I'm a Little Late
I wanted to try and get posts at least once a week, but sometimes things don't quite work out. There have been some things which have turned out very well, and some that turned out in an unexpected direction.
Milkweed Regrowth
I bought a second swamp milkweed plant this spring, but something ate it, and I had this earlier:
But it has completely regrown, and bloomed, and is getting visitors:
East Bed Progress
When I started the East Bed, I only had one metal label for each group of plants; when the weeds overwhelmed the bed, it was hard to identify all the plants. So I was able to prepare more metal labels to put in the ground:
The weeding of the East Bed was done by my wife, as I mentioned in the last post. But the weeds keep coming back, and I was able to get them pulled today:
I thought she had pulled one of my White Wild Indigo plants; I had five, but after her weeding, there were only four. Today, however, I found the root stock and new growth!
I don't have a picture, but my Dotted Blazing Star, Liatris punctata, is still going, but it is kind of limp. I have three small plants that are still alive. My hope is that that will do much better next year.
Weeding Battles
So, when plants were coming back, one that seemed not to have survived was the Butterfly Weed. But I thought I found one:
It turned out that this wasn't Butterfly Weed, but Horse Weed. I'd kept the plant alive for months. Well, it got to get composted with the other weeds.
Speaking of, I've read on-line that weeds that have gone to seed can be "pre-treated" by putting in a black garbage bag, and left in the sun for two weeks. The heat kills the seeds, and the weeds can be added to the normal compost. I tried this, and it does break down the plants quite well. But the bags fall apart. So we went and got a large black bin to do the job. I think we need to get another:
I'll report further on this in a couple of weeks!
Grapevine Recovery
Remember in late March when we put up the new arbor for the grapevine? We had to do a severe pruning, even though it was already sending out shoots:
Well, any fears that it wouldn't come back are put to rest:
Grassland Weeded
My native grasses are doing quite well. I got rid of a bunch of weeds today, and it all looks quite good in the late-afternoon sun:
Garden Goods
My wife's vegetable gardens are doing very well, here is one of her sweet pepper plants, and her broccoli:
The lettuce has all bolted by now, though.
The Jungle Cat
One of our cats likes to go outside with us. I caught her settling down in an area that still needs weeding:
How's Your Health?
I have another couple of months to wait to see for sure. But I still get interruptive events. That's why it was so nice today to get outside and do some stuff!
As I've said before, you have to take each day as it comes.
What's Next?
I need to weed another area. But then I can start thinking about some other activities.
Most of what I've been doing is making sure the bird feeders are going well. I do get plenty of wildlife; in fact, I've had deer coming in and munching the Winterberry Holly plants! I finally put some old tomato cages around the female plants; we'll see if that deters them at all.
It is hard to believe it is mid-August, isn't it?
Post a new thread about this blog entry:
