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| Triplecrown Blackberries |
Gardeners love rain. I view rain predictions the way Budweiser looks forward to the football season. But we also have long, hot, dry spells.
I noticed two boys watering the flower garden for their grandmother. They were waving the hose across the flowers, splashing lots on top of them, but they should have placed the hose down and let the water soak in the area for a period of time.
Like Almost Eden, my neighbor in the nursery business, I distrust predictions of rain. He waters in the morning regardless. We have been betrayed by the forecasts so often. His plants for sale are in plastic pots, so he has to water them more often. Sometimes Sassy and I find him at 6 AM, watering, with his dog Opie nearby.
If rain is predicted, I can gather more from four large garbage cans, four more paint buckets, and one small wheelbarrow. Therefore, I distribute the rainwater in advance, where it is needed most. Currently the replacement hybrid tea roses and the rugosa roses get the stored rain.
After Sassy's morning walk, I distributed the rest of the rainwater and trimmed every rose that needed pruning.
I use four long soaker hoses to save time and money. In the front, the two hoses are beneath the mulch. I can water most of the roses by turning on the water. If I overwater, the extra water flows down to the maple tree garden that Mrs. I suggested.
In the backyard, the hoses run on top of the fence on Mrs. Wright's side, among the roses on Mr. Gardener's side. He now gets free water for the Hostas and Lilies he planted parallel to my roses, on his side of the fence.
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| Poison Ivy |
Ticks and Poison Ivy
I thought I had a skin tag when I went to the doctor's for a routine Medicare appointment. The nurse went along with that, but the blood-letting assistant said, "No. That is a tick. Look at his legs." She dabbed some alcohol on the little feller and his waved his legs in drunken jubilee. I knew his head was glued in place, so I took him out with pliers later.
That was my first tick, which I probably got from tramping around in the Wild Garden.
I went to look at the Honeysuckle when I saw a new vine growing up against it, borrowing the water from the soaker hose. The stump that supports the Honeysuckle seems to be supporting Poison Ivy as well. Leaves of three? Check. Arrangement? Check. Likely place where birds roost? Check.
That will be removed with great care and prejudice.
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| I have plenty of Hog Peanut - I just identified it this morning. This plant fixes nitrogenand loves the shade. It grows beans above groundand peanuts below. |
Blooming and Fruiting
The roses are in glorious color all over the front yard. The KnockOuts are especially colorful after a 50% trim, but two bushes dropped dead - as KOs seem to do, I learned from the Net.
Rugosa roses are leafing out.
Coneflowers are attracting beneficial Tachinid flies.
Blackberries - but I never see a ripe one.
All berry plants are blooming - Beautyberry, Pokeweed, Wild Strawberry, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Honeysuckle.
Most Bee Balms (horse mint) are blooming but one just started to grow, so it was rewarded with some rainwater. The flowers have colors ranging from pink to red to lavender.
The front yard is a riot of color and fun to prune for friends and people we visit.
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| Beautyberries are late season treats for birds. |
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| Bee Balm is my favorite new flower. |