Today I redid all our flowerpots on the front and back porches. Amazingly, the garish pinwheel-looking impatiens on the front porch survived for two years, through drought and freezes, until a month or so ago when we had what must have been one freeze too many.
Delicate "Sorbet" violas went into every pot -- the Natural Gardener had an incredibly lovely color for sale this year and I just bought half a flat of it, never mind trying to mix and match colors. There isn't any color of "Sorbet" violas I don't love, but this one is a cream shade with a very delicate feathery thin edge of lavender-blue. I think it must be the one called "Coconut Swirl." Anyway, I just slathered it into every pot; the nursery also was selling some particularly nice "Parade" miniature roses -- perfect hybrid tea form in a pale blush ("Breeze Parade"?) and also a creamy white with a tiny pink tinge to the edges ("Bianca Parade"?), so I mixed those in with a few rosemary sprigs. I'm pretty sure the rosemary won't enjoy the same conditions as the violas and roses, but it's a very tough little plant so we'll see. I'm tired of not having any rosemary to nibble on and cook with, so I will take what I can get.
Then I fertilized all the narcissus and iris. Both the spuria iris I planted and the mystery iris I inherited have come up strong this year, but not a bud scape among them -- I'm hoping the "Buds and Blooms" (aka magical rabbit poo) will fix that. The new Narcissus "Grand Primo" are huge, but only managed a couple of flowers as of yet; the new ones are even larger than the established "Grand Primos." The "Thalia" narcissus came up a little smaller, and the early Louisiana jonquils are just spindly little things ... but with buds! They've never bloomed for me before, so I'm very excited.
Showing posts with label Rosemary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosemary. Show all posts
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Narcissus sprouted; crapes dormant
Saw yesterday that my Grand Primo narcissus are back in full force, a vigorous stand of green stalks. Not sure how long they've been up because lately I've either been indoors in the cold, or traveling in the heat.
Weird December weather's taken a toll on the spinach and pansies -- alternating from light, wet freezes to 70s and dry has left them spindly. TV folk are actually forecasting snow for Christmas, so if that comes true it's back in the garage for them!
Trying also to keep several holiday rosemary topiaries healthy. Overwatering has turned some parts black, but I've been good about getting them lots of daylight.
In the past week the baby crapes have dropped all their leaves and in the grand tradition of my family I am completely convinced they are dead.
After two years of experiments (results recorded here) we are ready to commit to bedding plants for the back bed. I'll design a watering system and sketch a plan with the following solid performers: dwarf purple ruellia; rosemary officinalis; Grand Primo.
The plan is to have a few rosebushes along the back (because I love them, not because they do well); then a belt of rosemary for scent, vigor and permanent greenery; then edge the bed with ruellia. Between the lines of rosemary and ruellia I plan to tuck the Grand Primo and whichever bulbs I like to experiment with. That way there will be green most of the year (ruellia is green right now, for example -- I think it croaks in the heat) and it won't look as odd when the bulbs pop up or die back.
Weird December weather's taken a toll on the spinach and pansies -- alternating from light, wet freezes to 70s and dry has left them spindly. TV folk are actually forecasting snow for Christmas, so if that comes true it's back in the garage for them!
Trying also to keep several holiday rosemary topiaries healthy. Overwatering has turned some parts black, but I've been good about getting them lots of daylight.
In the past week the baby crapes have dropped all their leaves and in the grand tradition of my family I am completely convinced they are dead.
After two years of experiments (results recorded here) we are ready to commit to bedding plants for the back bed. I'll design a watering system and sketch a plan with the following solid performers: dwarf purple ruellia; rosemary officinalis; Grand Primo.
The plan is to have a few rosebushes along the back (because I love them, not because they do well); then a belt of rosemary for scent, vigor and permanent greenery; then edge the bed with ruellia. Between the lines of rosemary and ruellia I plan to tuck the Grand Primo and whichever bulbs I like to experiment with. That way there will be green most of the year (ruellia is green right now, for example -- I think it croaks in the heat) and it won't look as odd when the bulbs pop up or die back.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Spuria iris, lemon verbena planted
Yesterday planted six spuria iris along the back of the big bed; supposed to reach 5 ft high -- and not supposed to bloom the first year, so since they are said to bloom Sept-Oct. I think (hope) I have only a year to wait. The instructions say fertilize 'em heavily, stop watering if they go dormant, and they love alkaline clay soil. So bless 'em, they should be happy here.
The varieties are: Protege, Hasarya, Art and Soul, Olinda, Megagold and In Depth.
Also today -- in the hundred-degree heat -- we planted two tiny sprigs of 'Tuscan Blue' rosemary and two good-sized starter lemon verbenas, as a souvenir of the Italy trip. Jason loved the herbal tea we were served at the guest house in Tuscany; our hostess showed him the plant and told us it was called 'lippia,' but struggled to come up with its English equivalent. A little Internet searching after we got home revealed it:
Also purchased yesterday 3 bags of corn gluten. Since we can see weeds going to seed in the yard it's clearly time (also the sign outside theGreat Outdoors said it's 'Corn Gluten Time'!) This will be our first year giving it a try and I don't know if we'll need all three bags.
The varieties are: Protege, Hasarya, Art and Soul, Olinda, Megagold and In Depth.
Also today -- in the hundred-degree heat -- we planted two tiny sprigs of 'Tuscan Blue' rosemary and two good-sized starter lemon verbenas, as a souvenir of the Italy trip. Jason loved the herbal tea we were served at the guest house in Tuscany; our hostess showed him the plant and told us it was called 'lippia,' but struggled to come up with its English equivalent. A little Internet searching after we got home revealed it:
Also purchased yesterday 3 bags of corn gluten. Since we can see weeds going to seed in the yard it's clearly time (also the sign outside theGreat Outdoors said it's 'Corn Gluten Time'!) This will be our first year giving it a try and I don't know if we'll need all three bags.
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