Choice Morsels

Today I planted all the Lantana & Dusty Miller I've had rooting in small pots in a tray for several weeks and also separated my Romaine lettuce seedlings, so they're not crowded & the whole root is well buried.  It will be warm enough yet for all the Lantana to get established for it gets really cold and Dusty Miller winters over. I wanted Dusty Miller in between the mums I planted under my kitchen bay window, along the sidewalk. The two look good together during winter. I'll have to take a photo of the Coral Bell. It seems to have settled in okay. If it does well through next year, I may get more next fall. (Coral Bells are planted in shady areas for their foliage colors.) Today's Garden Pic is a late blooming Rubeckia, commonly called a Black-Eyed Susan.  This one is in my front container garden. It has just bloomed this week! Containers need a tall background plant and I got tired of the various grasses I tried dying every year, so I stuck a Rube...

  Greetings! It's been quite dry here for several weeks, so I've not been mowing. But today---a good chance some rain is predicted, so I mowed today---though, not a complete mow.  More a spot mow where grass was long and still green. Where it's dry I left it alone. Everyday, I'm picking fat blackberries and putting them in a container in a freezer. I have making fresh blackberry jam in mind.   Today's Garden Pics: First up, my "monster" Hardy Hibiscus. This plant is over 8 feet tall---uncommonly tall for the breed, which normally runs only 3 to 4 feet in height max. It's been tall like this ever since I first sprouted it's seed and planted 4 years ago and it consistently comes back this height every year. I keep it tied to a pole and staked on 3 sides to keep it upright. It's gorgeous when it comes into bloom, which will be soon. Also it and the Pampas Grass next to it make a fantastic natural fence between us and our neighbors l...

   While I love our new floor, I didn't love how the installers put the trim back on the base-boards. They were here from 10 to 3 this last Saturday, the 4th day of what should of been a 2-day job, because their Dad, who was the carpet store manager, kept calling them to go do this and that all over the county. So they kept disappeared for hours at a time. On Saturday absolutely all the grouting was still left to do throughout the main body of the house, plus they needed to put all the wood trim back in place. But it was Saturday and they didn't want to stay till 5pm, so they rushed everything. Now, if they'd done an excellent job replacing the trim, I might been able to over-look the delay, but they did a horrible, horrible job with the trim . I found trim segments just resting in place without nails , trim jammed into place in such a way as to splinter both trim ends and the base board,  nails not hammered all the way in or tri...

Wednesday Garden Photos! Today I have a two views of some of my garden beds to show you: First my Hosta Lily and Ivy bed that runs along the shady north side of my house. These particular Hosta's are called "Giant Hosta's" because they grow into a wider spread then most----but they're not the largest Hosta you can get. There is a huge type. Mine are in bloom right now---3 foot stalks lined with pale lavender blossoms. Strictly an outside display flower. Not for cutting. The green stuff between the blooming Hosta's is a type of ivy for outdoors. It looks nice, but can be invasive. I have to use the hedge shears on it a couple times a year. This bed runs between the A/C unit and the back porch. The trellis you see at the far end of the picture has a red climbing rose on it, something I put in last spring. It's pretty carefree. I just snip the ends finished blooming. The next picture below is the bed that runs along the landscape block wall we p...