Catching up

Beautiful, perfect Labor Day weekend--cool soft air, overcast in the mornings and then big drifting shoals of cumulus clouds through the afternoon, sunny then cloudy then sunny--very still and peaceful.

I have predictably been crap about keeping this up to date, so let's see, since the last post:

I made a trip to Far Reaches Farm (attempting to escape one of the series of 90+ degree Fridays in August, the Fridays I had taken off so I could get garden stuff done, HAH), and bought a White Swan anemone, a Ruffled Swan anemone (already in bloom and gorgeous), and a William Rollison potentilla.

Then I discovered that a bunch of David Austin roses were back in stock at Heirloom Roses, and, in a moment of impulse, ordered up Sharifa Asma and Wollerton Old Hall (to the tune of $40 each).  They arrived in good shape in gallon pots; Wollerton is now in the side garden, and Sharifa is in a container on the patio.

The Sungold tomatoes have far outstripped any ability of mine to keep up -- I need to just keep harvesting buckets to bring in to work.  The Brandywine was a flop (diseased, fruit rotted before ripening) but there are some Oregon Springs I need to harvest.

The big challenge is getting myself lined up to dig out everything in the back garden, and then get Kenny over to rebuild and refill the beds, and then replant whatever I'm keeping.

Some pictures:

The new Far Reaches plants pre-installation.

Sungolds Gone Crazy

The poor sad back garden, pre-reconstruction

Sept. Charm continues to struggle along

The Salvia corner -- I know I want to put a Japanese maple here but will leave these till spring.

The hollies are beginning to regroup and regrow!

Family portrait of new side bed as of Labor Day 16

Brand-new Woolerton Old Hall

Brand-new Sharifa Asma

Oh, and I finally got myself a storage box just like Mark's!

Today I planted most of the fruits of last weekend's Swanson's and Bark & Garden trips:

• 2 dianthus
• 2 coreopsis
• 1 penstemon
• 1 Japanese anemone (September Charm)

...leaving one crocrosmia, the spiny acanthus, and another penstemon to get in, but I was exhausted, because:

I FINALLY put the poor sad pitiful hollies in the ground!  Only like five years overdue.  We'll see if they make it. 

Also fertilized the roses, daphne, and the hollies.

Patio is done! plus, rebooting

So, just as a memento mori, the old hideous cracked weedy slab:

And now:

I love it, and

• holy CRAP it is huge
• I need to figure out how to subdivide it.

Currently on order and to arrive soon:

a gazebo, from JC Penney of all places, but which looks really nice and has good reviews:

and a fire pit:




What I really need to be doing instead of footling around on shopping sites buying patio stuff is to plan out the approx. 200 square feet of virgin new garden bed that I have just sitting there.  So far I bought a bunch of random stuff (mostly sages) at Bark&Garden and stuck it in the far corner, and then also stuck in the lily and acidanthera bulbs I'd bought and then left sitting on the dining tables for a month or two.  No idea if they'll actually survive, but I figured I'd give them a chance.

I am tempted to plant the poor old hollies against the fence next to Generous Gardener (which by the way has shown no inclination whatsoever to rebloom).  (Crocus Rose is reblooming beautifully after being decimated with black spot and almost dug out by me in a fit of annoyance.)

I have a list of desired plants, I have big-scale graph paper, now I just need to make some decisions.  And find out what David Austins will be in Swansons in the spring, and also if they get more nursery stock in for fall planting.  Could order stuff from Bluestone when it goes on sale.  Or Heirloom Roses.  Ho hum.