Ladies Petticoat Columbine Has Been Planted

If you are a long-time reader of my blog, you know that my big pet peeve is posted macros without showing how the plant actually looks in the landscape.

As I did yesterday with the columbine.

That pic gives you no idea of the actual size of this plant nor how it looks incorporated into a garden. That is why we are so often unhappy with plants we order from big nursery catalogs--they know the macro trick makes their plant so much better than it is.

When I got home from work this afternoon, I planted the columbines. They are small flowers and really have no presence on their own. I felt they needed to be near a big rock to give them some interest and that is where I planted them.

You see three in this picture. I also planted one in front of a different large rock about 4 feet away from these.

I think another purple/pink is just what I need in the rockwall area. :)

Live Eagle Cam

I was visiting Kerry's blog this morning. She posted a link to this incredible live video cam of an Eagle's nest. It has audio so can hear them chirping (or whatever it is eagles do).

I lucked out the mother eagle was there on my first try.

Go here to visit the nest and stop by Kerry's blog to thank her for alerting us to this incredible cam.

The picture was taken from here, where you can find some background information and other interesting stuff.

Columbine Ladies Petticoat

DH took a bag of pine needles to his mother who lives in the city and likes the pine needles for mulch for her acid-loving plants. She sent him back home with 4 of these Columbine that she grew from seed. She said they are called "Ladies Petticoat", presumably because they resemble a petticoat.

They are quite pretty.
I will have to find a place to plant them tomorrow.

Almost Done Hauling Furniture

We put the large white table way down at the end of the garden.
See it waaaaaaaay done there?


I only put out two chairs this year because it is a pain to keep these clean. All of the pine tree debris fall upon the table and chairs. I am always hauling out a bucket of soap and water to clean everything off, so two less chairs will help.

Because it is very shady, this is a nice area to take the Sunday newspaper and a cup of coffee on a hot summer day. It is also a nice place to sit and view the main borders when they are in full bloom.

Have you noticed that I like a lot of seating areas around my garden?
You can never have too many places to sit a moment just to enjoy all of your hard work.

We have just one more big table to bring out from the basement. It's the glass table that goes on the deck. We will probably do that tomorrow.


This primrose picture makes it in tonight just because it's very pretty and all these blooms will only last about another week.

Extra, Extra! Read All About It!

Want your own newspaper headline?
Check it out here.

I Brought Out the Table and Chairs

for the woodland area today.
I decided to use twigs for the centerpiece because I did not want to have to go out there to water it every day.

The alliums are almost all in bloom now (except for some Christopheri in the front).


If you click on this, you can also see some of the big orange poppies just starting in the back (near the smaller arbor).

astute readers may notice that I changed this photo. I added flowers to the arbors and this photo shows them.

The Swan Turned Into

this ugly duckling!
In less than a week it turned from beautiful to this....

It is such a short-lived pleasure. Now I will just enjoy the shade it will provide when the weather turns hot.

Lucky for me, though, I now get to enjoy my neighbor's gorgeous crabs which I can see while I sit on my deck and from my living room window. Aren't they magnificient?

I am so lucky to have a neighbor directly across the street who takes care of his yard.

Weed Digger Tool in Question?

Alice, this is the tool I have. Is this what you were talking about?

I used it today to remove some grass from this snow-in-the-summer, which is another difficult mat-type plant. It worked quite well and was not as invasive as my other method.

That's what I love about blogging -- I learn so much from my readers!

Thanks, Alice, for another good tip.

Weeding Tool?

Alice left this comment

Zoey - have you tried using a digging fork instead of a shovel? I think you may get the same result without actually disturbing the soil or the roots so much. I don't mean a little hand fork; a four-pronged fork with a handle about waist height.

Hmmm, Alice, no, I have not. I am not quite sure just what the digging fork is, but I am going to see what I can find on the net.

The only other tool I ever use is this little fork thing. I just call it my "dandelion puller". It works great to get under individual weeds deep enough to get the root.

Oh my gosh, as I am typing this, I think I figured out what you mean, Alice. Is it like a pitchfork? Because I think I have one in the shed that I never use.

The Beginning of My Own Bottle Tree?

I was gifted with this bottle of wine today.

The first thing I thought of was that cobalt blue bottle tree! LOL

Nancy stopped by and left this comment:
...A lot of the old bottle trees had blue bottles on them. Some were the milk of magnesia bottles, but I think a lot of the bottles started out clear and turned blue. There is/was something about older glass bottles that seemed to make this happen.

Thanks, Nancy, for the input, which I found interesting. Perhaps that is why so many people now use blue bottles.

Turn Your Head for 3 Days

And the weeds (grass) takes over!


I am always being asked, "isn't it hard to keep the weeds out of that?"

They are talking about the creeping phlox.

And yes, thank you for your concern, it certainly is!






When I get a big patch of grass like this one, I use a shovel to dig down under the roots and pop up the whole shovel full.
I then use my hands to loosen the soil underneath by pulling and shaking (I could not photograph that as I had no free hand for the camera).








Once the soil is good and lose, I turn it back over and grab the grass close to the soil level and just pull it out.




It works quite well to get most of the grass roots without doing too much damage to the phlox.

Notice the gloves I am wearing? They are very thin latex gloves (used mainly for handling food). I like to use them because it helps to be able to feel more than is possible with regular gardening gloves. Of course, bare hands would be even better, but I try to protect my nails as much as possible.


Here is the same area with the grass freshly removed.
I don't think it looks too bad considering all the trauma I just subjected it to.

Bolting Rhubarb

Does anyone know why my rhubarb thinks the season is over when it's just beginning?

This is the second year it has bolted (shot up those flower stalks for nongardeners out there) in May.

I am going out right now to cut them off.

The Promise of Things to Come

I took a little stroll around before leaving for work (at 6:00 a.m.) this morning. I have found that 6 a.m.-ish is really the best time to take pictures.


The Persian Blue Allium I planted last fall (that are not "blue" at all).
In the bed directly across, there are many more allium. I am hoping they will all bloom together.

Big Bold Orange Poppies Ready to Burst


And last, but not least, the rockwall has even more purple phlox in bloom.

If you click on it, you may be able to see the blue forget-me-nots that are also blooming.

Bottle Trees

I have recently found myself wondering about these bottle trees I have seen on the net as well as in an occasional garden magazine.

I am no garden snob.

I certainly have my share of beloved garden junk. But I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would feel compelled to stick a bunch of old bottles on a tree and plop the darn thing right in the middle of their yard.

I started to research a little and I found this info on P. Allen Smith's site archive:

Bottle trees are a Southern tradition rooted in the belief that evil spirits become trapped in the bottles and therefore are not able to plague a house or its inhabitants. There is no wrong way to create a bottle tree, just use your imagination. Some gardeners like to build wooden posts with pegs drilled or nailed into them to support bottles. You can also use large, dead tree limbs that have been “planted” in the ground or simply suspend the bottles from the limbs of healthy trees by wires like wind chimes. Today most people balk at the idea of trapping evil spirits and simply enjoy the folk art behind bottle trees, which is lovely when illuminated by sunlight.

Ok. So there is some tradition and folklore. At least I now know where the idea originated.

Cobalt blue seems to be the coveted color. I must admit it is a pretty color.

I found another example here

Not nearly as striking as the blue one.

I am still not convinced..........right now I have it mentally filed just above the petunias in the commode.

I did find this man's account of making his bottle tree. It's pretty interesting to see how enthused and passionate he is about the adventure. His looks quite nice, too.

Enough is Enough!

It's May 23 for goodness sake. This is day 3 of frosty mornings.

He can lay his chef knife

on my counter any night.



This is Curtis Stone , an Australian master chef, author and host of TLC’s new series Take Home Chef.

It's a new show I discovered just last week.

Each show begins with Curtis roaming the grocery store until he finds an unsuspecting shopper to whom he walks over and introduces himself.

Together they shop for the ingredients for the gourmet meal he is going to cook in their own home.

They spend the afternoon dicing, mincing, and sauteeing until they turn those newly purchased ingredients into a very memorable meal.

Hmmmmm, I may have to take over grocery shopping.

Curt (he just looks more like "Curt" to me) suggests at the end of his show, that one should always dress to go to the supermarket because "You never know who you may meet in the grocery store."

Bon Apetite.

Root Bound

This is a fine example of a plant you do NOT want to buy.

I would be hard pressed to find a more fine example of a root bound plant.

This poor guy is choking to death.

I must confess that I never check the roots before I buy. I just grab a flat based on the flower type and color.


For this guy to survive, you MUST loosen those roots. I grab a small bunch at the bottom and just yank it off and toss it. Then I use my thumb and fingers to gently massage the root ball until it looks something like this one. It goes very quickly. You don't have to be terribly gentle.

Now he's ready to be placed in the soil and I think he will survive just fine. Those roots can now reach out to get water and nutrients.

It would really be best to check before you buy. You should not waste your hard-earned cash for an inferior plant like that.

Shades of Pink

I just noticed that my pink azaleas are almost the same shade as the crabapple.

One of my Favorite Ground Covers

Ajuga

I love this stuff.


It has great looking foliage all season, but when it blooms with these purple-blue spikes, it is especially eye catching.

Ajuga likes shade, but will tolerate quite a bit of sun as it does in this area. Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees are attracted to the flowers, but deer are not (a big plus for me).

It is fast spreading through runners, but I would not consider it invasive. The runner plants can be pulled up and replanted elsewhere which is exactly how I got so much of it from my original planting of two pots years ago. It is very easy to replant. In fact I have been known to just yank out the runners and toss them about, (making sure they land upright) and they have survived.

The only thing I don't like about ajuga is how the spikes look after they go to seed. I find it messy looking. I will often cut each spent bloom off just to tidy it up if its in a highly visible area of my garden.

If you are looking for a good groundcover for a shady area, I don't think you can go wrong with ajuga.

The Weatherman Was Right

It's snowing right now!

Possible Snow Tonight!

Every year I plant my annuals too early knowing full well that I may have to haul them all inside due to frost warnings.

Knowing does not make it any easier when I have to do it.

DH was watching the weather channel and came out to tell me there is possible snow mixed with rain tonight and the temp will be around 36 degrees.

I can't chance losing all these flowers.

We hauled many into the garage and I clustered a bunch under a table and covered them with plastic.




So now I am back to square one on my deck arrangements.

Very frustrating.................

A Slow Day in the Garden

It's a little chilly outside today and I was not feeling all that ambitious so I didn't get out until early afternoon.

I bought and planted a few more flowers and I decided to sand and stain this table white.

I also touched up the yellow paint on the chairs I will use with the table.

I found two of these tulips blooming. They are beautiful, but I don't recall planting them. Are they parrot tulips?


My woodland area is looking pretty green and has some forget-me-nots in bloom.

Rustic Blueberry Cobbler Anyone?

I cut into that *#@!* pie and sure enough it was more like blueberry soup.

Kasmira, I wish I had used cornstarch instead of flour. Darn! I seem to have better luck thickening with cornstarch.

Well, I was not about to let 7 cups of blueberries go to waste.

I had to put my culinary thinking cap on to salvage this one.

Here's what I did...

I carefully removed the top crust (in pieces) and layed it on a dinner plate.

Then I scooped out the runny filling and put it in a pan on the stove and heated it to boiling and ...

darned if it wasn't thick as could be....I did not even have to add anything to it. Now I believe I just cut into it too early...it was still warm.......I cooked that thing over an hour so it must have gotten hot enough to boil and thicken up....wouldn't you think?

Anyway, I scooped the filling into little individual serving dishes and layed a piece of the crust on top........Voila! Country Cobbler. LOL


I have been cleaning my tush off this morning... good thing I have a rather large amount of tush, so I can keep going with no danger of losing it all.

See this mess?


Everything that was under my sink came out. I scrubbed the inside (even the pipes) and then put everything back neatly


Since I am on a roll, I thought it was a good time to clean my baking cupboard, too. I removed all the stuff before I made coffee for the little break I am currently taking. I know once I sit down I may not feel like doing it, so this forces me to finish.



Break time is over....off to put everything back in an orderly fashion.

Update:
That didn't take any time at all...10 minutes maybe. Look how organized it is now

Here it is all done



These things didn't make it back in because I don't use them anyway.

Any Day Your on Vacation is a Good Day

It's not looking like a very good day for outside work. All that green area is right over my city.

I was considering going in to work today and saving the vacation day.

But I've decided I don't feel like it, so will just stay home and work inside. My sewing room would benefit from a good cleaning...there are kitchen cupboards that could be sorted...dusting needs to be done....the list is endless.

Maybe in between rain storms I can get out and edge & weed those three small beds near the road.

And if I am really feeling ambitious, I may make DH a blueberry pie. . . that's a long shot, but I am not totally ruling it out.

The one good thing about this wet weather -- I have not had to water any of the deck plants :)

Update: Here it is 7:10 a.m. and I have the blueberry pie in the oven. LOL. I thought it was the longshot, but right after posting I decided that was what I would do.

I just stood out on the front porch to get another pic of the crabapple (please indulge me. It only blooms EVERY TWO YEARS, so I don't get to see it very often). Actually I wanted to show you that I did put creeping phlox under it. It will take about two years for the phlox to fill in nicely. Just in time for its next bloom, it should have a thick purple border and it should bloom at the same time. I'm pretty happy to have decided on the phlox--I really was not even thinking about the bloom time. Every now and then I luck out!


9:00 a.m.
Well, it looks good, but will it be runny?

I have a terrible time with homemade pies. No matter how much flour I put in, they are always too watery. That is why I rarely make one.

Cold Rainy Day

I can't work outside today, so I took this pic from my bedroom window at 6:00 a.m. to show you some of the creeping phlox that is blooming around my yard. Too bad I don't have anything blooming with it!

Such a Beautiful Time of the Year

The crabapple tree in my front yard.

In a comment below, herblover asked what another name for verbena was.
Hmmmmm...I don't know any other name.
Does anyone know?