Pondering the world

please don't give me any more house plants

Another house plant is nearly out the door. Literally, the African violet is about five feet from the front door--I just haven't decided if I should yank it out of the pot and put it out of its misery or find a new home for it. It's got a few leaves left.

When we acquired this place, there were live plants all over inside. I knew it was just a matter of time. There was a ficus tree in the dining room that was actually doing quite well, in spite of my indoor black thumb. It was in a spot where a plant shouldn't even reside, much less grow well and start taking over. We found a new home for it. It's been seven years, and I can't remember any more what all the plants were. Some kind of corn plant-looking thing? (new home). Four ivy plants (died). Three geraniums (died). There may have been a couple more, which I'm sure I managed to kill.

Now that I'm looking at it, the African violet has some nice new leaves on it. Maybe it just needed a change of location and it likes the windowsill near the front door.

The last holdout is an orchid that only has two leaves and hasn't bloomed at all for the past three years. Would anyone like to adopt it and nurse it back to health? Otherwise, I'm sure its days are numbered.

 

hanging herb gardens

As with everything else, our driveway by the storage building is evolving.  It's the ideal place for a garden, and I've tried everything there including morning glories climbing up netting, plants in pots, and a raised bed garden.  The raised bed garden was made from old cabinets made of particle board, and they have lasted about as long as predicted, so it's time for something different and I have an idea for that space for next year.

However, since we're taking out the raised bed boxes, I needed a place to put my herb garden. My tomatoes next year will be planted in big pots next to the storage building where they will get the most sun and also be accessible, since planting them against a wall makes them hard to get to.  Why not put my herbs in baskets that hang from the facia board of the storage building?  It was easily done, and the hardest part was re-doing the nylon rope so they would hang lower.  After all, if I can't reach the herbs, I won't be able to use them.

It reminds me of the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  Okay, so that's a stretch, but it IS my garden and it IS hanging.  Just envision these hanging baskets full of greenery next summer and the big pots full of tomato plants three feet high.  I have three more hooks available for hanging baskets, so I'll have a place for basil, sage and garlic chives.

The next step is taking out the raised bed boxes and replacing them with 4x4's.  Those should last quite a few years.

 

the result of my courtyard project from July 2009

Last year I re-landscaped the small courtyard at the townhouse we were renting.  I never did show the photos after it was completed because it was pretty sparse and then winter came and everything died back.

Now that we've moved out of the townhouse, someone else is enjoying it, I hope.  I did get to take a few pictures a couple of weeks ago just before we moved.  The irises were just starting to bloom, of course. The wisteria didn't bloom, but I believe it takes a few years for them to start blooming.

These pictures don't really do it justice.  It's a very small space, and once the wisteria climb up onto the arbor, it will be lovely. 

Spring clean-up day

It’s hard to believe that we were up in Santa Fe on Sunday and Monday nights, and it was snowing.  I think we got about 6 inches where we were staying.  Old Town Albuquerque only got a little rain.

Yesterday was cold and a little windy in the afternoon, but my daffodils are valiantly blooming.  Don’t I always pick the worst day for weather to do my spring clean-up?  But I was so far behind in the yard work that I spent the day outside anyway.  I pruned back the butterfly bushes, the tangled dead vines of the honeysuckle, and the arching canes of several Banks rose bushes.  Finally, I cleaned all of the dead leaves out of the beds and the yard.  

It doesn’t sound like much, does it?  But I was outside from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., only stopping for a short time for lunch.  My allergies didn’t start kicking up until I was working with the dead leaves.  Surprisingly, they weren’t too bad once I cleaned up and got all the leaf dust off.

Now the yard looks like a well-tended winter garden--bare but tidy and neatly-trimmed.  The birdies aren't going to like me for a while because I cut back all of the vines and canes where they like to perch.  There's still plenty of perching space, but a lot of the shelter is gone.  I hope that by trimming back all of the honeysuckle vines to the main trunks and stems that the tops will bush out and I'll have more flowers, since the flowers only bloom on this year's new growth.  There should be a lot of that if I haven't killed them.

 

not such a blank slate now

The wisteria has been planted, lost a bunch of leaves and is busy putting out new leaves and vines.  I planted chrysanthemums, irises, hyssop, salvia, grape hyacinth, bamboo and phlox paniculata (upright on tall stalks).  I installed a short walkway of paving stones, moved in a birdbath and created a drip irrigation system.  Except for a couple of salvia seedlings that I may lose, everything is now putting out new growth.

As I look at what else is in my garden at the B&B, I see lots of things I can use to fill in the rest of the courtyard next year--liatris bulbs to divide, yellow lily seeds, Nurembergia and huechera (coral bells) seedlings. 

But no Mexican primrose.  I had planted some of that in a flower bed and it took over.  It spreads by running roots everywhere.  I took it all out but now new plants are growing.  I'll be pulling those out for the next few years.

my latest yard project

This is one of my last yard projects, at least for this year.  The east courtyard is all hardscape, paved, and block and stucco walls.   We have two self-contained water features, hanging flower baskets, and lots of large plants in big pots... and a really long blank wall.  I'd like to have this whole wall covered with greenery, and it will entice more birds into the courtyard.

This courtyard project was taking out the paving stones along the wall about every 6-8 feet and transplanting some Virginia creeper vines. 

The good news is that there was soft dirt under the pavers, so it was easy to add good soil and plant the vines.

The tough part is that the paving stones took some work to get up.  I used a heavy mallet, cold chisel and a large pry bar.   And lots of elbow grease.  Did I mention it's been over 90 degrees?  Even my eyelids were sweating.

Now it's just a matter of liberal watering and watching.  So far the leaves are wilting, but they're still green.  I'm hoping that I'll see some new leaves sprouting in a week or so.

blank slate

Once I took out the prickly pear cactus and the sickly grapes, I saw that the courtyard at our townhouse is nearly empty.  The cholla cactus has a nice shape and grows upward rather than sprawling across the ground.  And there is one other plant left, a kind of yarrow, I think, that I'm willing to let stay there for a while.

I've now planted two wisteria on the arbor, moved a decorative trellis, planted a black-stem bamboo and a chrysanthemum. 

Next up:  putting down some river slate to make a paved walk from the bedroom door to the patio, and bringing extra plants from the B&B (most of which need to be relocated to a sunnier space) to their new home--irises, hyssop, phlox paniculata and Mexican primroses.

Oh, yes, and installing a drip system so all of these plants have some hope of surviving.

never mind Texas--don't mess with prickly pear cactus

It was time--the prickly pear cactus had to be removed.  I'm renovating the small interior courtyard at our townhouse, and the first steps were to take out the grapes and the prickly pear cactus.  I decided the cholla cactus ("CHOY-uh") could stay, but the prickly pear was sick and sprawling all over.  Cactus makes a very effective barrier if you don't want someone jumping over your fence, but we don't need it in the courtyard.  My plan is to plant several wisteria vines on the arbor where the grapes were, some small bamboo in the corner, and some extra plants from the B&B.  Some of them need a location with more sun, and some are just so prolific that I have plenty to spread around.

Did you know that prickly pear cactus not only has the very long thorns that you can see but it also has very tiny little thorns?  They're about 1/16" long and as fine as hairs, but they can still stick in your skin and hurt. They detach very easily and jump onto things like they have static electricity.  They apparently jumped onto the outside of the garbage can, so when my shorts brushed against the garbage can, they got stuck all in my shorts... and my shirt, and my socks.  Using a loofah in the shower definitely tells you where they are in your skin.  So does the towel.  I'll be remembering I took out the cactus for a few days.

Sorry, Texas.  You've got nothing on prickly pear cactus.

I feel like I'm being shunned

My sunflowers are now about seven feet tall and have big flowers blooming. 

But the heads are turned toward the east, facing the school.  What determines the direction sunflowers face?  I thought I had read that sunflowers would follow the sun during the day, so mine should face west for most of the day.  Instead, they're turning their backs on me. 

It reminds me of Miss Piggy tossing her ringlets, snorting "Hmph!" and stomping off. 

surprise garden

I'm not quite sure what everything in my garden is this year.  I intentionally planted the sunflowers that are now about 6 feet tall.  I also planted okra, oregano, parsley and thyme that didn't come up for some reason.  I didn't finish planting the garden, and in the meantime things started coming up on their own.  That entire section on the right is now full of different kinds of squash and melons.  I had thrown scraps out in the garden in the winter, and the seeds started to sprout. 

Remember that HGTV show "Surprise Gardener" from a few years ago?  That's what this feels like.

Now I have a few little...  whatevers... starting to form on the vines.  I think one of them is a butternut squash.  I should probably also have some kind of melons and maybe some cucumbers in there somewhere.  Several volunteer tomato plants came up on the left, but I have no idea what varieties they are. 

I hope I threw out something good last winter.