Landscape Notes

• planted ~100 daffodil bulbs this weekend
• all of the dwarf burning bushes have dropped their leaves
• forsythia bushes have about 40% of their leaves
• semi-sheltered hosta plants are still green
• Louisiana iris bed is approaching capacity
• weather has been mild & fairly dry

war

CG has realized that most of his forsythia are having problems with clay-heavy soil. 

A few weeks ago, he experimented with 3 different ways to win the war against bad dirt. 

            1. Forsythia A: 
                completely dug-up, rinsed all clay/dirt from root system
                used 5ft of 6" edging material to form above-ground circular planter
                filled planter with premium home-made dirt
                re-planted forsythia and re-mulched (edging is hidden by mulch)
  
            2. Forsythia B:
                completely dug-up, rinsed all clay/dirt from root system
                removed 4ft diameter circle of clay/dirt (4" deep)
                back-filled with 5" of premium home-made dirt
                re-planted forsythia and re-mulched

            3. Forsythia C:
                completely dug-up, rinsed all clay/dirt from root system
                back-filled hole with top soil 
                packed 3" of premium home-made dirt on top of back-filled hole
                re-planted forsythia and re-mulched

Each forsythia was marked with its corresponding letter. Hopefully by the end of March, the best approach towards winning the war against bad dirt can be identified and implemented before the Summer's scorching heat begins.

Saffron

the fall crocus got a late start,

they were planted towards the end of September

CG had given-up on the chances of even seeing a sprout,

so even if there's not a bloom this year-

it has already been a pleasant surprise.

Maybe in a couple of years,

CG will be able to trade saffron for non-purple iris

Landscape Notes

• above-average heat for this month
• fertilized azaleas and forsythia
• daffodils planted: ~60
• last pass for the year: mowed grass yesterday (long-sleeve black shirt)
• raised stepping stones in the south side of house bed (ready for more rock now)
• daylilys in the front sidewalk bed have recovered nicely (100% capacity)
• special-order iris tally: ~25
• transplanted nandina bushes...will be 100% naturalized mass no later than Fall 2012
• lost 1 azalea bush over the summer, replaced by moving its neighbor (filled-in nicely)
• dwarf burning bushes are close to averaging 5'

change

 The dwarf burning bushes are having a good year.

Some years, prolonged drought cause them to drop leaves early, and their spectacular red fall color is short lived. CG expects at least 2 more weeks of autumnal splendor from this non-invasive variety.

 Simultaneously, the canna lilys are thriving in the October heat.

To the south in Little Rock, it has been a prolonged summer of humid heated misery:
a total of 117 days of at least 90 degrees this year

Habaneros for Everyone

Out of the half-dozen different pepper plants for sale, the habanero variety was the smallest.

With all of the plants being the same price, there were plenty habaneros left at the nursery.

After close inspection, CG picked 3 different pepper plants, one of them being the tiny habanero.

The plant looked like it might be able to produce one, or maybe two peppers.

 The plant grew three times the size of either of the other two plants, and produced more than 4 dozen peppers.

Autumn meets Summer

a wonderful sign that cooler temps are on the way is when the sedum changes color,

but there are still plenty of reminders of summer sizzle with canna lily blooms!

For the Birds

During the drought, one of the honeysuckle bushes dropped a lot of leaves and was over-taken by a morning glory vine. CG considered pulling the vine, but decided to wait.

This morning it was in bloom.

To the delight of a hummingbird.

Cannas are another favorite for the little fellas.

CG hopes to upgrade the backyard bird habitat this fall.

(sedum is a plant of choice for the occasional butterfly)

front of the house

not looking too bad

after a late summer drought 

it's been one of the better years for the river birch trees

(hoping they are close to reaching their maximum height)

the liriope grass seems impervious to low rainfall conditions

nandina bushes are semi-drought tolerant

a few azalea bushes were literally burned-up from the heat 

Iris Mart

CG has a wide variety of iris plants.

Many are gifts from family, some are traded from other gardeners.

It's also enjoyable to find on-line sources, place an order, and have the plants arrive on your doorstep within a week.

3 Spades for Iris Mart

(out of 5 Spades rated on the Can You Dig It Scale)

Iris Mart lists hundreds of different iris on their website, but too many were 'unavailable.' One type that was 'available' and ordered, did not get shipped (card was refunded).

Prices at Iris Mart are reasonable, with a lot of iris costing less than $5.

Shipping costs may seem high, but the order is pulled and packed within 24 hours, and on its way -so a few extra dollars for promptness is copacetic. 

If Iris Mart had 'real time' product availability for their plants, and gave customers a choice between premium and 'low urgency' shipping, it would be CG's preferred on-line source for tall bearded iris.

Picking Peppers

It's prime pepper plant picking!

From the 3 different pepper plants,

CG Jr will have plenty of pepper picking

to do in the next few weeks

HOT

How hot is it?

It's so hot....

CG is concerned that even the mild peppers will be muy caliente.

But at least it hasn't been too dry.

We've had over two times the average amount of rainfall for this month.

CG believes that the C.poppies drowned, and may not ever return.

Good news is that the river birch trees look great for this time of year-

and, no bag worms!

(other trees in the area have been heavily infested)