| April 3, 2004 Last few days have been windy and cool. Bought some oriental lily bulbs named 'Bergamo' with which to experiment. I'm going to line the planting hole with some pea gravels to see if that will keep the bulbs safe from voles. Also got another clematis jackmanii with which to also experiment. I'm going to plant it in a fairly large container that I'll sink about 1/3 of the way in the street bed to see it that will keep the voles out of it. The sunken pond basket I did last year didn't work. Also bought a new rosemary plant and another dianthus 'Eastern Star'. Digitalis mertonensis (strawberry foxglove) is sprouting, as are at least two clumps of Lily of the valley. I've had trouble getting Lily of the valley to grow the last few years, so this is good news indeed. The yellow rose my neighbor gave me is now looking so hot, but I think it'll come on back out. 'Heritage' rose has lots of little sprouts, despite the severe pruning and replanting it got a few weeks ago. |
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| April 4, 2004 Expecting lows in the upper 20s tonight and tomorrow night. Brought peach trees back into the garage. |
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| April 5, 2004 Bought two lemons today at Lowe's. One is a varigated pink, which I think is Citrus limon var. variegata, or 'Eureka Variegated Pink' and the other is a Meyer--doesn't say if it's an improved or not. I'm planning on pruning this Meyer better than my other one to keep it more compact and fuller. They don't look so hot--the pink is a little wilted, and the Meyer has no leaves, just stems, but I asked if the price could be reduced and I got them for half price! They'll recover just fine, I'm sure. All strawberries have buds. |
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| April 6, 2004 Cleaned the weeds out of the pentagon bed and spread 2-5 gallon buckets of compost and tilled it in. Planted my new clematis jackmanii in the large pot, sunken close to half-way up the pot in the street bed. Hope it works; the pond basket idea didn't. Dug up all chrysanthemums and gave them to my neighbor--too invasive for me. Went to K-Mart for bagged topsoil and Lowe's for lettuce seed. They only had 'Black Seeded Simpson' which I got, but I want some reds too. Too late to order any, I suppose, so I'll plant what I have. Also bought 3 dwarf rhododendrons. Another 'Dora Amateis', an Impeditum dwarf, and 'Blue Diamond'. The peony has buds!! As does the Lady Banks rose. I'm so excited!! One 'Arapaho' blackberry is dead--chewed off underground. There are several small ones I can put in it's place, and I'm hoping that eventually they'll get thick enough that losing a few to voles won't matter. 'Stark Sensation' peach has completed petal fall. Will spray in a day or two. 'Emerald Spire' colonade apple tree has quite a few blossom buds. Neither of the others do, nor do they look like they're going to, so no pollination is going to happen this year. And clematis durandii planted behind the mailbox post seems to have survived. Yes! |
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| April 7, 2004 Went to Reynolds Garden Showcase in Winston-Salem today and bought a few things: Hosta undulata variegata, Hemerocallis 'Prarie Blue Eyes', another veronica 'Sunny Border Blue' and veronica 'Red Fox' and 'Goodness Grows', coreopsis 'Limerock Passion', Echinchea 'Ruby Star', Phlox paniculata 'David' and 'Nora Leigh', a white Banksian rose (Rosa banksiae 'Alba Plena'), Sedum tricolor, Verbena bonariensis (Brazilian verbena, perennial), Verbena canadensis 'Tarrytown Red', 'Biloxie Blue', and 'Homestead Purple' (these seldom winter over for me, but I do love them so I keep buying), a lavender scented geranium 'Lavender Lad' (looks very much like the apple nutmeg I lost a couple of years ago), Phlox subulata 'White Delight', ivy geranium 'Global Sangria' and 'Black Magic', and 'Madame Butterfly' dwarf canna bulbs. Picked up a packet of liatris spicata at Kroger--appear to be similar to 'Kobold'. |
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| April 8, 2004 Went to Raywood garden center in Danville, stopped by Harris Nursery on the way back, and also ran to Tressie's. Bought: from Raywoods, miniature Rhododendron 'Purple Gem', Phlox maculatum 'Natascha' ("Wild Sweet William"), Hemerocallis 'Siloam Orchid Lace', 'Pixie Beauty' and 'Mardi Gras Parade', Hosta 'Ginko Craig', 'Peace', 'Olive Bailey Langdon', 'Aphrodite', and 'June', tradescantias (spiderwort) 'Red Cloud' and 'Blue Stone, Stachys (lamb's ears) 'Silver Carpet'. Also bought some stuff to deter moles and voles: "MOLEMAX" (granular), and something for deer: "Deer Away". Hope springs eternal. From Harris's I got 4-packs of 'Foxy Dwarf' foxglove, Rudbeckia hirta 'Toto Lemon', 'Toto Gold', and 'Goldilocks', dwarf delphinium 'Blue Butterfly', liatris 'Floristan White' and 'Kobold', and 'Basket of Gold' alyssum. From Tressie's, hemerocallis 'Always Afternoon', hosta 'So Sweet', a pink and white double impatiens, a potted tuberous begonia, 'Charisma Pink', some 4-packs of white sweet alyssum, lavender 'Munstead', and 'Sundial Mix' portulaca, a Russell lupine, a 'Yubi Pink' portulaca, 3 yellow 'Million Bells', some 'Floral Showers' snapdragons, and some 'Early Girl' and 'Park's Whopper' tomato plants. At Wal-Mart I picked up some lettuce seeds: 'Burgundy Ice' (crisphead), 'Grand Rapids' (leaf), 'Green Ice' (loosehead), and 'Sweet Red' (butterhead). |
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| April 9, 2004 Busy day today. I checked my caladiums that overwintered under the garage. Zip, nada, nuttin'. Gone. So, started collecting them again; ordered from Van Bourgondien: 'Aaron', 'Frieda Hemple', 'Miss Muffet', 'Carolyn Wharton', 'Gypsy Rose', 'White Christmas', 'Fanny Munson', 'Florida Cardinal', 'Mrs. Arno Nehrling', 'Candidum', and 'Kathleen'. From Park's: 'Pink Symphony', 'Rose Bud', 'White Queen'. Planted a few short rows of lettuce: 'Black Seeded Simpson', 'Grand Rapids', 'Green Ice', 'Green Salad Bowl', and 'Red Salad Bowl'. Broadcast some zinnia seeds--'Mini-Zini Mixture'--in the front porch bed, and 'Thumbelina, Mixed Colors' and 'Pulcino Mix' in the street bed. Potted up the new magnolia, repotted the forsythia, Japanese maple, rhododendron 'Nova Zembla', and red twig dogwood. Potted up all three new mini rhododendrons and planted the new rhododendron 'Dora Amateis' in front of the two large rhododendron. Potted up hosta 'So Sweet'. Potted up white banksian rose and set the pot in the front porch corner. Pruned all ivys. Set up rain barrels for the year. Planted both varieties of tomatoes. Before planting, I "watered" the bed with a 3:1 water to milk solution and then watered that in. Sprayed the tomatoes with a 10:1 water to milk solution after they were planted. Blue birds are nesting in the box--again. Hope they stay this time. |
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| April 10, 2004 Busy again today. Topped off soil in pond, street, and front porch beds. Had to dig up and replant several plants, as they were sinking too deep as the soil has settled. Will wait to mulch after I get everything planted. Lots of stuff gone from the street bed. The pond bed dwarf iris are blooming right now so they have to wait to be dug up, separated, and replanted. Planted the new rosemary in the outer driveway corner of the pond bed. Moved 'Supersonic' crape myrtle to the back of the front porch bed--it was too tall for where I had it. Also moved calla 'Cameo' as it got too large for where I had it last year in the pond bed. Bulbs had gotten huge! Bought at Lowe's: Caladium 'Arno Nehrling', 'Gingerland', 'Elise', 'Calypso', 'Candidum Jr.', and 'Postman Joyner', Verbena canadensis 'Homestead Pink', 3 candytuft 'Purity', creeping phlox 'Scarlet Flame', oriental poppy 'Champagne Bubbles (Mix)', dianthus 'Eastern Star' and salvia 'Rose Queen'. Had to go get more bagged top soil at K-Mart, and picked up a veronica 'Georgia Blue' while I was there. The one I have has been just gorgeous this year. Sprinkled the mole/vole deterrent on top of all three ornamental beds after they were topped off with soil. 'Mis Kim' lilac is going to have one little bloom. 'Josee' is full of blooms. The little white primrose is simply covered with blooms. I really need to get more of these next year. |
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| April 12, 2004 Cool and rainy the last two days, but that's OK as we needed it. Mostly drizzling with a couple of showers mixed in--enough to fill 3 rain barrels already. The fourth one is filling but is under a narrow piece of roof and takes longer to fill. The coming weekend looks good for getting more planting done. |
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| April 13, 2004 A total of 3.5 inches of rain from Sunday morning to early this afternoon--3.5 rain barrels full, too. Pruned both new citrus trees. Teeny tiny peaches on both trees. Need to spray but I was waiting until the rain stopped. Will do it in the next day or two. Pruned a couple of branches off the grape vine. I germanica 'Night Edition' blooming. This iris is so small it must be a dwarf, although it wasn't labeled as such when I bought it. It's too short for the iris border so I'll move it later. |
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| April 15, 2004 Ended up with a tad over 4 inches of rain. Got a few things planted this afternoon: candytuft 'Purity', creeping phlox 'Scarlet Flame' and 'White Delight', veronica 'Georgia Blue', dianthus 'Eastern Star' and 'Frosty Fire', sedum 'Tricolor' and potted up the 'Yubi Pink' portulaca and 3 yellow 'Million Bells' in (2) hanging pots. Sprayed peach trees. Dug up 'Wonderblue' lilac and repositioned it. |
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| April 17, 2004 Busy day today. Temperature up to 80F. Bought at Southern States: Eupatorium f., 'Selection' (dwarf Joe Pye Weed), columbine 'Clematiflora', a dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius), a nice, already growing (about 1 yard long) clematis jackmanii, a Carolina lupine (Thermopsis lanceolata), a six-pack of 'California Wonder' sweet peppers, and Salvia l. 'Purple Knockout'. Potted up canna 'Madame Butterfly', mixed pastel colored tuberous begonia, the new c. jackmanii, geranium 'Lavender Lad', ivy geranium 'Global Sangria' and 'Black Magic', begonia 'Charisma Pink', the pink and white double impatiens, Planted the sweet peppers, and most of the perennials awaiting planting. Mr. Froggy is spending lots of time around the pond and is very vocal. All strawberries are blooming. Lost quite a few over the winter. John has some new ideas for where we can put more raised beds. Heh, heh, he'll get no argument from me. |
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| April 18, 2004 Busy today, too. Temperature in low 80sF. Finished potting up all hostas, including the ones in the holding bed. Also finished planting the new perennials. |
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| April 19, 2004 Planted most of the annuals, new daylilies, and a few unnammed daylilies from the holding bed. When I was preparing to plant some sweet alyssum in the pot with agapanthus 'Pinocchio', I noticed lots of tiny just sprouted seedlings. Seeding from the alyssum last year, maybe? Lettuce is up. Tomatoes doing well--growing and greening up. |
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| April 23, 2004 We've had several hothothot days. Cut the last of the kale and the sprouted collards today. Will pull up the kale to make room for more tomatoes next week. Cucumbers will go in the collard beds. 'Lady Banks' rose is in full bloom and is gorgeous. The fragrance is very nice, too. I. cristata 'Eco Little Blue' is in full bloom, too. Doesn't seem to be as many blooms as last year. |
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| April 24, 2004 At Anderson's garden center I got: hosta 'Hottsy Tottsy', hemerocallis 'Siloam Ury Winniford' and 'Chorus Line', and columbine 'Ministar'. |
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| April 27, 2004 Got 1 1/2 inches of rain yesterday and today has been very cool and windy. Stopped at Tressie's on the way home and picked up more tomato plants: 'Better Boy', 'German Johnson', 'Supersteak', 'Supersonic', and 'Cherry Red' cherry tomatoes. |
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| April 28, 2004 Pulled up the kale and got those beds ready by adding compost and topsoil and tilling. Will treat with milk and plant tomatoes tomorrow. |
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| April 29, 2004 Tomatoes planted. Also sprayed all tomatoes and roses with diluted milk. There are 4 baby figs on the bush. Two of them are tiny--don't know whether they're later than the others or deformed. I never seem to see fig blooms--do they just appear overnight? |
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