gardening with soul

Friday, June 15, 2012

Daylily Days (Daze)

I can't believe I haven't updated in so long. OK, yes, I can believe it. Confession: I am intimidated by other garden blogs. They're so informative and authoritative and proper, and mine is so...well, just me. I'm afraid I'm doing it wrong! I've decided just to continue to be me though and try not to worry about it.

So, here I am! I have been gardening all this time! Planting new roses, planting vegetables, weeding, weeding, weeding. I spend a lot of time and energy (mental energy, at least) working on having clear water in big pond. It's my dream of dreams! I'll do a pond post soon.

Today, it's daylilies. Until they all started blooming, I didn't realize how many daylilies I've planted in the past few years. Only about half of them are labeled. Part of me is mad at myself about that. The other part of me wishes I could do away with all the label worry and just enjoy their beauty. Anyway, now that they're blooming, I have a better idea of where they should really be planted. You know what that means! I've been moving daylilies. Still have more I want to move.

'Forgotten Blues'

'Grapette'

'Pixie Pleasure'

'Pumpkin Kid'

'Nature's Wings of Morning'

These are the biggest blooms I've ever seen!

'Royal Saracen'

'Cajun Sunshine'

'Mildred Mitchell'

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Happy May Day

I wasn't going to order any new roses this year. I really wasn't! I still have 'Abraham Darby', 'Jaune Desprez', 'Veilchenblau', and 'Rosette Delizy' in pots, waiting to be planted.

(photo from David Austin Roses)

Look at the new rose 'Lady of Shalott' from David Austin though! My colors! How could I resist? I couldn't.

That wouldn't be so bad, but I also have 'Eden' (another climber I have no idea where to plant) and another 'Clementina Carbonieri' (perhaps my favorite rose) on hold at Long Ago Roses.

OK, so that's just two more. Not so bad. Something happened to me last night though. (I don't even remember how it started. Isn't that how all addictions go?) I decided I had to have 'Souv. de Victor Hugo', 'Marie van Houtte', and 'Mons. Tillier'. (don't you just love antique rose names?) So I ordered those from Roses Unlimited. Of course, I have no idea where I'm going to plant them. And I'm on the verge of writing back and adding 'Mutabilis' to my order.

Oh well, Happy May Day to me.

Here is a beautiful David Austin rose I do have already in my garden.

'Crown Princess Margareta'

I need to update my rose master list soon.
Here's a great page by Peter Beales about antique tea roses.

p.s. I have fishy (and snakey) tales to tell soon!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Front Garden Today

I only did a little gardening today. I did walk around and appreciate the beauty though!

The hose and gloves are evidence that I did something. To the left of this rose, I planted rose 'Mrs. BR Cant' today, one of my favorite teas. (Yes, I know I need a new doormat. Embarrassing.) To the right of the front doors is my main garden in front.

Have I reported the theft of my Good and Evil Girl statue? I was heartbroken. (My little Buddha was also stolen, at a different time. Who steals a Buddha?) So, I moved this little angel statue to her place. What to call my Good and Evil garden now though? "The Garden Formerly Known as Good and Evil."

Here is Columbine a bit past its prime.

David Austin rose 'Crown Princess Margareta'. A very healthy (and beautiful!) DA for me.

Antique tea rose 'Mme Charles'. The color isn't exactly right for this garden, but what the hey.

My tiny Hybrid Perpetual rose 'Reine des Violettes'. I love this rose. I hope it does well here.

Some bearded irises blooming now. Next up, peonies, then daylilies.

Tomorrow, it's pond and waterfall cleaning day.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Rain and Frogs

Finally, a rainy day. I'm loving it, the plants are loving it, only the chickens aren't loving it. I ran outside late afternoon yesterday to plant five cherry tomato plants (Sungold and Sweet 100) before the rain started. That's all the vegetables I have planted so far! Sad. In my defense, my husband was/is supposed to build a raised bed at the top of the pond hill. I've been waiting for that to happen.

About three weeks ago, we counted seven bullfrogs in the pond. I love them, even though I know they could eat the smaller koi. I have mixed feelings! I love hearing them at night as I'm falling asleep.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Another Season

Well, here I am again. I have been back to gardening since the first of March, actually. It has taken a little longer to get back to blogging about it. As usual, I am not sure how to catch up here. A little bit at a time, I guess.

I will start with my little, courtyard pond.

The before photo: just ugly, black, rigid pond liners.

We have had several pallets of rock sitting in our back yard for over a year now. I do not know why it took me so long to think of using some of it as a surround for these ponds.

Such a difference.

Now for the maybe sad news. I bought three gorgeous koi and decided, since they were small (6 inches), I would start them out in this little pond (the small ones I put in big pond last year didn't make it).

That was six days ago. I have not seen them since. The water has been really murky, and it is impossible to see to the bottom. So it is possible that they are in there, right? We put a filter in a couple days ago, and the water is slowly clearing. Hopefully, I will soon know their fate.

To end on some happy, living koi, here are some recent photos from my big pond.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Fishy

I'm sure I've said this before, but here I go again: I love my pond! It's my favorite part of my gardens. Even though the waterfall is unfinished (and not even running right now), the water is murky, the weeds are growing around it...it is my heaven.

The most difficult thing about having a pond and koi has been losing fish. There was the giant, fish-eating snake. And the dreaded heron. The snake is gone; the heron is not. The big heron decoy doesn't phase it. I have lost so many of my beautiful koi to it. I'm heartbroken when I remember all those gorgeous fish, so I am trying to enjoy the remaining ones and not think about it too much.

I only have four big koi left.

I will not give in though! I will have a pond of beautiful fish! I'm going to try running a fishing line across the edge of pond where Big Bird does his fishing. Please don't anyone tell me it won't work. I need my little bit of hope.

To restock, I've bought a few koi from ebay. It's my first time buying them online. My local place has closed, so it's my only option. I received the first two today, and they arrived healthy and ready to swim.

8" Doitsu Tancho Sanke

This guy was ready to go and was immediately swimming with the big fish.

5" Chocolate Chagoi Butterfly

I haven't received these three yet. Still waiting to see if I want to bid on one more (just one more!).

7" Kohaku

5" Shusui Butterfly

6" Asagi Butterfly

I wish I could afford to buy bigger fish, but they're just too expensive.

In other ponding news, my little courtyard pond is all cleaned up. I added three little, fancy goldfish to it over the weekend. They seem happy!

I still need to rock around it, obviously.

That's all my fishy news for now.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Happy Mother's Day

It makes me happy that I have found my passion for gardening again. Being outside in my yard is my happiest place. I feel most myself there. Neglecting things for a year (two years, actually) really made for a lot of work, but it's fun uncovering and rediscovering everything. Like the book/movie The Secret Garden!

I spent some of my Mother's Day outside, among my dogs and cats and chicken and fish, planting annuals and tomatoes. Heaven.

My father game me the Planter's Peanut jar (in my wheelbarrow) full of lime years ago. He told me to toss a handful in when I planted a tomato plant. I am down to the bottom the jar now. I can't bear to use it all up. I'll have to save just a bit forever.

The sundial with Hen and Chicks was in my mother's flower garden. It's been sitting in my backyard for the past couple years. Husband and son drug it up to my driveway courtyard for me, and I filled up the empty spaces with new Hen and Chicks. The pointy part of the arrow rusted and broke off. I hope to be able to glue it or somehow reattach it. I love having things from my parents' gardens.

Out the kitchen door.

Down the back stairs.