This makes the daylilies' start time official too: end of May/start of June (first bloom observed yesterday this year). 'Chicago Petticoats' is the only one blooming right now, but others have scapes. All are pretty short even after a full year in the ground, which is nice to my mind because they make a tidy low plant. If I could just remember how long the foliage stays pretty, I might consider popping some daylilies between the crape myrtles in front.
Foliage on the jonquils is starting to die, about the same time as last year.
The pansies in flowerpots out front are miraculously still blooming, which means I have verifiable bloom time from at least December through May (and I planted them pretty late in winter, probably could have started them in September). But, they are looking extremely rough -- very dry, much dead foliage.
A neglect-fueled drought has hit my roses particularly hard. Even the relatively robust climbers now exhibit powdery mildew. Having found a reliable source for copper soap fungicide I'm going to step up to once-a-week spraying and get the watering system in the ground pronto. Last year's notes indicate that they looked awful in late May though 'Brigadoon' down there in the shade looked better (which is exactly the case right now); and then a week or so later they were resurging and Brigadoon looked worse. Will be interesting to see.
Larry has a big crop of lemons that are larger than last year, still green, and not dropping off the boughs. We are pleased.
Our two crape myrtles on the north side of the front (Droopy and Mickey) are consistently wilted -- we have stepped up to watering them every other day or so. Watering system might help there but not necessarily as the two near the driveway (Gunter and Greta) do not need such frequent water.
We have been observing other crape myrtles already in bloom around the area so we think that if we don't kill 'em, we might have an artificially long blooming season there as well.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
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