Xmas in October

The so-called xmas cactus that I obtained during last year's spinning guild holiday party is blooming. According to this site, there are several varieties of this houseplant; mine may be a Thanksgiving cactus. I don't try to force it to bloom at a particular time, so I'm happy with whenever it chooses.

Holiday cactus

Closer

Closer yet

I'm a little shocked at how healthy this plant is, as my houseplants suffer from benign neglect. This past week each of them received a layer of Black Kow composted manure, though, as a couple of them look a bit peaked.

That's what is going on inside. Outside, it was a different matter. Last weekend's rain softened the earth enough that the tulip tree lost its grip. I think the chain I wrapped around it helped prevent the house from taking a direct hit. The only damage was a small tear in one screen.

Timber!

Missed the bird bath

I had already made arrangements for its removal, but was probably fairly low on their priority list. Once I called to tell them the tree was leaning against the house, they came out the next day and took care of it.

All gone!

Relocated bird feeders

I removed the fencing along the rain garden (and the flamingos) before work began. Consequently, the view is more open not only from the tree's absence, but the fence as well. I may leave it that way (if the dog stays out of the rain garden).

Outside view

Indoor view

With the tree gone, the bird feeders can be closer to the house. We'll see how that works out. I'm not feeding them yet; that usually happens around Thanksgiving.

The cooler temps have left the yellow jackets by the compost bin less active, so I managed to clear out the weeds in that corner of the yard. This morning there was frost on the grass as well as the roofs, but not a killing frost yet. A drive through the countryside revealed that soybean and corn harvests are under way across the area. It can't stay summertime forever (thank goodness!)

More climate weirdness

I must sound like I complain about the weather a lot. Today's temperature is expected to be in the high 80's and that is just plain WRONG for this time of year. It is also dry and sunny instead of cold and rainy. The "normal" frost date is in about a week, but we are not going to hit that.

Spider condo 

I don't do a lot of fall cleanup as a rule, yet there are a few things to address this time of year. It's just too hot, though.

Coneflower cultivar outlasts straight species

One thing I definitely want to address is the dead tulip tree. I left it as a "wildlife" tree, but decided I would have it taken down once the plants around the rain garden died back. The other day I noticed that the tree has developed a definitely tilt, toward the house. So it needs to leave sooner rather than later.

Listing

Getting someone out here to provide estimates is another matter; all the woodcutters and lumberjacks are busy this time of year. For my own reassurance, I attached a dog tie-out to the tree, in part to discourage it from falling on the house should it give way, but also to have a visible cue as to whether it is getting worse.

Volunteer zinnia

Then I inadvertantly hit the tie-out with the lawn mower. I'm surprised the mower still works. I'm also impressed at just how damaging mower blades can be to human limbs. An excellent safety reminder.

Golden arches

Other areas of the world are dealing with floods, typhoons, mud slides, earthquakes. So I keep telling myself, "Things could be worse."

Tale of two trees

I'm worried about my tulip tree. It is not leafing out like it should by now. It's location is near where the pagoda dogwood died, but it's root structure is supposed to be similar in size and shape as its above ground growth. It's been here since 2009, so one would think it would be permanently established by now. I've had other trees with bad years that later recovered, but I am beginning to lose hope on this one. Maybe a tree expert can help?

Redbud branches on the left, tulip tree branches on the right

Meanwhile, the little hickory tree looks GREAT, very leafy. It has a tap root that hopefully can penetrate my awful clay soil, so I'm hoping it lives a long time. But then, I hope that for all my trees. And shrubs. And perennials.

The leaves look droopy, but it's fine

Most of the spring flowers are gone, but the early summer ones are taking their place. I whacked the honeysuckle vine several months ago, but it blooms on undaunted. It attracts hummingbirds and will bloom most of the season. The two new ones are still getting established.

Close up of honeysuckle vine blossoms

Even the zinnia transplants are getting into the game.

First zinnia bloom of the season

And, of course, there are bugs, although not too many yet. This week is starting out cool, but hot days are promised later on. And dry. I think we are having a (hopefully) mini drought.

It looks like a flying ant

I cut down the rest of the ragwort, so now I can address the weeds that are trying to get a foothold in those beds. The grass seed I planted on the north side of the yard (some of which got flooded, some of which got ignored for a while) is taking root. I've been hardening off the sweet potato vines and tomato plants, so will transplant them today.

Watson, a.k.a. Houdini, almost managed to crawl under the shed, presumably in pursuit of a rabbit. If he had gotten under there, I doubt he could have gotten out by himself, nor could I have been able to rescue him. Who does one call in such a situation? Animal Control? The fire department? I stacked some broken pavers at his access point, so hopefully I won't have to figure that problem out. Then I caught him eating potting soil from one of the zinnia pots. WTH?

My hummingbird feeder broke, so I purchased a simple one from Wild Birds Unlimited. Even though I saw one hummingbird several weeks ago, none have been by since. Ditto the oriole feeder and bluebird box. Plenty of starlings, though. :-(

I tried out the Ego trimmer. It does a fine job, and is very balanced, but it's a bit heavy; my left bicep cramped up after a while. At least, I don't have to wrestle with a long extension cord anymore.

And now I think I'll get to those tomato plants.

A flutter of sparrows

I find the descriptions for flocks of certain birds to be amusing. A parliament of owls, a murder of crows, a murmeration of starlings. Sparrows look like a "knot" when clustered around the millet feeder or perching on the bird bath, but they take flight in a "flutter" for no apparent reason at all.

I put up another bird feeder, the one for mealworms, but so far no takers, not even starlings. There is one more bird feeder to be cleaned, one that is too big and heavy for the utility sink, so it is sitting in the bathtub, awaiting a hosing down and a spritz of 10% bleach solution.

Sean from Sanctuary Natives and I had a great discussion this past week about the yard design. He spent two hours here, explaining the why's and wherefore's of the plants he chose. I learned A LOT, even why my elm tree surpassed the older tulip tree in growth. It turns out the leader of the tulip tree had been whacked, so it had to develop a new one before it could really get going. So if you are purchasing a tree from a nursery, make sure its leader has not been cut if you want it to get off to a strong start.

One change to the design will be more trees, like an oak and a hickory. There is a mature oak on the next block that I just love. The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago; the second best time is today.

Some of my guests this past Thursday came bearing gifts, including a xmas cactus. Did you know that there are apps that can identify plants? We were able to name the ones I received in October, so now I know that some of them are toxic to cats. (Beau the Feline Destroyer of all Things Nice has been nibbling on some of them and then vomiting, so I had a clue about that. And I moved the plants to where he can't reach them.) I wax and wane on houseplants, but for some reason am waxing strong recently.

I'm still busy with physical therapy. My shoulder feels almost normal, there is zero pain, and I feel five years younger. My energy is returning, too. By spring I should be raring to go.

Future delegation

As I downsize the garden and perform other yardening chores, I contemplate what I might be willing to outsource as I age. Edging is a likely candidate, and maybe mulching, just because they are a lot of work. My lawn service offers fall clean-up, but I like to leave that until late winter/early spring so I have something to do while waiting for gardening season. Also, the leftovers from the previous year help me identify and locate what is planted where. I don't like trimming, but will probably mow until I simply can't do it anymore, because I really do like to mow.

When I was ten years old, I convinced my parents that they had PROMISED to let me mow the yard when I was ten. My mom was against it, fearful I would cut off my toes. My dad would rather play golf, though, and my older brothers had better things to do. So mowing became my chore. Over the years, I have graduated from a push power mower to a Personal Pace Toro to my current Toro, a zero-turn riding mower. I may need someone to take over that task this fall when I have shoulder replacement surgery, but I really don't like the idea.

My SO frequently offers to help with yardwork, and sometimes I let him assist with the heavy lifting and digging and pruning, but generally don't want him touching anything without my supervision. If I'm not willing to accept help, it's a good thing I am downsizing the garden.

I recently read that tulip trees don't bloom until they are 10-20 years old. I have seen evidence of a flower or two over the years since I planted mine in 2009, but this year there are at least a dozen, if not more.

My SO and I continue to remove raised beds; three more to go. I threw down some grass seed where there is now bare earth. The sunflower and Mexican sunflower seedlings have been transplanted to two of the remaining raised beds, and I started some zinnias to put here and there. The perennials from Bluestone are in their containers and look happy. I weeded the beds along the south side of the house; all those plants I moved there last year are doing fine. Current bloomers around the yard are dame's rocket, 'Sunny Twinkles' allium, 'Blue Muffin' viburnum (which smells like a cross between carrion and a skunk), catmint, and yarrow.

While purchasing supplies at the local Wild Birds Unlimited, I asked about orioles. The advice was to drop the nectar but put out grape jelly, which catbirds like as well. It later occurred to me that what I thought was an ant trap on my oriole feeder is actually for grape jelly, so that is on my shopping list.

The fun stuff

I spent a good part of yesterday weeding while waiting on the underground utility guy to show up (he never did). By midafternoon, I was bushed. By evening I could barely move. My gardening muscles have certainly atrophied over the winter. If my SO was not scheduled to come help me today, I might have laid on the couch watching golf with my eyes closed. But he came and we worked. But it was mostly fun stuff.

One task that definitely took two was installing a Coolaroo sun shade over the pergola. But first I tended to the pergola planters: coir liners, potting soil, and Margarita sweet potato plants (Ipomoea batatas). Last year's effort to grow something that would shade the deck was a big FAIL. I think these vines will work better, but we added the sun shade as insurance.

We noticed the difference the sun shade made almost immediately. Purchased at Costco, it's 7'x13' while my pergola is about 10'x10'. The sun shade fits between the main cross pieces, then hangs over one side, the side the sun will be on later this summer. I'm looking forward to enjoying late afternoon iced tea on the "veranda".

Even though the underground utility guy didn't come to mark the electrical and FIOS, the gas guy did show up on Wednesday, so I was able to plant the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) and smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) shrubs I purchased earlier this spring.

I didn't take photos, but I also planted two more rattlesnake masters (Eryngium yuccifolium) in this corner of the yard. If I can ever get the creeping charlie under control, I think this area will be real purty someday.

I also didn't take photos of the madder (Rubia tinctoria) plant (the roots are used for dyeing fiber), nor did I document the removal of the yarrow from the native sampler bed on the south side of the house. My SO took one yarrow clump while I transferred the other to a raised bed where it presumably can't wander hither and yon. I moved what I presume to be a 'Husker Red' Penstemon into one of the yarrow holes.

I thought I had killed off all the Husker Red (by accident) a few years ago, but this one popped up in the sampler bed.

I know I said NO NEW BEDS in my last post, but I don't think this one really counts. Leftover lumber had been piled next to the deck, but that was not stopping the iris from trying to spread. We cleared it out and threw down a couple of delineating timbers. I'm not sure what I will do with this area other than reset some of the iris rhizomes come August. Daylilies? Sunflowers?

Elsewhere around the yard, the trees I planted last year are doing well, the Triumph Elm (Ulmus 'Morton Glossy') in the back and a hawthorn (Crataegus viridis 'Winter King') in the front.

I forgot that the hawthorn blooms. Pretty, but also pretty stinky. I don't care for the fragrance.

I need to mind the thorns when I mow around it. Yikes!

The tulip tree has been here since 2009 (?). It looks a little sparse in part because I have not yet lopped off the lower branches that the sparrows killed last year by stripping the bark for their nests. Actually, I blame the blue jays because they would wipe their beaks on the limbs, presumably damaging the tender bark. This spring the sparrows tried to pull off more bark but appeared to be unsuccessful. I also took a hiatus on feeding the birds; the jays can get their whole peanuts somewhere else.

Of greater concern is what I think is a weather crack. I first noticed this last summer. I'm hoping it does not prove to be fatal.

I wish I were better able to capture how bright and shiny the barberry is this year, a nice contrast with the gold mop. There used to be a burning bush where the flamingo is, on the left. You can't tell from this photo, but I cut out one of the barberry too. My hope is the gold mop will fill in the spaces.

I wasn't sure how the hostas would survive the fence installation last year, but I lucked out and two of them are on one side and the rest on the other side are just fine. There is a bit of volunteer rudbeckia growing around the 'Love Pat' on the right. The other hosta is a mystery.

I think this hosta is 'Golden Tiara' and I was afraid it was going to peter out a couple of years ago, the victim of home improvement. I shoveled some homemade compost on it a year (or two?) ago and it looks like it is recovering. I like it because of the small leaves.

There is still more planting to do, and some plant moving, which is almost as much fun as planting. Then it is back to the weeding and mulching.

We all fall down

The leaves have been changing at such an erratic pace this year that it has been difficult to capture a shrub or tree at its peak. I don't have much flashy fall foliage, but I do appreciate the more subtle colors of autumn like yellow and cinnamon and blush.

Redbud tree leaves

Tulip tree leaves

Rhubarb leaves

The tomato and pepper plants have been pulled, but there are still a few flowers valiantly trying to hold on.

Azalea

Mexican sunflower

Zinnia

The zinnias, while fading, are still interesting to look at, but not for long. The forecast calls for frosty weather. When I have trouble sleeping at night, I picture cross country skiing in snowy woodlands. Hopefully, that dream will come true this winter.

Pop!

Now that the weather has turned more summerlike, the sleepy bloomers have awakened.

Tulip tree blossom

'Betty Corning' Clematis

'Blue Muffin' Viburnum

Climbing rose

'Sunny Twinkles' Allium

False indigo