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| Fearsome chimunk! |
After a humid hot yesterday, this morning brings sweet cool breezes. I love turning off the air conditioning and opening the windows! I have to get rather uncomfortably warm before I turn the air on in the first place. But really, a cup of coffee on a summer morning is just meant to be enjoyed with unconditioned air.
I'm a bit frustrated with my gardens at the moment. The berry patch is thriving and I'll tell you about my shameful few veggies later. My container herb garden is thick and green and could anything smell better? So it's really not my gardens, it's my berm. Argh you berm!!!
Two of the little shrubs we planted didn't make it. Probably a soil acidity mismatch, possibly those chipmunks who are growing less cute by the day. An entire flat of annuals croaked and this was chipmunk sabotage with a little help from a certain hound dog who enjoys a daily walk around the berm and a nap in the dirt.
My marigolds even wilted, aren't they supposed to be fool-proof?
Argh!!
Oh, and the ornamental grass? It's dying slowly. The Mr. denies it but it is. Again, I suspect that the chipmunks and the hound dog are contributing to the inhospitable growing environment.
What I really want to do is pull out all of the browning and wilting plants and run to the nursery to purchase more stuff to plant. But there is not a bottomless berm fund from which to draw and alas, I must rein myself in. Ironically, you wanna know what's thriving? Not the expensive English Gardens annuals. Not the expensive ornamental grass ($18/plant.) Nope. It's the clearance plants! The mostly dead geraniums that I stuck into my window box and the mini petunias that were barely green are lush and lovely. And my gabera daisy? I ACTUALLY HAVE A NEW BLOSSOM ON MY GABERA DAISY! And they said it couldn't be done! I paid $1 for that sucker and all of the online wisdom says it is an impossible plant to maintain.
Actually, in my yard, marigolds from English Gardens are the delicate breed.
Argh!
Well, I'm not going to rush out to spend money not budgeted for more plants. I'm gonna head out there shortly and pull some weeds and do a little outdoor housekeeping and let it go. The Mr. has been giving the plants a good soaking daily with the sprinklers and I'm going to give it a Weed & Feed today and that's that.
So, how does your garden grow?
4 comments:
What is that a picture of?
It may have helped if you amended your soil..just saying.
My other suggestion....never shop somewhere as expensive as English Gardens, try KMart!
Oh dear! When marigolds die, yes, you've got problems. I know how frustrating it must be--I babied a strawberry plant during the last of our winter weather and it survived, only to be mysteriously eaten by something evil. Gah. Anyway, I saw in a magazine where people left their plants in good-sized pots, dug holes for the pots in the ground, then placed them in the holes. That seemed to help deter some of the critters. The plants could then be lifted out and put in a safe place for winter, too, etc. Oh, and like your mom said, good soil is everything. :)Thanks for your comments at my blog!! Blessings, Debra
Sharp edged rocks and cactus will do the trick! Keeps the squirrels and dogs at bay. Seriously, Hum .. makes me wonder if they went a little too long between one of the Mr's waterings (while you were ill or at work .. better supervise the gardener a bit more;) My foxglove is blooming all over the place after reseeding last summer. We have volunteer sunflowers growing thanks to the birds that eat at the feeders. Spirea shrub growing in the perfect spot from a errant seed, you already know that God took some of my lettuces last week while reading to Rowan. I wonder if July will bring some warm days??? So my peppers and tomatoes can GROW!
still working on it! i will post a pic of that awful rose bush. have no idea how to maintain it... but the little veggies are so far alive!
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