Yesterday morning as I was out for an early walk around the neighborhood, my up and around the corner neighbor, LaVerne hailed me. She was out watering her shrubs and ferns. Prior to the tornado she had had a beautiful large fern garden out under a huge oak tree. I know she misses it as much as I miss mine. She had had many more specimens than I did, though. Quite a few made it through, and she is trying to keep them alive.
LaVerne told me she had just cut back an angels trumpet plant that is growing in front of her house. "Before it takes over the neighborhood" she said. She asked if I would like some of the seed pods. Being a plant addict, and not having an angels trumpet, I of course said yes. She said it is a datura and I was able to find a reference to them in only one of my books, the encyclopedia of garden plants. I didn't look on the internet, but I am sure they are easy to find if googled. The flowers on the datura evidently point up, instead of down which is how the angel trumpet flowers I am familiar with grow. They need full sun and average well-drained soil. The encyclopedia says they sprawl, but gracefully, and they need plenty of room and perhaps some support. It says they can be used in perennial borders, pots, or shrub borders, but be sure to put them in a spot where you can smell the fragrant flowers in the evening. It sounds like this may be a good one in a large pot on the deck. The pods she gave me are still green, so I need to let them dry and then collect the seed and use them next spring. I hope I am successful.
It is very very hot and dry here again, so we are back to full scale watering, especially the new sod.
I had a little bit of time this morning before it got too hot, to weed between my stepping stones in the path that goes through my little rock garden. Friends Michael and Laura( who also gave me most of the stepping stones when they were re-doing part of their garden to put in a pool) have given me some dwarf mondo grass starts. The grass is in its second year here, and seems to be following the "first year sleeps, second year creeps and third year leaps" pattern of most ground covers. It is trying to send out new little plants, but the weeds are trying to thwart their success. Another constant battle. The weeds don't just grow between the plants, they grow right up in them, so they are constantly being disturbed. I have lost a few, but most are green. I end up having to replant some of them after I remove the weeds from between their roots. Today I went to buy yet another bag of pine bark mulch to put between them to try to hold back some of the weed growth. It is not just weeds, either, there are also new little purple coneflowers poking up between the stones. Those I keep and put in pots for relocation.
Some of the purple coneflowers are starting to look a little bit straggly, but the black eyed susans are spectacular right now. They like to spread themselves around as well, and are very welcome to go most places. They are such a cheerful looking flower, and look good with the all the zinnias that have seeded themselves around also.
This morning I also relocated my in-ground rosemary plant to the rock garden. I have slowly been clearing spaces of plants and weeds in that area to have more room for herbs so that I can plant more vegetables where the herbs are now. I think the rosemary was getting to much water and had too much rich soil where it was, because it was beginning to look stressed. They thrive on neglect, really. I put a lot of sand in the rocky soil before I planted it at the top of the garden. It looks much better there, too. I hope it will like its new home, and get quite large there.
Well, enough writing for today.
Susan
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