Sunday, October 26, 2014

The monsoon season has begun!

It was a dark and stormy night.....no, really it was...winds up to 40mph and raining sideways here.
Consequently, there's not much happening in the garden at the moment....
although, I did manage to score two daylilies, one black and one pink, and a peony "sorbet", at the farmers market this week. I ran out between drenchings and got them planted asap, now just hoping they don't drown.

From this point out, it becomes about next year.....what worked this year, what didn't, what's on the wish list, and what's going to be the theme for the coming year. I've already decided the garden focus this year will be on rebloomers and fragrance. I'll also be working on my iris collection.....fewer free ones, and directing it more to the blues, blacks, and whites.

We're pretty much done with structures in the garden, although I would love a moon gate for the white garden....now it's just a matter of filling in, and working on the food part of the garden......maybe a tea tree, some more spaces for pumpkins and squash, and a new box to plant potatoes in, just for fun.

In house projects, there is that little matter of replacing the hardwood floors. Not looking forward to that, but it has to be done, and the sooner the better. We're going back and getting new quotes from folks now. It'll probably happen after the first of the year, when the holidays are done and the heat has been on for a while.

The good news is, even though it's been raining every single day (over an inch last Wednesday alone),
some of the plants are still hanging in there.......gotta enjoy them while they're here, it's going to freeze soon.



p,s,,,,,,that daylily was a Costco buy last spring....I'll definitely be looking for more of those kind of buys next spring!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

still going.....

but winding down even faster now....
Although I still find myself surfing the 'net and looking at pics for next year's wish list.

This week, a few new dafffodils joined the crowd, and a pink hellebore that caught my eye.
Still looking for the elusive "jade tiger" hellebore, but I'll find it.....

The Echinacea are still going, but the rain didn't help them. They just get all moldy and crummy from the water.

The monsoon season has definitely started, so it's inside projects on rainy days from here on out.
It's also going to freeze at night any time now, so everything will be really done soon. That's OK, we can start with a clean slate for next spring.




I'll definitely be focusing more on rebloomers next year....that daylily there is on it's second round, even this late in October, and there's an iris out there DETERMINED to put up a flower. Just hope it happens before it gets frozen to death.

p.s. check out this peony.....it's all ready for spring! I just hope that nice potential flower makes it through the winter.....this one is a really cool yellow!
 
Just a note.....in house news.....we're a bit more finished on our floor drama, I'd say about a third of the way. Now we just have to find someone to fix it, move all the furniture, completely tear up the floor and replace it (including all the baseboards), and repaint probably after the first of the year. Good times! (NOT!)

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Still going.....

Here we are, nearly half way through October, and the garden is still going.....gotta appreciate it while we can, it's going to freeze any day and turn the whole thing to mush!.



 
Last week, I planted over 500 bulbs in the back.....these are all from Costco, and I have to say, they were great quality. I highly recommend them.
I still have a few more specialty ones coming, and you just never know what may catch my eye when the stores start selling their fall bulbs at a discount. (gotta make room for that Christmas stuff)
 
The clearance racks are  pretty much done, there's really nothing left to sell, although I did score a couple of sedums at the depot, and a couple of daylilies at a master gardener sale.
 
Next week, we're headed to the rhody species sale. It's not all rhodies, and there can really be some interesting stuff there. It'll be a nice break from the rain. (and the tornado warning we had yesterday!!)
 
Otherwise, it's off to weed, and during the monsoon season, work on glass and plan for next year.
Good thing Schreiners Iris and Oakes daylilies both have wishlist features on their websites.(or IS it??)