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Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) and cloudless sulphur butterflies |
When the spider lilies make their surprise appearance in September, you know cooler weather is around the corner. Yes, indeed, the cooler weather finally made an appearance down here. It's been a blessed relief. However, there's been no relief from the drought. With a burn ban now covering the entire state, we're all very anxious for some fall rains. It's too bad we've entered October, typically a very dry month here. Not to be dissuaded though, I've plunged ahead with fall planting.
Before I could start planting my stash (veronica, candytuft, monarda and a reblooming iris), I had to make room in the raised beds. That meant ripping out many overly enthusiastic plants or ones not doing so well, as well as just making room to try some new things. One of the biggies we tackled was the rosemary. It had completely outgrown its space and then some. With my hubby's help, we pulled it out. Below is the "dramatic" removal.
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Starting the dig |
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Surprisingly shallow root system |
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Finally out
More exciting changes happening in the backyard - new borders going in. |
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From my upstairs office window, the proposed border lines |
I've been slowly trying to add this new border on my own. You can see from the above photo the start of them. I put corrugated cardboard or newspaper down over the grass, wet it thoroughly, add composted cow manure on top, and then mulch. But it's taking WAY too long to get done, especially considering how much I want to cover. So I laid out the entire line I wanted with markers paint and hired a crew to complete it. The new border goes from towards the back of the yard, all along the side fence. The squarish place in the photo above, is where a small deck and pergola will go in the future.
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The view from the future front gate, towards the back |
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Part of the newly installed border; the future deck and pergola will go in front of the lattice |
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More of the new border going towards the side and front (don't you love the size of that pine tree trunk?) |
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Updated view from the front future gate |
I don't have a definite design for it yet. I've placed a few freebie plants I got at the GWA Symposium last month in the border but they may be there just temporarily. I know for sure that I'll place some bulbs along part of the edge, add some roses, add some evergreens to give it year-round structure, and have more drought-tolerant plants towards the front gate because there is no irrigation system there. Although I'll plant a few things in it this fall, I'm giving myself the pleasure of designing it this winter.
Now for a few more little things happening around the yard.
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Bug-ridden 'Purple Dome' New England Aster |
Unfortunately this has been a disaster of an aster. The reason? Aster lace bugs. They have been chomping on these plants since I put them in. I've tried all the usual organic methods to get rid of them. I finally started using neem but I may be too late. I try to avoid neem because it's toxic to bees but they say if you spray it when the bees are not around, it's okay. I hope so. There are so few blooms on them that very few bees are attracted anyway!
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The blooms on the pink muhlys are starting to show off |
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A real "late bloomer" - 'Goldsturm' rudbeckia about two months after the initial bloom period |
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The dainty (and tasty) blooms of wild (sometimes called Italian) arugula |
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Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) blossoms |
My pineapple sage has finally started blooming. I knew it would be a fall bloomer, I just didn't know it would take so long. This is the first time I've tried growing it and although I love the fact that it provides late-season color in the garden and fall nectar for the hummers, I'm just not that enthralled with the overall look of the plant itself. Maybe I'll move one of them to my new border where I won't see it as often. :-)
I hope you all are enjoying the cool weather as much as I am!
This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2010. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.