And the Rains Came and Came ...

It almost the end of June and we are still having much more rain than the norm. Pretty soon, it will be time to build the ark.

I went to Home Depot today -- they had a wonderful selection of plants! I bought a bunch. Right now, they are all sitting on my porch and looking very pretty and there they will stay until the rain stops and the soil dries out some.

Home Depot had some plants marked down to $5 so I bought another perovskia (Russian sage) and was tempted with the hosta, but didn't buy any. I like them as edging plants so I may go back for some.

It is getting very buggy here: gnats, mosquitoes, and some bugs that take big bites out of my skin and some bugs that I never can see but they bite! I did buy a great hat with mosquito netting so that my face and neck are protected and I never go out without a long sleeve shirt.

Just a Bunch of Conundrums

I haven't written in a while due to my other life getting in the way and a number of garden discouragements.

Saw a woodchuck eating some of my perennials, ditto a deer -- chased them both away -- but they will return. I try not to hate too many things, but, my goodness, I hate those two.

I bought a phlox 'David' from Wayside late last fall. It was not growing very well, and now that the deer ate the leaves (of which there were not many), I doubt that it will survive. Maybe the deer was trying to put the plant out of its misery!

Many of the late season shopping at Wayside did not produce plants that came to life this year or are growing well. Remind me never to order so late in the season! Sale or no sale, it was a waste of money.

Actually, maybe even late spring season sales are not a good thing. I ordered from Bluestone Perennials many years ago and always loved the service and the plants. I was sorely tempted to order a number of their sale plants late this spring -- the prices were excellent -- but remembering the problems with the late-fall season plants ordered from Wayside, I decided not to order. I was afraid that the the warm weather would cause the plants to rot before I received them. So should one order "end-of-'season' " plants or not? Maybe very early in the "end-of-season"?

I think that the Inkberry that I bought from Costco is dying. I know that it was very pot bound and the roots did not look very lively, but I thought that with "tender loving care" it would survive -- we shall see.

Well, so far, I am not happy with mail-order and with buying locally. What to do? This is certainly an imperfect world!

The Lazy S website has some wonderful plants. I have often ordered day lilies from Wild in July and later, and had no problems -- maybe I will be brave and do a test order from Bluestone and Lazy Z.

My husband was at Home Depot yesterday and noticed that a lot of new plants were arriving. I may go there this afternoon -- perhaps I can buy some nice plants, growing well, and not root-bound. Actually, I am not faulting Home Depot since all the nurseries from whom I purchased this spring had the same problem.

My gardening helper came yesterday and moved a landscaping wall away from the plants about four feet. He did a great job moving and leveling the wall. Now,I just have to buy soil to fill! I will probably buy from Lee's Nursery again. The soil was good and the service quick! This was the bright spot in my gardening world.

Enough for now.

Disappointing Plant selection

I went to Home Depot in Norwalk yesterday -- very disappointing in types of perennials and quality. Many plants are in shade when they should be in sun; plants not watered; plants with tags telling everything but the name of the plant, and some plants with no name and no information! ... And one rude garden employee. I will visit the Fairfield HD. I often find what I am looking for, and more, at that store.

Oh my gosh ... just when I decided that buying locally grown was the best way to buy--well I still believe that, assuming one can find the desired, quality plants without having to scour the countryside!

I did buy three plants (I had a "buy 3, get 1 free" coupon):
Veronica spicata 'Red Fox'... ... Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)... ... and another Nepeta 'Walker's Low' (Catmint).... Photos from the Home Depot Garden Club site.

It is raining today, so I probably will not plant.

Hotter than anything, today!

We may have a thunderstorm; or we may not have a thunderstorm! I just love the weather here, so decisive! Tomorrow should be even hotter. I will have to water for sure.

I did get to give my perennials in the summer border a refreshing spray of Miracle-Gro. I use a hand sprayer so I can try to skip the weeds and just do the plants. If I think a "weed" looks interesting, I spray it also. I am constantly looking for attractive "natives" since they will survive the best.

My neighbor's tree service is here again today. I am amazed at how slow they are. I guess they get paid by the hour! I think they may even beat the road crews! There is a lot of money in this area--must be nice not to have to care how much you pay for anything! OK, now that I got that off my chest, time to go back to gardening.

I am still trying to work out my shade garden plants. I love hostas. Given enough water, they can grow in quite a bit of sun, also.

If it gets too hot today, I will give up the gardening and go into my nice cool "dungeon" and work on my dollhouses. The little people haven't seen me for a while--I'm sure they miss me!

Hot as anything!

Well , 85 degrees today with higher tomorrow! May have some thundershowers tonight--but I may water anyway--this weather never really knows what it wants to do!

Spotted the first woodchuck and saw a few plants (thankfully just a couple) where it ate some new growth. I put some chicken wire fencing around the plants until I figure out how to discourage the horror. Gardening with wildlife (at least the animal kind) is a misnomer; you can only garden "for" them, not "with" them--they don't share!

I don't think it lives on my property-- just comes for a while and eats and hides under my gazebo. I guess I should tack wire to the base going into the ground.

Fortunately, my gardening helper is here again this summer (from Guatemala). He is doing a lot of cleaning up and neatening after our weird winter and spring. He is very good with plants and is a hard worker; thank heavens, since this property needs lots of work. We have finally gotten to the point that, if it rains, we can walk in the yard and not sink into mud.

I have started to make sun charts for the summer perennial border. We took down some trees and cleared out some areas, and the remaining trees have grown much since we moved here. I do not think that the sun charts I made so many years age (assuming I could find them) would be of much use. It looks like my summer border will not be in full sun but almost sunny and the border that will be the shrub border will be in full sun. I had not expected quite that.

I am also starting my almost daily regimen of a light spray of Miracle-Gro on the plants. I also lightly fertilized the border with 10-10-10, and have been trying to finish wood-chip mulching the border, also.

I am letting a lot of "weeds" grow around the property, just in case they may be "escapees" from my garden of many years ago. In a couple of weeks though, I will start making decisions as to whether they get moved into the border or get mowed down.

All planted...time to buy more!

The baby butterfly bush that I transplanted yesterday was dug up during the night. I guess some animal thought there was something to eat under it? Weird. I replanted it and put some wood chips around the plant. Maybe I will also add a temporary large rock near it to discourage visitors.

The red-twig dogwood seems to be in an area that is more shady than I thought it would be. I haven't decided if we should move it now or wait until the fall, assuming it survives.

The last three plants were moved into their permanent spots. Permanent at least for this season; depending on how the plant combinations work out, some may get shuffled about in the never-ending search for perfection. And then there are those that die for some reason or another and will have to be replaced.

Planted: Liriope
... Threadleaf Coreopsis ... Blue Fescue

Another day, another plant

It was a wonderful morning outside: cool with a breeze and I was out of much of the sun. It lasted until almost noon. I spent quite a while rearranging the new plants -- it's easy to move them when they are in pots ... this way and that way; that way and this way ... Finally, I decided to stop and get to planting. I didn't get to plant them all as it got too hot after a few. I planted:
Echinops 'Taplow Blue' ... Achillea 'Paprika' ... Artemisia 'Powis Castle' .

I also noticed another 'free' butterfly bush baby plant in the garden, so I moved it out along the boundary rock wall. I also found a group of blue Siberian iris growing where they were not needed and moved them into the garden as an edging plant.

My property has a few autumn olive , rugosa rose , and barberry growing places where they are not really needed. I am going to transplant them to the boundary rock wall for "free" screening. I will also buy some specific plants to fill in.

Today's doings

Two of the end-of-season plants from Wayside did not make it. Unfortunately, the plants are all sold out so that I can only get a credit on my account (I would have preferred a refund). I guess that is one way to force repeat orders. I am not happy about this, but there is nothing to be done.

I finally planted two of the Perennial Garden plants Solidago 'Fireworks' ..and Veronicastum virginicum ('Culvers Root')...

..

Only five more to go. These will be done tomorrow. It is imteresting that all the plants I have bought this year, and from a number of different sellers, have all been pot bound. I can't remember if this was the case last year.

Many years ago, when I first started my perennial and shrub borders, I almost exclusively bought through the mail. Last year and this year, I have been buying potted plants. I have come to the conclusion that there is not much difference in the cost and I can pick the plant of my choice. It looks as if the cost of mail order plants has risen in cost more than the local stuff. Unless it is a plant that can't be found locally, the cost of the mail order plants plus the shipping charges, it is cost effective to buy locally--and one doesn't have the waiting to see if the plants survive the trip!

My "uncontrolled chaos cottage garden" has some wonderful blooms including a giant foxglove that is a remnant from my original garden.