Its way, way too hot

Here are some snaps I’ve gathered over the last couple weeks.

This is a little plot of canteloupes, watermelons, and pumpkins I planted recently in the backyard. The watermelons are on the left, and were sprouted first, followed by the canteloupes in the middle. The empty mounds on the right had just been planted with pumpkin seeds, which have since begun to sprout.

Blueberry bush, staked with bamboo, seems to be establishing itself fine.

Well, hello, sunny face!

Ladylike gladiolus, in the bright midday sunlight.

Three bright morning glories, I  can’t help but photograph the blooms because they last only one day.

You know what July is good for? Naps in the shade.

The morning glory vines have really overtaken the trellis in just the way I’d hoped. I love the Ikea Solig lights. This is the best picture I have managed to capture of the lights while they are on; it was taken at dusk.

Hello, Beautiful

This morning I was greeted with my first morning glory. It was still early when I let the dog out, and I spied a curled up, bluish form on the trellis. I thought to myself, “wow, in a couple days that could be a flower!” I strolled back through the kitchen ten minutes later in pursuit of  a cup of java, and here she was, in all her glory:

I transplanted those morning glories into the trellis container with the sweet peas barely a week ago, didn’t I? They are positively flourishing, especially since I laid some major Sevin and Sluggo down keep whatever was nomming at them at bay:

I am disappointed that the sweet peas don’t seem to be similarly thriving, I keep them moist and well-fed and they are surely getting plenty of sun. Oh, well.

Maybe next year I should plant just nasturtiums. These bad boys are practically busting out of their pot:

Overall, I think the deck looks nice, lush, and inviting.

“Oh, mom, you KNOW I don’t like my picture tooken!”

The hydrangea bush has been filling up the vase on my kitchen table for two weeks now:

The strawberry hanger is definitely thriving, too. Half the holes are unfilled and I’m constantly tempted to buy sproutlings at HomeLowe’s when I’m there, but I figure the strawberry plants I’m seeing are going to produce plenty of fruit.

Speaking of which, I’d really like a little mini lemon-tree for the deck, but I’ve only seen them at Home Depot (not Pike’s, which was having a sale on shrubs and bushes last week) or Lowe’s, and Home Depot wanted $50 for it. I suppose that’s not completely nuts for a tree, but it was already a pretty big tree. As in, perhaps not the dwarf cultivar specifically bred for container living. So, I passed on it. That, and I’m trying to control myself better at the nursery now that planting season in Georgia is basically over.

As Garden Nerd said, my lettuces are growing back on their own!

My little patch of wildflowers is so raucous. It pleases the part of me that loves chaos. I have also been spying little blooms here and there:

Out front, the gladioluses are going nuts! One of them was so top heavy it had landed face-first in the grass during a recent afternoon shower, and had broken its stem, so I had to prune it. There are two others bursting with blooms in gorgeous organey-pink colors.

The Duchesse is pumping out new blooms:

There are earwigs– nasty little buggies!– all over the place in this plot. Like, every bloom I pull, two or three of the nasty buggers run out. Ick! Ack! Even if they aren’t harming the flowers, they are harming ME. So I bought some Sluggo Plus which claims to chase ‘em away and liberally applied it. I’ll let you know in couple days if it works. Or helps.

Here’s a view of the front porch, with a hanging basket and a railing windowbox. I hate, hate, HATE that bush. My lovely huzgrump, who is not a landscaper, gave it a ferocious haircut when he was home a few weeks ago, so now its bare twigs on one side and sort of just annoys me MORE. I think I will ask him sweetly to just go ahead and chainsaw it to death when he gets home. Partially, I admit, a friend of mine  told me she could envision someone scary hiding behind the bush to “surprise” her (/me) coming home late, in order to gain access to the house.  Its sort of an insane fear, since we use the garage door to go in/out mostly, but still I view the bush with distrust. And, add to the that, the Very Bad Haircut.

Pink and white begonias in both the basket and the windowbox, creeping jenny on the outside edges of the windowbox. I don’t know what it is, but I’m really partial to the begonias. They seem to be the cheap, common “annual” option other than impatiens, which, for some reason, I mostly don’t care for, perhaps because I see them everywhere. Some of the doubled impatiens I’ve seen are pretty, though. But I like the begonias. The windbox frame I bought doesn’t fit that railing in a complex and stupid way, so I bought a cheaper holder at Lowe’s today. I will switch it out. I’m sure I can find somewhere to utilize the one shown; Its adjustable in length and pretty sturdy.

Other things:

I bought packet of heirloom watermelon seeds, a cultivar named “Georgia Rattlesnake.” How could I resist! I potted the seeds; they’ll need to be thinned if/when they sprout. It was $1.79 at Pike’s and I have plenty left for future years. I also bought a packet of canteloupe seed but I haven’t planted those yet. I gave in to temptation and bought a small, 2.5 qt potted Sunny Knockout Rose at the Pike sale; it was $5 instead of the usual $15. It smells lovely in the heat of the afternoon– don’t you hate those rose hybrids with no fragrance? I picked up packets of Foxglove  in mixed colors and Forget-Me-Nots in blue, and scattered them under the plum tree, betwixt the transplanted monkey grass and Lily of the Valley. Both of these flowers are perennial and tolerate partial shade, so I’m hopeful that they will fill out that area a little; $1.25 a packet.

I also picked up to tomato sproutlings: one  a grape hybrid, another an heirloom variety called Mr. Stripey. I bought tomato seeds earlier in the year from Renee’s Garden, but they would not sprout! Even in special seed-sprouting mix and seed-sprouting cups. I was very frustrated. But I still want tomatoes. Also I picked up an oregano sprout, because I also didn’t get any action from my Renee’s Garden seeds. I figure that I’m a beginner and those are beginner’s losses. I think I will follow my friend Jen’s lead and next spring, start sprouting seeds earlier, indoors, with a light and a controlled environment, somewhere far away from where kitty cats can get to.

I did some weeding in the rose plot and hopefully we will get a rain-free afternoon so I can spread fresh mulch without worrying about creating mold-friendly conditions. I also need to pot up my second tomato (Mr. Stripey), my oregano, my new rose. I really ought to mow today, but I have too much other stuff going on in preparation for the week ahead.

An actual house-related update: laundry closet 1.5

I say 1.5 because it still needs to be painted and refloored, as part of the kitchen. But this was a small project I could tackle this  week, so I did.

Here’s the before (literally, when we were still shopping the house, before we even decided to buy it):

Those are some sweet ’60′s vinyl accordion doors, with gold flecks. They are in less-than-mint condition, with some of the screws holding them into to the walls just baaaarely hanging on. Here’s the shelving with all the cleaning products left behind by the former owner:

So, what I did is a little bit of reorganizing with some baskets I already owned (although I was tempted to buy cute new ones!), I took down the accordion doors, patched the holes left behind (in anticipation of painting), and put up the curtain rod and curtains.

First let me apologize for the terrible pictures. I’m no photographer.

The curtains, from Ikea, are a heavy twill in a bleached shade, with thick-n-thin dark gray stripes. It might not look spectacular with the linoleum floor, but I’m planning on getting rid of that as soon as is possible with my schedule.

Top left is a plastic basket from Target with the heavy-duty cleaning stuff (like for bathrooms & kitchen). Top right holds cleaning rags, actual rags from cut-up old towels and such. The basket on the bottom right holds tablecloths, kitchen towels and dishcloths. As in, dear husband, what you don’t use to wipe up cat vomit or scrub the floor. Darling husband.

We have two different shelves in the bathroom, one for our regular daily towels, and one for the guests. It just seems normal to me to keep a set that is as nice as possible for when people do stay over. Anyway, both sets are white because I like to be able to bleach bathroom linens on occasion. But they have very different banding patterns! Heh, not something my darling, darling husband would notice. So, to train him which shelf to use, I put painter’s tape in an X across the guest shelf and left it taped off for a couple months. It worked.

Heh, anyway, more shots.

Iron holder from Ikea. I love it because its all metal, so you can put a hot iron back into it. Which is good for a house of klutzes and cats. The bit I have the cord wrapped around can also be used to hold an actual ironing board. Our house came with an ironing board (from the 50′s!) and a holder in the den closet, so I didn’t move it.

The basket crammed in the top left corner has more cleaning-related stuff like those toilet bowl drops, scrubby pads, etc. Just below it is a similar basket with those reusable shopping bags, such as the Big Blue Ikea bags I always have to buy since I can’t ever remember to bring my own. On the far left, stuffed full of plastic grocery bags, is a little holder we got at Ikea a while ago, we reuse those bags to pick up dog poo on walks. Next to it are my blue rubber cleaning gloves. I hang them like that to dry. The Tide bottle is filled with gooey, slimy homemade laundry soap, which is really fun to make.

Last snap:

Its a magnetic hook (provenance forgotten) with a mesh laundry sack. I fill it with used discloths and kitchen towels between loads, so they can get some air and not get manky in a regular hamper.

I’m pleased with what I was able do with a $20 pair of curtains, a rod and baskets I already owned. Oh, yeah, I had to buy some drywall anchors, another $3. I would very much like to paint and re-floor, and maybe get some magazine quality matchy-matchy baskets up there. But for now, its way better and I am pleased.

First harvest

Today I decided to celebrate my successes with a mini-harvest. I grocery shopped today and picked up some price-y mozzarella and some ripe on-the-vine tomatoes, intent on making a tomato-basil salad.

First, I scissor-clipped some mesclun greens, as per the instructions of Garden Nerd:

and hand-picked a small bunch of basil:

Here’s the salad!

I liberally applied the mozzarella and dressed it simply with salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and a good quality extra virgin olive oil.

It was really delicious. Wow, those mesclun greens, grown from seeds which I purchased from ReneesGarden.com, were just terrific. I get really “meh” about bland lettuce that doesn’t taste like anything. These have a really strong, earthy, herby flavor, and you could really tell that there were multiple varieties going on. Loved it! What a great find!

The basil was fine. I can’t rave about it, but its not because there was anything wrong with it. It was just a more Italian, classically “spicy” basil when I think I prefer the sweeter varieties. It was also kind of “tough”, not the tender leaves I normally get with sweet basil varieties. It is, by the way, the Cameo Container Basil from Renee’s Garden. Its really, really flavorful and I bet it will make spectacular pesto at the end of the summer. I do love a good pesto! I think next spring I will try another variety, maybe the Sweet Green Basil type.

Oh man, cruising that site is dangerous. Especially that “What to Plant in June” link…

Memorial weekend: summer arrives

A few days ago, I sat out on the deck studying for my Organic Chemistry exam and I was joined by the sweetest little butterfly. He spent a good ten minutes just lounging on my foot. I grabbed a few snaps (pardon my poor photography skills):

Everything is growing well. I better start eating those mesclun greens and cilantro (left;  basil and sweet peas on right):

Clockwise from top left:

Parsley, sweet peas in windowbox, sweet peas in trellis box, basil:

A view of the row of beautiful plants in various stages of growth on my deck. Notice the boisterous blooms on those nasturtiums!

Close-up on those nasturtiums:

Little sunflower buds at the base of my callas:

It seems as though my strawberry planter has thus far escaped (much) molestation from the resident chipmunks and squirrels:

Look at the blooms coming up on the hydrangea in my backyard! This was planted by the previous homeowner, and all I have done is fertilize and water it. This is not my greatest photographic work, but I promise that the blooms are a perfectly gorgeous shade of bluish-lilac:

I finally transplanted that peace lily under the plum tree. He was outgrowing his pot and seemed kinda sickly in general, even though I kept him shady and well-watered. Perhaps I am overthinking it, but I really think he seems happier already:

That gifted monkey grass seems to be taking hold very well!

Here are my wildflowers. I can’t tell what’s a weed from what’s a flower, so its all chaotic in there. I really don’t mind at all, though. At least its not bare dirt anymore.

I thought JC, at least, might enjoy a shot of the deck from the yard. The big window you see is the one into our den. We spend most of our at-home leisure time in there, its where the TV is and where our laptops live. I love being able to see the lovelies I’ve planted coming up every day. I love seeing the trellis light up at night. I hope those sweet peas start climbing!

That sweet green card table to the right of the window was a freebie from a friend of ours. Not exactly the chic patio furniture I’d  like, but it works just fine. We have nice, deep eaves, so I fold it up and lean it against the house when not in use and its plenty sheltered from the rain right there.

A little to the right of the card table is my potting table. Its a re-purposed Ikea kitchen cart, covered with (please don’t hate me) a plastic Target tablecloth cut to size and “hemmed” with duct tape. YUP, THAT IS HOW I ROLL. I figured tacky was better than ruining the top of the cart.  The window above it is the one in my kitchen, in the breakfast nook, which is really our “dining room” as I have turned the real dining room into an office/craft room. I clearly have my priorities straight. Yarn storage first, eating second.

These gloves used to be light blue. Now they are the color of WORK. I have two watering cans, two jars of birdseed (which mostly feed the darned chipmunks), a little lantern filled with citronella oil, and the small green bud vase I use for my Duchesse clippings:

Have I mentioned lately what a wonderful husband I have? I see pricey birdfeeders at the Pike’s Nursery, and he goes home and makes me a much cheaper (and chock-full of love) replica with scrap wood and some screen:

Out to the front yard, and I discovered the gardenia bush blooming! I didn’t think it would bloom this year. But I nabbed a half-dozen of them, careful to leave as many leaves as possible on the fledgling shrub:

Hello, beautiful:

The Duchesse is practically bursting with new growth. I’m really pleased, she seems to be doing well. All I am doing is chasing away the bad bugs with Sevin, and fertlizing every few weeks. Also my husband set up a nifty little irrigation system with bubblers:

The Knockout is also jumping up!

One of the gladioluses seems just about ready to bloom. These bad boys are enormous. Knee-high on me. They are dwarfing the shrubs, but that’s only this year. I think in the future years they will balance better:

The previous homeowner had something of a green thumb and this spring I’ve been enjoying the products of her handiwork, including these daylillies, ringing the bases of the pines in our front yard:

Yes, I need to mow. *sigh*

Last, but not least, the gardenia blooms I clipped, floating in a glass bowl. It was a wedding gift from my sister. They smell positively heavenly:

Garden update

So, things are coming along nicely. The herbs and flowers are coming along, although nothing other than the Duchesse is flowering yet (except for the ones I bought recently at HomeLowe’s, which were already in flower).

The latest blooms off the Duchesse:

I have been pruning her a couple times a week. Well, not pruning so much as removing her blooms in full flower, being careful not to remove any leaves if possible. Since she is less than a year old, its important to prune delicately. The Sevin spray I picked up seems to have taken care of whatever was nomming her leaves, because the  damage has not spread. Here she is, pre-pruning:

And here she is with her companions:

The gladioluses in front are really popping up. Their leaves, anyway. I have yet to see a bud or even a proper stem. The knockout rose seems to be acclimating well:

Behind and to the right is a plant that seems to be popping up around in this plot and nearby under the big camellia bushes. It has very unusual veining patterns, with several prominent veins running parallel along the leaf, rather than the typical branching formation. It doesn’t look very much like a weed– in fact, there are even small thorns on its stems. I haven’t pulled it up since I’m not sure what it is and I am curious to see what it does. Here’s a closer shot:

Any ideas?

Here’s the gardenia, which, like the knockout rose, seems to be acclimating well to its new home:

The yellowing of the older leaves seems to be going away, even, and there is plenty of new green growth. I’m pleased!

Also out front, I didn’t think the lillies of the valley were thriving. They weren’t dying, exactly, but they also weren’t making much progress. So, I decided to transplant them into the backyard, under the plum tree, to see if they do better there. I replaced them with a selection of shade-loving begonias from HomeLowe’s, already in bloom. Here are two extreme close-ups, since its hard to get a decent shot facing out from the shady porch, with my iPhone and poor camera skills:

The other day, we discovered that our county gives away compost– very rich, black, loamy compost– available  daily for pickup. Luckily, we have a truck, so we picked up a truckload, and  I moved around some brick stones left behind by the previous owner (not, actually, what I would have chosen, but they are here and they are free!), and filled it with the new compost. Then, I planted some monkey grass donated by a friend and my transplanted lilies of the valley. It should be nice and shady here, with some filtered sunlight getting through, good conditions for the lilies and tolerable for the monkey grass:

Here’s one of the transplanted lilies. I scattered them  between the monkey grass patches, as I’m told they are proliferate well on their own:

Here are the wildflowers I “planted” (more like “scattered”) in the bare patch in front of the deck. I see lots of things popping up, and I hope at least a couple aren’t weeds:

Although only about half of the strawberry plants seem to have established themselves, the ones left seem to be doing well, in the hanging planter. I might fill in the empties with some small plants later on.

I am so excited that strawberries are in season. I bought a big ol’ box from the Farmer’s Market this week and am making strawberry shortcake tonight. Yum!

The basil is coming up, slowly but surely. I hope to find a suitable place in the yard to plant these, and thin out the pots a bit:

The chives, however, aren’t really progressing much. I’ve read that they don’t like “scorching” sun so maybe I need to find them somewhere a little more sheltered:

But, wow, check out these mesclun greens! Practically ready for the salad bowl already:

Same story with the cilantro. I even transplanted some into a pot for a friend, and reseeded that patch, so I’ll have coming up at intervals:

The parsley is coming up…. sparsely (SORRY!):

The sweet peas in the windowbox are coming along nicely:

The nasturtiums are really filling out, I hope they bud soon!

The callas are positively glorious. They need to be transferred to a larger pot, I’m pretty sure. And next to them, the morning glories are falling behind a little, but still seem healthy. Perhaps they are getting a bit too much sun?

And the petunias and the “strawberry fields” hybrid I saved a week ago? They are positively bursting with color and blooms:

Look at those happy blooms!

And the only black-eyed susan to sprout seems to hanging on, too. I kept her in the hanging basket, with the petunia hybrids and the “strawberry fields” flower, with plenty of sunlight and space:

The sweet pea vines are still coming along, and I’ve given them some floral wire to cling to, to help guide them to the trellis:

We picked up some solar-panel mini-globe lights at Ikea, and strung them on the trellis. The effect, at night, is quite pretty. I am pleased and I think we’ll be getting a few more sets from Ikea next time we’re there:

(That’s a toy dead bunny in the background.) Here’s the solar panel, pretty discreet but it works really well:

“You are such a sucker for a hard-luck story.”

Today, my husband and I stopped by HomeLowe’s to pick up a propane tank for our grill. I tricked him into letting me browse the nursery, and so of course I came home with new plants.

Remember that hanging basket of black-eyed susans? I planted them a month ago and have been anxiously checking on them. Well, only one of the seeds sprouted, and I have been really bummed about that, wanting something pretty to put in that spot.

I dragged my husband around the long aisles of perennials, and browsed the seed packets forever. I was hoping to find something that would trail, was appropriate to plant this late in the spring, and that would bring the butterflies and hummingbirds around.  I finally got around to the annuals aisle, where, of course, I found some:

In case you can’t read those labels, they are Superbells Cherry Blossom and Supertunia Pink Charm. I was immediately smitten by their pinky-purple cups and their advertised attraction to butterflies and hummingbirds. I hesitated, though, and lamented to my husband,

“I really like these, but they are more expensive than seeds, and seeds are so fun! You get see them get born and nurture them as they grow up.”

He responded, “Wow, I really need to knock you up.”

The truth!

I was just about set to go when I laid eyes on this poor, beat up little girl:

Her name is The Ravers Strawberry Fields. You know I love strawberries, and this plant is midsize and upright, perfect for the center of a hanging basket, and attractive to hummingbirds.

Now, I’m smart enough to know that you aren’t supposed to buy a plant in poor condition, so I searched high and low for one like her in better condition. I was disappointed, however. Disappointed to actually ask one of the HomeLowe’s employees. She was at her register, but her line was empty. She pointed me towards “the back room” which was just some row of racks in the parking lot. I searched those, no luck. Dejectedly, I returned sad Strawberry to her place, and went to the register with the cashier I’d just spoken to.

She asked, “You didn’t find another?”

“No, unfortunately.”

“Well, where did you put the banged-up one?”

“Oh, I put it back.”

“Well, you know, we can’t sell it, so I can give it to you and you can take a crack at reviving it.”

“… Give?”

“Yup.”

“Yes, thank you!”

My husband rolled his eyes and said, “You are such a sucker for a hard-luck story.”

The truth.

And I grinned foolishly all the way home.  I mean, who doesn’t love getting something for free, right? But even more than that, I love that this poor little sweet thing isn’t going to end up composted, and I at least get a chance to bring her back to her glory! I’m so excited to try. So, I pruned her a bit, and planted her high and proud in the center of the basket. I added the other three plants, and left the one black-eyed susan seedling in case she is strong enough to keep going. I fertilized and watered, and now I’m just hoping for the best:

I also snagged a shepherd’s hook for the strawberry planter and did some magic at the back fence to get it to stay up:

This is late afternoon, so the planter seems like its in the shadows, but it gets plenty of sun there during the day.

Last, but not least. I can’t have any nice things:

Because I have two very, very bad cats:

Doppio, tiny and evil.

And Dante, fat and demonic.

The baddest cats in the whole wide world.