the latest adventures
in
Alice’s Garden
By
Alice
Dang
After
a month of growth the Bermuda grass was as tall as an elephant’s eye so Miguel
was here to chop it down and tame my unruly Bougainvillea, realign my vitex and
ranger sage (so they would grow strong and upright).
Also dug out my excess ruella as I want more variety in my sidewalk and
dug out several adventuring trumpet vines.
I
have planted out several new perennials and so far they are still chugging
along. My Echinacea is still at 2
inches and a few times looked as if it was gone but it needs lots of water,
don’t know why I thought it was a xeric plant. So I may have planted it in the
wrong spot as it drains very well there and I’ve already lost a few plants
there but if I water more often see how it goes.
Maybe once really established it will
be very good.
Well,
since I wrote the above I have lost a couple with the 2nd wave of over 100
degree weather. Just awhile ago I
planted out my Salvia patens that I got at Target and really hope it will grow as it has the most fantastic blue flowers. I love my
pinks but an occasional touch of true blue is not to be laughed at.
Tamora
continues to bloom even under adverse conditions like in a pot with fast
draining soil and lots of shade because it is underneath two overlapping trees,
it and Just Joey and Veteran’s Honor get slanted morning sun and slanting
afternoon sun.
Another
good bloomer is D.A. rose Pat Austin. I
have that one in a pot with a saucer underneath and it keeps on blooming. This
in full sun. It’s on it’s third
or fourth series of blooms now. It’s
about 2 feet high and even blooms with seed heads on as I’m behind in
deadheading. Of course if I want to
see the bloom at it’s glorious best I have to do so in the morning because by
evening it is crispy and charred from the hot summer sun.
I haven’t ever cut it to take into the house to
see how it would do as a cut flower and maybe enjoy it longer.
Even
my crape myrtle is on it’s third set of blooms,
I was listening to “Garden Party” one Saturday on KERN radio and one
of the host said crape myrtle would re-bloom
if the spent blooms were pruned off
and they did. Before this I
just left the dead blooms on and so only had one set of blooms.
Crape myrtle blooms don’t seem to attract much in the way of bees or
birds but they are a colorful bloom especially this one which is a newer variety
so have huge bloom heads.
The
cutting of Lily the Pink that I got
from Jeanette decided to live and
sent forth a new branch with a bloom on it and it holds pretty good in the heat,
a semi-double at this stage of growth it didn’t burn or crisp in the
triple digit heat. On another
cutting that I started from last years show the bud unfortunately opened and got
blasted by the heat before I could see it and figure out what it is.
Well, maybe it will bloom more next month when (hopefully) it will be
cooler and I can see if anyone recognizes the rose.
Of
course if I would get into the habit of fertilizing my plants and water too I
might get those pretty green leaves and plenty of blooms
and not the golden brown leaves I have right now.
One salvia that keeps on going when other plants droop is salvia c.
I have “lady in red” and
also a pink one that I got from Martha Ball.
They readily seed and grow anywhere.
When the others plants are dying of thirst this salvia just keep on
going.
On
another note. I need some
cooperation from the members of the rose society please.
I know you can all write something for the newsletter.
I’ll need some as I will
be having carpel tunnel surgery and it is very slow to type one finger at a time
and so I know you will all wish to send me an article for the next newsletter
coming out in October and maybe have enough to leak into November.
Please send it via my new and shiny email address at:
luckydogivy3@aol.com that is my temporary internet home for now.
I am looking into other options. All
articles related to your roses etc. are appreciated.
Thanks.