tomatoes, and 3 cucumbers. Aphids attacked sweet peas almost as soon as I moved them into shade. Correlation? 'Rembrandt' dahlia wilts in the heat, even in full shade under the porch. 'Heritage' rose is very pretty, and exactly what I wanted, but its scent is not as strong as I had hoped. I think canna 'Salmon Pink' has a blossom bud! Hydrangea has quite a few blooms coming along--must have pruned correctly this year. Cupid's Dart is wonderful. I love this plant. Planning to start more seeds in a few days, as well as more pinks and lots of other perennials. |
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| June 24, 2001 Gone for 5 days, and my neighbor was kind enough to keep an eye out and water if needed. Mother Nature helped a little--we had about 1 1/4 inches of rain while we were gone. Everything looks pretty good. The 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony I thought was fried seems to be recovering nicely and sending out new growth. Yippee!! I think everything I planted in the front bed is making it so far, even though a few things were, not unexpectedly, a little puny for a couple of days. Tomatoes look a litte anemic, but it seems everything fared well while I was gone. Will try to feed the tomatoes tomorrow. Picked 3 large cucumbers this evening and my neighbor helped herself while I was gone. 'Salmon Pink' canna is blooming, but it ain't pink in my book. Very orangey red, instead. I have one little cayenne pepper!! 'Zagreb' coreopsis is blooming (very nice!), as is the 'White Swan' echinecea. It's not really white, but more of a greenish white. But it's short and I do like it just fine. 'Lucifer' crocosmia is in full bloom. 'Beauregard' sweetpotatoes doing well. Cantaloupe is blooming and watermelon has blossom buds. 'Summer Showers' ivy geranium (pelargonium) is blooming--a deep cerise. Marigolds blooming up a storm. 'Patio Blue' and 'Pink Shades' verbenas blooming well. 'Chubby Checkers' corn is about 6 inches high and also in need of a good feeding. Picked a few ripe blackberries. So far, they don't seem to be drying up as soon as they approach ripening like last year. |
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| June 25, 2001 Fed tomatoes and lots of other things. Hope to finish feeding tomorrow night. Planted 'Majorette Mix' hollyhocks behind water spigot in front bed, and planted butterfly weed in pond bed. Saxifrage bit the dust. Purple hyacinth bean starting to wind around carport post. Pulled up faded pansy and viola plants. Took seedlings from basement to shade on front porch to harden off for a couple of days. Started seeds of 'Roma' and 'Better Boy' tomatoes, Cupid's dart and cottage pinks. |
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| June 26, 2001 Half an inch of rain early this morning. Almost finished feeding. Pulled up 'Simpson Elite' lettuce--starting to bolt. Pulled another 'Mokum' carrot that was 3/4 inch in diameter and 5 inches long. Pulled 'Stuttgarten' onions because they had all fallen over. Didn't think there would be much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Most were 2" in diameter, the best size for most of my needs, and a couple were 3". Picking a cucumber or two every day, as well as a few 'Sweet 100' tomatoes. Looks like one of the water lilies has a bud!! 'Clove Drops' dianthus is also setting blossom buds. |
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| June 27, 2001 Potted 'Tropical Rose' canna, blackeyed Susan vine, crape myrtles, and calla lily in larger pots. 'Silver Princess' corn just starting to tassel. Japanese beetles on morning glories and 'Salmon Pink' canna. Dispatched. 'Festiva Maxima' peony seems to have disappeared. |
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