Wow! WS Buddleja blooms!

I had no idea that so many WS perennials would bloom the first year. Last year I DID start some perennial seeds under lights in the basement (hollyhocks and lupine) and I was surprised with the lupine actually bloomed the same spring. The hollyhocks, however, didn't bloom until this year.

So when I sowed all those perennial seeds in recycled plastic jugs this past winter, I did not really expect to see blooms the same year. Annuals, yes. Perennials? No, not really.

Boy was I wrong. In fact I updated the Flower page and listed all the WS perennials that are either blooming now or in bud.

But I think I'm happiest about are the 12-20 butterfly bushes that are budding out every day. Some are as high as my waist and still growing! (The plants, sillies, not my waist! *grin*) I honestly don't know how many bushes I have, some planting holes got more than 1 plant. I'm tickled pink, uh... purple! :-D

The biggest surprise, the 'knock me down with a feather' shocker is that my WS'd Dwarf Mustead lavender plants are beginning to bloom. How crazy is that?

For a complete list of WS perennial blooms visit my Propagation page (click here). You could also visit my updated Flower page (click here) where I show what's blooming in each bed. Meanwhile I'm going to update the Garden project page soon with info on the deck rebuild and new privacy fence. (It's always something to keep me from doing too much of that 'sitting down' thing I've heard tell about...!) Stay tuned! :-D

Let's talk toad...

Can you have a 'bumper crop' of toads? Maybe a bounty, or a plethora, or just plain lots.

I've enjoyed coming across the occasional toad in the garden or mulch over the years and they are always so welcome! I used to have 3 or 4 that I knew of spread over the 1.25 acres.

Not last summer but the summer before the sunroom and front stoop were invaded by carpenter ants. And while I try to avoid using chemicals around here, there was no pussy-footing around. But I didn't call in the 'big boys', but instead found a professional insecticide formula and then sprayed the exterior of the house myself. I used half-strength and did not re-apply as frequently as listed. Within 8 weeks I was ant-free. Instructions said to keep applying to prevent future invasions. Now that would just be overkill to my mind. Why keep poisoning all the GOOD bugs just to 'maybe' get some baddies.

Besides, I just knew, in my heart of hearts, that my foray into extermination put toads, birds, and other creepy crawlers at risk. I was so concerned about the effects of the insecticide that every morning (it was in June) I would get up before dawn and go out and sweep up all the dead and dying June bugs under the security lamp and bury them in the compost pile so the Jays and other birds didn't eat them. I even put trays under the light so that the June bugs didn't fall onto the ground so the toads wouldn't eat them. As careful as I was, I only had one toad that year -- and eventually it dissappeared.

This year, however, all is well. Better than well! This place is hopping with toads! It seems that every bed or corner has a resident toad. They tend to stay in a small area and claim it as their own. The toads measure maybe 3" long and (like this guy in the pic) spend the day backed into a cool hole to keep their skin from drying out. I've counted at least 13 toads and thought I was lucky. But yesterday I was really surprised to see several new ones in the mix. These are this year's toads probably come up from the pond over in the golf course. They are small, maybe the size of the end of my thumb.

Apparantly the drought is not affecting them. It may be that I use lots of mulch and there are still places where last years leaf mold is deep enough to shelter them during the day. And I know there are at least 3 under the deck. What a treat to have them around!
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On other topics, Trixie (the rescued Yorkie) left for her new home yesterday. She will be missed, but we're just glad that she has a new 'forever home' now.
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And while I don't post here as much as I'd like to, I do keep up with my great tomato adventure. Click on over to the Vegetable Page and check it out.

Where are all the bumblebees?

First off, let me do a little boasting (for which I should honestly take no credit) about the success of the hollyhocks I started from seed (mixed colors, doubles) last spring. While last year they never bloomed and the plants themselves didn't get any bigger than footballs, they came on like gangbusters this season. The tallest spike is just over 8 feet !!


And how clever of them to sort themselves out: the tall red right next to the arbor, the shorter whites flanking it and the more petite peaches-n-cream coming up with one of the whites. And they are attracting honeybees and solitary bees. Unfortunately the Jap beetles delight in burrowing into the blossoms and I have to dig them out.

I'm seeing honeybees, solitary bees, hover bees, sweat bees, etc. etc. I even tolerate the many carpenter bees (oh my poor shed). But I've not seen at all this year is even one bumblebee. Nada. Zip. I've been reading that they are in bad trouble this year and the total lack thereof seems to bear that out. I really miss those big 'teddy bear' bees.

I am, however, seeing many more of the green metallic bees this year, especially on the coneflowers and sunflowers.

Local honeybees are having a grand time on the white clover, the still blooming Johnson's Blue geranium (going on 9 weeks now!), the many varieties of zins, sunflowers and phlox.

And then there are the butterflies... wow... but I'll do a separate post about them later.

Bottom line the place is buzzin'. I just wish there were some big friendly bumbles in the mix.

Ring garden attracts more than just bees!

So I'm washing up some dishes and looking out the window toward the Ring garden and glimpse movement in the deep clover. Something small and furry. Is it a 'possom? A 'coon? A... a... dog? Omigosh! I rushed outside.

When I approached her, the little thing ran back through the wet grass and clover toward the tall weeds by the golf course. It took some time to coax her out (actually I had to get hold of her and bring her out). She was wet and shaking and her skin was all inflamed. I brought her up to the breezeway and wrapped her in a warm towel. Where did she come from? No collar. No tag.

I called all the organizations I could think of: local animal control, humane society, etc. None of them could offer any help! (So much for my years of supporting the Humane Society!) Next I checked out all local papers, Craig's list, etc. for any entries concerning a lost Yorkie. Nada! What to do?

The timing of the rescue was awful. I was packing up to leave for the holiday (4th) weekend and couldn't take care of a lost sick dog at this point. I went to my neighbors, explained the situation, and (with their hearts of gold), readily agreed to share her rescue.

After a vets' examination, her inflamed skin was diagnosed as a staph infection and is being treated with antibiotics. During the evening Trixie (we call her) stays with the nabes. During the day while they are at work I take care of her.

The vet thinks she might have been dumped because he said that in this economy heartless stupid people would rather just 'throw away' a pet they can't afford rather than do the humane thing and either find them new homes or have them quietly put down.

I admit I briefly toyed with the idea of adopting Trixie myself, but knew it wasn't a good match. If i were to have a dog it would have to be a more substantial breed, one that could help me in the garden, chase Frisbees, play tug, etc. A bigger dog.

Meanwhile she is getting well, gaining strength and showing every sign of bonding with my neighbor. (*grin*). We're taking good care of the Trixter and checking out several potential new owners. I'm sure that in no time this little girl's story will soon have a happy ending! :-D

Bees, bees and more bees

It was near the end of July in 2008 when I first thought about catering to bees and pollinators. At that time there were lots of annuals in bloom and bees were everywhere.

Now, at the end of June 2009, not many annuals are in bloom right now and probably half of the wintersown perennials may not even bloom this season. What IS blooming now are several large hostas (like the lovely blue Elegans shown here serving a very busy bee) and drifts of white clover. (I mentioned in a previous post that the white clover started blooming very early this year and, as I predicted based on that, it's turning out to be a very dry season. But at least the temps don't get much into the 80s.)

I was worried that there wasn't much to attract bees this early (prior to the zins blooming), but I was pleasantly surprised by 2 new perennials I planted LAST year. The Johnson Blue geranium started blooming about 6 weeks ago and is going strong. It was a small, basketball-sized mound last year. This year it is nearly 6 feet across and 3 feet tall and loaded with blooms and more buds! It was given to me by my mother who decided it wasn't doing much and wanted to get rid of it. Woohoo! The pic shows a hungry honeybee on a blossom. The plant is usually full of honeybees, solitary bees, hover/sweat bees, and other little darty things.

Another blue wonder is the Walker's Low catmint which has been blooming even LONGER than the geranium and gets just as much traffic.

So my fears were groundless. The bees are finding forage and even this afternoon I see more perennial goodness coming on for them. My ancient (8 year old) Munstead lavender is just starting to open. There is also color on the buds of a pink garden phlox. And while the emerging daylillies (several blooms over the past 2 days) and constant zonal geraniums don't ever seem to attract anything, they are providing nice pops of color.

So, many new developments. Mostly good. One bad, though. I've had to start picking #@(#&* Japanese beetles off the budding zins and the hollyhocks (which should just be labeled beetle browse!).

Now, don't leave yet. Click over to the Vegetable Page for some SURPRISING updates! (Go ahead. Click. You know you want too... ;-D )

Solstice - Catching up

I know it's been a while since I last posted. A lot has happened lately and I've not had time to chronicle my adventures in a timely manner. I'm sure that you as fellow gardeners are in similar positions at this time of year too (mostly bent over or lugging something heavy from one place to another, no doubt!).

I'm trying to catch up on my posts. To that effect you can see that 3 of my 4 additional blog pages (see top of sidebar) have been updated with newsy items with lots of pics.

To read how planting out into the new Ring garden is progressing, click HERE.

To follow my exciting tomato adventures, click HERE.

And finally to find out how my basement attempts at rooting hard- and softwood cuttings turned out, click HERE.

Meanwhile I've posted a picture of the arbor garden. The 3 hollyhocks started from seeds last spring have surprised the heck out of me by their rapid growth this year. The one closest to the arbor is well over 6' tall and still growing. I can't wait to see what colors they are.

And from reading my current posts, you'll know that while there is a nice comfy chair shown in the picture, it never gets used and is obviously just for show. ;-D

Clover time

Talk about precocious! The lack of rain and above average temps have turned up the heat on the white clover. It is blooming! I hope this isn't a sign that it's going to be a long hot DRY summer. *whimper*

But the honeybees are sure enjoying the early flush. I'm happy to see so many climbing all over the sweet-smelling blooms. But could I find any to photograph when I showed up with the camera? Noo-oo. But they're there. Trust me! :-D

Fortunately we DID get a little rain Thursday evening, though not near enough what we need. However, I took it as a sign that it might be time to start planting out into the new RING garden. Click HERE for more info. Meanwhile, I'm off for another day of planting, etc. Stay tuned...