Passalongs

There are two plants in my garden that I haven't a clue what they are.  Both are passalongs (plants given to me by someone else).. 

One is a white pinkish begonia (I think it may be a hardy white begonia) that blooms and fills in all the garden spaces from May to October.  It's easy to root and once you stick a cutting (cut, dip in water and rooting solution) into the ground, it goes wonderfully berserk and covers all those areas that look bad (roots of roses, for example).  I use it as filler and it never dissappoints me.  It likes to be pruned and comes back with a vengence.  Tami, Susannah's mother in law, gave me a cutting and it's all over my garden now.

Another passalong came from my neighbor.  I think it came along for the ride along with a rooted angel's trumpet.  I think it might be petite pink monarda but I really don't know for sure.  It grows well but the hydrangeas grew so large this year that it couldn't get enough sun.  It's not a towering plant but it was trying to reach the sun.  To rescue it, I took three cuttings and each is blooming now. 

Passalong plants are one of most rewarding parts of gardening.  I think about the contributor when I see each blooming. For example, the yellow daylies and white hydrangeas came from Susannah's grandmother, who died last year.  The forsythias, nikko hydrangeas and purple and white althea that grace my garden all came from my niece, Dana.  The angel trumpets and fox ivy came from my generous back door neighbor, Jan.

Steve Bender said that "true gardeners would much rather shake a hornet's nest than deny an interested part the joy of a beautiful plant." I'll continue to beg and plead for cuttings.  I have my eye on a wonderful pink flowering vine near Sears and I plan to ask its owner if I can have a cutting. Gardeners must be very brave, too.

The poop scoop

Bob, my sweet, sweet husband, does all my composting for me.  I do help him out a little bit.  I keep a compost pot by my sink and throw in all my vegetable trimmings, egg shells, coffee and tea grounds, and any flower arrangement that might be a little past its prime.  Warning:  You cannot place meat in the compost bin.

Bob contributes the majority of the compost (grass clippings, dog manure, prunings, etc).  He layers the compost materials and keeps black tarp over the compost pile (to add a bit of heat.)  Monthly, he turns the layers over and adds 8-8-8 fertilizer to the top, then re-covers the heap with the tarp.  He fusses at me if I throw away leaves or sticks.  Everything goes into the compost pile (except meat-- but I have questioned him about the doggie poop and he just shakes his head to indicate that I need to research the whys of that myself).  He has a Sears shredder that when its working, shreds limbs, twigs and leaves.  The kids and I tease him about his relentless quest to scoop up doggie poop all over the yard and add it to his pail that he empties out regularly.  You can see the pail below, too along with the compost heap.   Our composting is continuous and is generally ready to add in February.

Bob also makes compost tea-- requiring  1/4 pail of compost, a burlap bag and water.  He puts the burlap bag in the pail and covers it with water.  In a few days, you can use it to water flowers and it's an excellent fertilizer. 

Susannah always reminds me to tell Bop (what Anderson calls him-- the other grandchildren call him Pop but Anderson has trouble with his Ps) to bring his pooper scooper with him when we come to the Dallas area so he'll have plenty to do in her yard, too.  He's already excited.

Intervention needed, please

I have an addiction.  No, I am not a crack addict or a cutter.  Take that back, I admit it...I am.... a cutter.  I prune the hydrangeas or other plants and cannot force myself to discard those cuttings into the compost or the city's  vegetation collection.  Instead, I have to trim the cutting.  I trim it to two leaves, dip it into water and then dip it into a rooting solution (found at Lowes for $4.95).   

I actually plant the cuttings in my containers with waning impatients (which are being pulled out one by one to support my habit.)  Water.  Make sure there is some shade/filtered sun available for shade loving plants.  Assure that all black spot leaves are pulled off and discarded in a separate waste bag.

Once it's rooted nicely (have patience--it's not an immediate high...it takes a couple of months to get a great root system going), transplant it in a place (if you can find one) to allow it to grow.  This cutting is a blue lace cap hydrangea. 

Plant, tap it down and then water.  I'll add compost this weekend. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until next year to see the fruits of my labor.

I try to fight it but the habit has overtaken me.  In the meantime, I'm running out of space for cuttings to be rooted.  Wait....instead of an addict, I may just be .....a hoarder.

Clematis

Our clematis started blooming Sunday again.  When I first planted it, I placed it near the faucet and the traffic by the dogs discouraged this delicate vine from reaching its potential.  I moved it -- like I do alot of plants that are not doing well to see if it might fare better in a sunnier place in the garden.  I gave it a  support system on a iron trellis, trimmed it back and it's now flourishing.   This is a fairly young Jackmanii which is a rich, velvety purple. I am hopeful that the blooms will increase in ther future.  I understand that the climbing plants could eventually reach 10 to 12 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide. It's definitely not a plant for the mailbox,but it is ideal to thread through a trellis or pergola. I prune it annually.  It's my understanding that you can propogate it by cutting (cut, wet and dip into rooting solution) or layering (secure the stem into the soil and cover with peat and soil). To get a good picture, I had to do a little staging because the flowers are so delicate and heavy.  I can't wait until it blooms next year.

Morning Glory and Dew Drops (I know ..I know...the picture is not a Morning Glory)

I opted out of gardening today because I wanted time to visit my mother-in-love, Granny, who is 93.  I did manage to quickly snap a friendly bumble bee who was grazing on my Mexican petunias. Too busy gathering nector, he generously allowed me to snap picture after picture of him and his industry. 

Luckily for us, Mexican petunias are resistant to drought.  Their blooms are generally closed by nightfall.  They are easy to propagate and root quickly with the help of a rooting compound.  They also send out invasive roots and come up all around the original plant.  They grow about 3 feet high but there are dwarf varities.  They are generally blue, purple or pink.  They are easy to grow and grace us with late summer bloomss.  They tolerate sandy soil, too. Butterflies, hummingbirds and bees adore them.

Granny, who grew up in Headland as a Soloman, always regales me with stories of her growing up next door to her Aunt Kate.  We tumbled onto the subject because we started talking about our recent visit to Headland and seeing a huge pomegranate bush loaded with fruit.  She tagged on to that train by remembering that her aunt had another unusual plant at the time for the 1920s:  a banana tree.  She told me that Aunt Kate lost her husband when she was pregnant with her seventh child, May-May.  Even with such hardship, her children became prominent and productive citizens.  I've met many of the cousins and one thing that seemed to be shared by all is a wonderfully sweet nature, just like Granny.  Dan-Dan, her husband of over sixty years, always referred to her as his morning glory with dewdrops. 

Indian summer

As a gardener, September always makes me a little sad and a little lazy.  There has been no rain for 30 days or more and  the temperature is in the 90s.  The impatients are not responding to my revival attempts with water plus all that water is causing black mold spots on the hydrangeas.  It's too early to plant mums or pansies for color.  I'ver been thinking about buying a Confederate rose but it's too hot to dig.

There is one plant that has finally bloomed and is showing wonderful promise.  The gingers have a gorgeous wedding white bloom that is so awesome that you have to fight the urge to cut it and place them in a vase. 

Henry Brooks Adams says it best:  "In America,.Indian summer of life should be a little sunny and a little sad, like the season, and infinite in wealth and depth of tone - but never hustled.”

I'll sit on my hands.

New Beginnings

Who would have the audacity to start a gardening blog in September?  The garden is waning, leaves are turning yellow and falling, flowers are spent, a month-long drought has felled two of our dogwoods along with redbud tree framing our porch. It looks pretty hopeless out in the garden.  What
could the end of September offer?  In the midst of all this decomposition, one finds life and hope.

 A shimmery spider web beckons unsuspecting insects.

Hiding in the leaves of the camella, a lizard hopes to be ignored by utilizing his camouflaging skills.

Several robins on their way south visit and chirp happily whilst enjoying our sprinklers. Unfortunately, they won't sit still for an amateur photographer.

It makes me smile and appreciate all the seasons.  Henry David Thoreau said,  "Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”