| June 1, 2006 A little cooler today, and cloudy, but no rain. Received one of the Dave's Garden heuchera co-op packages: 'Autumn Haze', 'Blood Red', 'Can Can', 'Cascade Dawn', 'Champagne Bubbles', 'City Lights', 'Ebony & Ivory', 'Green Spice', and 'Velvet Night'. Got them potted up in 4" pots. Planted the last two daylilies. Mulched the in-ground 'Renae'. Potted up 'Snow Carpet' mini rose in a 12" pot--may be temporary. Potted up hosta 'Gold Edger' in the frog planter for the gazebo entrance. |
| June 2, 2006 Ordered from Ashdown's half price sale: 'Mrs. B. R. Cant', 'Mrs. Dudley Cross', 'Lady Hillingdon', and 'William R. Smith', all teas. A little rain--not nearly enough. Got hosta swap: 'Lemon Lime', 'Lemon Frost', 'Ginko Craig', 'Austin Dickinson', and Tricyrtis 'Samurai', a Persicaria, a hardy geranium, and a lost tag yellow-flowering plant. |
| June 3, 2006 Got the swap plants taken care of. FirstPark Wholesaler's order arrived and I was favorably impressed. Rose 'Ebb Tide' has 3 heathy canes and lots of (around 15) basal nubs--it's soaking until tomorrow when I'll pot it up. Lavender looks good. Heuchera look good. Hosta are fine and will grow. Everything except the rose was either planted or potted up. John made some small terraces in front of the gas tanks and I put potted hosta there since I can't plant anything. Looks good. Cleaned all dead narcissus foliage out of beds. Got compost restarted; used the coffee grounds since I was low on greens. Trimmed, edged, and mowed. Spread Deer Scram. Potted up the second 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' and the 'Madame Alfred Carrier' (to train on neighbor's fence). Two more out of the pot ghetto--making room for those on the way. Started another batch of alfalfa tea. Very breezy and cooler today. Quite pleasant. 'Tess of the d'Urbevilles' is blooming. Very pretty. Won 2 miniature water lilies on eBay to go in the tub water garden. |
| June 4, 2006 Potted up some hardy begonia to take to Mama. Moved 'Gruss an Aachen' to a round pot and took that square pot for 'Fisherman's Friend'. Positioned it just behind 'Rainbow's End'. Will get an obelisk to grow it on as it's looking floppy. Took 'The Prince' out of his pot and put him in the spot 'Fisherman's Friend' vacated. Got a big, pretty, light terracotta looking fiberglas pot for 'Ebb Tide' and put it in it. It had better be worth this pot. Potted up 'Smith's Parish', 'Blanc Double de Coubert', and 'Augustine Guinoisseau', all of which went into the walkways with 'Iceberg' and where 'Ruffled Cloud' was. All of these bloom white. 'Ruffled Cloud' came up to the right front porch in front of the agapanthus. I've seen 2 chipmunks today. First I've seen since Shadow came last year. We need another outdoor cat. Got a couple of rain showers today--enough that I don't have to water the lawn tomorrow. Still pleasant with a breeze. 'Jude the Obscure' is holding his own. |
| June 5, 2006 Ordered once more from Park Wholesale Gardens: roses 'New Dawn' (need another one for the other side of the rebar fence) and 'Barbra Streisand' (for my neighbor, in appreciation of all the help she is to me). Also ordered hostas: 'Aphrodite', 'Mount Tom', and 'Blue Jay'. Musical roses again tonight. Moved 'Ebb Tide' into a regular pot; it's now behind 'Royal Wedding'. Put 'Caldwell Pink' in the new pretty pot and it will eventually go on the platform John's going to engineer to cover the drainage hole. He's going to use the old concrete slab the heat pump was on--will save money and put that thing to good use. Put 'Anne Boleyn' in the peach tree bed where 'Caldwell Pink' was. Whew! Planted the second 'Renae' in the middle of the iris bed. Contacted Lisa at Countryside Roses about availability of another 'Renae'--website says it's out of stock now. |
| June 6, 2006 Nice, but short, rain shower as I got home from work. Got the compost finished. Watered all roses well in preparation for applying alfalfa tea tomorrow night. Got square tomato cages put around the rest of the back row in the long beds. Also put round ones around a couple of potted roses. Lisa got back to me and said she had one 'Renae' I could have, YES! Had planned to spray the tomatoes but the rain shower put an end to those plans. Maybe tomorrow night. |
| June 7, 2006 Using some little plastic flower pots as molds, John cast the 4 legs for the concrete-platform-over-the-drainage-hole project. I'm encouraged by what looks like the beginning of new growth on 'Jude the Obscure'. |
| June 8, 2006 Thunderstorm with 3/4" rain today. Orders 2 & 3 from Park Wholesale Gardens arrived. Everything looks good except I'm a little concerned about 'Sharifa Asma', 'Sophy's Rose', and 'Gruss an Aachen'. They don't look as good as the rest, which look really good. There was a little mold on a couple of canes on 'Gruss an Aachen' which I cut off. I see a cane on her that is pretty black and will have to be removed as well. 'Jude the Obscure' is definitely putting out some new growth. Yeehaw!!. Got 2 bins of alfalfa tea/Miracle Gro/Ironite put down, complete to sludge. Bought a gorgous frog/lilypad motif hose holder on eBay today. |
| June 9, 2006 Finished putting down the alfalfa tea. Ashdown order arrived--very nice looking plants. Watered them and they're on the front porch adapting. Spread another bucket of coffee grounds. Park Wholesale Gardens roses water changed and Superthrive added. They look better in the light of day. Also got the water lilies. One does *not* looke like a miniature. Found the first fresh vole hole right up against a rose basket. Could it be working??? |
| June 11, 2006 Away for the weekend. Picked up a 'Geoff Hamilton' at Lowe's in Gloucester. Also got 5 more obelisks at Lowe's in Newport News. Got some rain over the weekend and another shower this evening just as we got home, so I'll have to hold off on the Messenger application scheduled for today. Everything is looking good. |
| June 12, 2006 Another nice shower overnight. Found the second fresh vole hole right up against a different rose basket. I think it's working! Applied Messenger to all roses and tomatoes. Potted up new waterlilies: large one went into the back pond, at least temporarily, and the miniature went into a bucket to await completion of the water garden. Placed obelisks around 'Fisherman's Friend' and 'Cl. Souvenir de la Malmaison'. |
| June 13, 2006 'Barbra Streisand' and two hostas: 'Mount Tom' and 'Blue Jay' arrived. All look good. Hosta 'Aphrodite' was out of stock. Still have 'New Dawn' on the way, so added 16 hardy geranium 'Tiny Monster' to that order. Changed water in soaking roses. Got these hostas in the latest Dave's co-op: 'American Halo', 'Dance With Me', 'Eternal Flame', 'Fantabulous', 'Frosted Dimples', 'Heart and Soul', 'Hope', 'King Tut', 'Little Sunspot', 'Pandora's Box', 'Alligator Shoes', 'Deep Blue Seas', 'Praying Hands', 'Anna Kulpa', 'Queen of the Seas'. |
| June 14, 2006 Newest 'Renae' came today. Potted it up, as well as hosta 'Mount Tom' and 'Blue Jay'. Potted up roses 'Geoff Hamilton', 'Lady Hillingdon', and 'Mrs. B. R. Cant' and placed them on the back deck. Got most of the hostas arranged around the back deck. Renovated gardenia has 3 buds. Smallest one had/has about 10. Heavenly scent. Caladiums coming along. Tomatoes are huge. Cucumber running and have lots of babies. Will plant even fewer of both next year, probably. John got the watergarden tub painted: aqua on the inside and a mottled medium bronze on the outside. Looks really good. He had to reseal the cord opening and will probably be able to fill with water tomorrow. Roses still soaking and the worrisome ones are looking better. |
| June 15, 2006 Visited the gardens of a few of my rose society members. Pretty roses, along with hosta, daylilies, and ponds. I'm pleased with where my garden is in comparison, but was unhappy to see the Japanese beetles had just hit their gardens. They can't be far behind for me. Got 'William R. Smith' potted up. |
| June 16, 2006 All of the new roses are potted up except the 3 that are going in the ground. Since I'm going to be gone for 5 days, they will continue to soak until I get back. Potted up some hostas from the pot ghetto that had gotten big enough. Trimmed, edged, mowed. Did more clean up on the back deck and all plants are in their places--or just about. Still need to clean up the work area and hose everything off. Got the caladiums out of the fenced-in veggie area and placed them around. I'm seriously considering the idea of a rose allee/tunnel over the maim mulched path on the left side yard. I'd be able to grow some climbers that I otherwise would not be able to. Discussing possibilities with Paul Zimmerman of Ashdown. Fountain done--I like it. Waterlily and fake frogs in place. Watered--a lot. |
| June 17, 2006 Put ironite on 'Mary Rose', 'Clotilde Soupert', and both gardenias. Watered more. |
| June 21, 2006 Back home. No rain--everything is dry but my neighbor looked after things really well for me. Watered a few things tonight and will do a thorough watering tomorrow. Lots of new growth evident. Two cucumbers will be ready to pull by the end of the weekend. Saw 1 Japanese beetle on 'Golden Celebration'. Park Wholesale Growers order came: 16 geranium 'Tiny Monster' and hosta 'Blue Jay'. Was sent 3 thymes that I didn't order. Hosta 'Mount Tom' did not come and neither did rose 'New Dawn'. Will call about these tomorrow. |
| June 22, 2006 Watering, watering, watering. Watered the lawn as it's getting some brown areas. Called Park and was told that 'New Dawn' is on back order and won't be shipped until mid-July. Bummer. Also they will send the hosta that didn't come. Gave roses 'Honorine de Brabant' and 'La France' to my neighbor. All potted bare roots appear to be alive. 'General Cavaignac' is puny, just like 'Jude the Obscure' was. Will watch and give him plenty of water. John put the concrete platform over the drainage hole after sawing out the grate. I think this is the solution to the problem; there's a good opening that shouldn't get clogged with leaves, resulting in overflow and washing of the daylily bed, but the hole is covered and safe--the concrete slab is heavy and won't move easily. PLUS it gives me another place to put a container rose or two or three. 'Caldwell Pink' is there already. Made a batch of alfalfa tea for the container roses. Deadheaded. Potted the smallest gardenia up into a larger pot. High temperature was 98F today. 'Mevrouw Nathalie Nypels' is worrying me. New growth is weird--this has been going on for several weeks. Basals as well as lateral growth. Leaves are small. Not hyperthorny, nodes are not close together, new growth is not super red, nor is it rubbery. I'm fearful of RRD, of course, but I *really* think the leaves are this way due to powdery mildew. Posted on GardenWeb and no one thinks it is RRD. Ann Peck says to watch the blooms for abnormalities but thinks it's OK. |
| June 23, 2006 Watered the lawn again this morning but we had a storm this evening with 2" of rain. It was a great test for the drainage ditch and John's new work-around worked very well. I think this is the answer. Saw several Japanese beetles today. Time to start fighting back. Went to Greensboro and Winston-Salem today. Got lots of 10" pots at Garden Ridge and 2 nice fiberglas medium blue pots with which to make a tier for the pentagon rose bed. Also got more little pot hanger frogs and a "tree art" frog to hang on the maple tree by the gazebo deck. |
| June 24, 2006 Dug out the rosemary on steroids. Planted 'China Doll' in the driveway side of the street bed, 'Carefree Wonder' in the place the rosemary abdicated, and 'Midnight Blue' on the curved side of the pond bed. 'Midnight Blue' already had some feeder roots forming. Also planted one of the free creeping thyme in the corner with 'China Doll'. First hosta co-op plants arrived in good shape. Potted them up into 4" pots that I got today from Wal*Mart. They were throwing them away so I asked the manager and she said I could have them. A couple of nice young men in the garden center helped. The checker challenged me and really irritated me about pots that would be going into the land fill otherwise, even though I'd had it approved by the manager. Grrrrrrr. Got some pretty--although anemic looking--double pink petunias to go in the pot tier. I'll juice them up with MiracleGro and Ironite. Got a cast aluminum frog and put him on the right side landing just before the steps--he's about 10" long, 8" wide and 8" tall. Handsome. John put one small frog I got yesterday on the birdbath, one on the house sign beside the front door, and one on the back yard fence. Too cute! Also got another 'Forever and Ever' hydrangea at Lowe's. Potted it up and it's on the back deck amongst the hostas. Sun in and out. Grass got dry enough that I could mow the lawn. Saw first evidence of the season of nutgrass. I have my Manage and I'll attack it later in the summer. New roses with buds: 'Ebb Tide', 'The Prince', 'Tamora', 'Pat Austin', and 'Henry Nevard'. Original 'Sharifa Asma' had been in a decline for a few days. Finally figured out the problem: spider mites! Gave it a blast with the hose but I think it's too late, probably due to it's RMV. Canes are dying so I think it's time to ditch it and put something else in it's place. |
| June 25, 2006 Got 1/2" of rain overnight. Need more. When I planted the roses yesterday, I noticed that the soil was very dry after I dug about 3" down. Put alfalfa meal on lawn and applied the tea to container roses, climbers, and some daylilies. Rainy afternoon, with showers totaling 1" of rain--forecast is for more tonight and tomorrow. Maybe that will do the trick. Found spider mites on a couple of other roses and hosed them off. Placed last order with Park Wholesale Garden: daylily 'Royal Braid' and hydrangea 'Lady in Red' for $3.99. Saw it at L. A. Reynolds on Friday for somethink like $34.99. Picked first cucumber. Once it heated up these things grew fast! |
| June 26, 2006 Total of 1" of rain yesterday for a total of 3" since Friday. Rain this afternoon and off and on all evening with a heavy storm in the late evening. More predicted for tomorrow, then clearing off. This should get us wet enough for a while. I think 'Sharifa Asma' is a goner, but hosed off the other roses for spider mites. Put some MiracleGro spikes in the deck rail planters. Found several Japanese beetles that have been very sluggish (death throes?). Maybe the Bayer All-in-One is working. So far no major damage to leaves or blooms. Picked another cucumber. |
| June 27, 2006 Total of 2 1/2" of rain yesterday/last night for a total of 5 1/2" since Friday. Steady rain most of today, with an additional 1 1/2" for a whopping total of 7". Should do the trick. Sun is supposed to shine tomorrow so things should start popping. Most of my new bareroot roses have blooms and all are doing well. This rain/cooler temps has been great on them--couldn't have come at a better time. Mixed up ProMix for the pot tier and added water holding crystals. Waiting until tomorrow to pot up the petunias--that stuff swells so I'll wait and see if I have to add more ProMix. Picked another cucumber. Mixed up a bucket of soapy water for the Japanese beetles. Hosed off those roses for the third, and hopefully last, time. |
| June 28, 2006 More Japanese beetles today. Deep sixed them. Got the pot tier planted. The petunias look pretty bad--hope they'll perk up. Planted the remaining creeping thyme, one in the pentagon bed and the other at the near end of the iris bed. Watered the newly planted roses; they got a little stressed today due to the hot sun so I put a planting basket around them and John will put some cardboard on top of them tomorrow to give them a little shade. Tied up 'Sombreuil' and a few pillar roses. Picked 2 cucumbers and gave them to my neighbor. |
| June 29, 2006 Shade worked; roses look good--watered them. Sigh, I think a raccoon is getting into the little water garden--water is dirty and the level goes down every day. I suppose we'll always be plagued by them. Got replacement for 'Mount Tom'. Not one, but two! |
| June 30, 2006 Ordered the arbor roses. From Roses Unlimited I got: 2 'Papi Delbard, 2 'High Noon', and 2 'Climbing Talisman' and from Ashdown Roses I got 6 'Opal Brunner' to hide the climbers' knees, as suggested by Paul Zimmerman. Also from Roses Unlimited I got the new 'Tamora' sport, 'Lovely Child' and ARE's 'Sweet Pea'. Got the two new 'Mount Tom' hostas potted. |
