updates

I was gone for 5 days and I was kind of anxious about my plants.  Obviously, that's stupid.  I only plant things that I know can go unattended for several days.  And I hear we got plenty of rain over that time, so nothing to worry about.  I was also really hopeful that I'd get a ton of new growth.  When I look at these things every day, sometimes it seems really slow.  And last year, I was gone for like, 2 weeks around this time, and when I came back the tomatoes and beans had far outgrown my pathetic attempts at supports.

I was really hopeful about the roses.  They're not putting on new growth as fast as I'd like, and maybe I should have pruned them?

When I got back I immediately checked out the roses, even though it was 2 am and a normal person would just pass out.  The two that are farther back have some decent red growth near the top.  The two that are closer to the sidewalk have only a few tiny shoots of red, not much better than last weekend.

But all of them have tons of little holes in the leaves. My internet research has lead me to believe this is sawfly damage.  And several sources (including Mike McGrath) say to use a spinosad spray.  So that's great, that's something I already have, and it's just a spray which is pretty easy.  I sprayed what was left of my spinosad spray, and I might buy another.

I don't think the leaf damage is related to the slow growth.  I want to fertilize them, but I probably shouldn't. I ought to just be patient; they're newly planted, so I should be allowing them to get settled in and not mess with them.  And I did plant them too close together.  I'm sorry.  I bet in a year or two they will be really crowded and getting mildewy, and there's not much I can do about it.

The hedge was swarmed with those awful white moth-looking things in the middle of the night.  Today, I'm not seeing any, so I guess that's good.  I think I know what the problem is, and I just need to spray a lot earlier next year, like as soon as I see new growth.

The Patio bed looks fantastic, of course.  Coleus is a fucking beast.  The clippings that  I've been rooting are doing really well, too.  I cut a few more this morning to start those.  I don't know what I'm going to do with these little plants... I'm sure I'll think of something.  And the plants themselves, I think I can try to dig them up and put them in pots and grow them inside over the winter?  If I do that, I think I'll get those huge Coleus bushes I sometimes see at Terrain.  The Begonias in there are fine.  They're healthy and happy and growing and they've had flowers the entire time they've been in there.  My neighbor should have planted some of these, they would be so much more rewarding than the teeny tiny azaleas she's got.  They are actually kind of hard to see if you're not standing up over it.  The Liriope I planted in the front is shielding them.  I kind of thought of that as a low plant, because in the front bed it is, relative to the Daylilies and everything else.  I don't think it's bad.  The bed looks nice if you're actually in the patio.  When I'm sitting here on the couch, I'm basically eye level with the bed seeing a wall of Liriope.  Actually, maybe I will move that nice row to the back. You wouldn't really see it at all, but it would help with soil retention and everything and since it does get a little tall, you might even see it.  Maybe next year I'll put Liriope in the back, then Coleus, then the Begonias in the front.

In the Sidewalk bed, the Yarrow looks phenomenal.  I really should look for a few more of those in like August and plant them in the rest of the bed, because if it's doing this well, I think it's the perfect plant for the area.  I was hoping to put some annuals in there, but I think I've missed the window.  Unless I can get a flat of Lantana for cheap right now.  The yellow Daylilies that I transplanted in there (accidentally) are blooming a little.  I don't know about the bigger ones.

The Raised Bed!  Everything seems ok. The Tomatoes have of course grown, but even my first tomato at the base of the Better Boy plant isn't showing any signs of red.  It's still June, come on.  I think it will need at least 4 more weeks.

The Beans have formed a nice thick wall of leaves, and of course they want to get taller. I think I might buy a trellis for them from Gardeners.com, like the tomato towers.  Those were a great choice.

The Swiss Chard haven't grown a whole lot, but they look good.  And all the herbs look fine.

I'm listening to Mike McGrath and he's talking about home-grown Christmas gifts.  I like the idea of the little Rosemary Christmas trees. If I bought a bunch of Rosemary plants, which are probably getting close to being marked down, I could replant them in some slightly larger pots, try to get them to grow over the summer, and prune them into tree shapes.

The Gutter Garden is probably in need of some water.  The lettuce all looks pretty sad, which is to be expected.  The Nasturtiums seem to be doing well.

The Petunias in the wall planter are doing great.  I water that thing about once a week, which seems fine.  Lining it with the trash bag probably helped a lot.

I went and bought a bunch of stuff from Wedgewood.  I was hoping they would have a lot of stuff on sale, and I did get 2 hot peppers since they were Buy One Get One Free.  But I also bought a bunch of Morning Glories, since mine are so sad.  I planted them in the same containers, which did involve messing in the roots of the existing ones.  And I bought 4 Rosemary plants, and my plan is to grow them and prune them into Christmas trees and they will hopefully make nice little gifts.