Saturday, July 28, 2012

Crowded


The front porch is getting crowded. On Musical Daylilies I wrote about moving daylilies around, but I haven't put any into the ground since publishing that post on June 16th. I knew hot weather was coming and wanted to give them a week to settle in before the heat wave, and only divisions with big root systems went into the ground. Since the first day of summer our weather has been much too hot to transplant anything. Once our 100 plus degree streak broke the humidity went up and it's been like hot soup out there. I believe that adding the temp and humidity together is a much more accurate way of figuring heat indices than NOAA's method. 165 degrees sounds about right.

Some of the plants on the porch definitely won't go in until this fall, such as the 'Sunshine Blue' blueberries shown below. We got them for 20 bucks apiece at the Plant Delights open house in May. 'Sunshine Blue' is a Rabbiteye/Highbush Blueberry hybrid that's supposed to top out at 4', with a low chill requirement, high heat tolerance and excellent fall color. Although it's supposed to be self-pollinating I'm going to plant them side by side for the highest yield. The berries are great straight off the bush. I still haven't quite decided where I want them because I'm not really sure I believe they'll max out at 4'.


I also have a dozen rooted blueberry cuttings that will have been in pots for 18 months this fall. Slow turnover. Turns out we may have both Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) and Black Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium fuscatum) here (Gene says ~ he's the main fruit picker) so I'm not sure which they are, but they are cuttings from bushes with fabulous crimson fall color. We didn't get ANY wild blueberry fruit this year so I'll have to check next year to see what is what.

We did finally get some apples again from our trees, which is a good thing because the new trees I ordered last year are now toast. Gene found this recipe from Ina Garten for a French apple tart that's both easy and imo better than apple pie. Sorry no pictures I was too busy eating it.

As I wrote in my previous post, Bidens make great fillers but there are always some difficult bare spots where something needs to go. So I often dig some Bidens and pot them up, let their roots grow for a week, and then plant them out where I need them. Even though it's hot I want them all out by August 1st. Otherwise they won't get established enough to both bloom and set seed. I put 20 in the bed next to the paddock this morning. Something has reduced the baptisias to skeletons this year and the bed next to the paddock in particular looks awful. And anything susceptible to wilt immediately dies in there, so I needed something quick, tough and easy.



Something died near the old house site last week. Probably a deer judging from the smell and the number of vultures that showed up. There must have been at least 20. They roosted in the pine trees and then when they saw me bungled around in the tree branches, flapped heavily and all but fell out of the trees. As hideous and clumsy as they are on the ground and during take-off they are majestic on the wing. Once in the air they formed a vortex that looked like a tornado made of living birds. Too bad I can't take video with my phone. That vortex was an amazing sight.

A trio of deer were visiting us nightly: one doe and two bucks. We wondered if one or all had perished. Then the doe and one buck reappeared a couple of nights ago, lying at the wood's edge above the paddock:


They look rather sweet don't they?

I wish they didn't eat my daylilies.

Baby rabbits put the ridiculous in ridiculously cute. Usually Prissy "takes care" of many of them but she hasn't been this year. Probably it's too hot. This winter I may be channeling Elmer Fudd but even the most trenchant of rabbit disapprovers has to admit that this baby rabbit is cute.


Just stick to eating grass and clover and we'll get along fine. :)


19 comments:

  1. Thanks for shutting off word verification. It is a pain.
    Your plant holding area is pretty full!! I have a few things in mine....have really been trying to get stuff planted soon after acquiring them. I have better luck with stuff in the ground than watering pots.
    I end up barking at the bunnies (Not crazy!!!)If the dogs aren't outside, I figure I should fill in. hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your front porch looks like a plant nursery and your yard looks like a wildlife preserve. Lush greenery, wild flocks, and animal herds abound! If only the heat would let up, you'd have quite the arboretum / park going.

    I can't imagine what is skeletonizing your baptisias. I thought nothing ate them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your have a regular nursery on your porch! Love seeing the animals. Maybe they won't eat too many of your flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw another baby rabbit in my garden this evening. Considering what happened to the last rabbit in my garden, it's either very dumb or really brave. Deer in VA are destroying our native ecosystems. We have more deer now than we did before Jamestown was colonized.

    Your porch is packed!!! Much cheaper than going to the garden center. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi! I hope that all your blueberries and blueberry bushes will take root, and you will have a good harvest of berries!
    These deers look nice, quiet lie in the grass.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Sweetbay, I wonder what August will bring weather wise. We had a bit of your hot soup earlier on but it is over . . . I love your way of coming up with a temperature. I do hope you get some reprieve from the uncomfortable heat soon. Good luck with all your divisions and blueberries . . . we had a great crop of wild ones here this year. I have to divide my daylilies this year too. The deer have so far left mine alone and amazingly the rabbits too. I will admit to the cuteness of that bunny and hope your kitty gets back to her managing of them for you soon. They are such a pain here. How far away are the deer shots? I wonder how they feel about being near your horses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. About 75 feet away. I was on the front porch. The horses were still down in the pasture at the time but they and the deer are well used to each other, until the deer jump out of the bushes unexpectedly. lol

      Delete
  7. How neat to see flower nursery. I need to get some seeds started for fall/winter just haven't been in the mood lately.

    I love visiting your wonderful country gardens ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sweetbay,

    Good to see the word verification gone, just hate it. Hot soup is right, my friend David was over yesterday he's a surveyed and has been on a lot of pavement lately, he agrees with me, the stickiest hottest summer ever. I don't want to go out there anymore. Know exactly what you mean about planting plants. The deer are nice where they visit but can be a real hazard in the garden.. We had two bir rain storms last night great we have not had to water much.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I commented to my husband early this morning that the humid, hot air feels just like the beach! If only there were an ocean beyond my patio to confirm my impression! We have more than a month to go of the soupy atmosphere before it starts to cool down. Like you, I have been collecting plants that are being nursed along till planting time arrives. Deer are cute, but I am so glad they don't visit my area...rabbits are another thing entirely!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Believe it or not, I'm tired of the heat too (and we don't have your humidity.) It's been the hottest summer (so far) on record for us. I guess that explains everything. I have plants to put in the ground but not in the numbers you have on your porch!! You are going to be busy come fall!!
    I'm probably one of the few gardeners who doesn't mind bunnies. We have babies here off and on all summer. It never bothers me because they don't last long?? Maybe our Great Horned Owls get them or the foxes?? Not sure but I think they're cute too.
    Stay cool SB ~ maybe August will be cooler than normal since we started heating up early??!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am sure the deeer and rabbit heard every word you said and have taken it to heart...or possibly not :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. It has been hotter than usual here, but probably cool in comparison. What a treasure trove you have on your porch! One thing that I do, that might work for you as well, is a holding bed. This is a flowerbed in half-shade (less risk of sun scorch) that I put all the newbies into. With them altogether, I can lavish more attention and water on them. In the past, I would plant out new perennials into the garden. As you know new plants, which don't have an established root system, dry out quickly, and I used to lose many of them. The holding bed works better for me. I move the young plants into their proper spots in the garden when they mature a bit.
    P.S. I am sorry not to have returned some of your visits. For some reason your comments on my blog don't appear and get moved into spam. I have no idea why that is. I noticed a bunch in my spam yesterday. Hope you get some cooler weather soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have a bed in shade that's easy access so I just put them on the porch. :)

      Delete
  13. Heavens to Betsy it looks like you are going to have a lot of holes to dig. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sounds like you are really busy. I hope all your recent transplants live and get established. I am sorry about the heat, I hope it breaks soon and you can enjoy being in the garden again.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Got to watch the plant collection on the porch, it gets bigger, creeps up on you. I've an ever increasing collection on the terrace.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Rob all of these plants will go out except for the Christmas cactus, although it will take time. One year I didn't finish until the 1st of the next year. lol I may try to overwinter some of the young baptisia in gallon pots, if they won't freeze.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Baby rabbits and your deer friends look adorable, but I'm sure they can be hard on the plants! I hope your blueberries grow well. My mouth waters just thinking about the delicious crop of berries.

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...