Spring = Compost and Roses

I’ve been neglecting this blog lately. Something about this winter has made it difficult to motivate myself to write anything. I blame Facebook. Facebook can easily suck up any available time you have for other pursuits.

But today, I have something to say.

First I feel bad about missing an obligation. I was supposed to work on the church today as part of a Hands on Live Oak thing. But the sun woke me up early, and I got up to make coffee and enjoy the stillness of the morning and the singing of the birds (which turned out to be the Aerogrow garden). Then I decided to do some work around the house instead of going to church.

James Earl Jones believed that you have to have some connection to the earth to be healthy. He had a shallow pit in one of his flowerbeds where he would lay and meditate. My connection is in the garden where I think more in terms of tending the soil than the plants. If the soil is healthy, whatever you plant there will be, too.

So my first project was to work the compost pile. It yielded about a half-yard of delicious, rich blackness. I also found that one of our variegated ginger plants had survived the winter intact. I’m hoping that the others come back from the roots. They are supposed to be cold hardy in this region. We’ll see.

Then Suna and I went to Home Depot to buy some plants. We got some coleuses and three rose bushes to replace the two that died last year:

• Apricot nectar (yellow floribunda)
• Iceberg (white floribunda)
• Double delight (red and yellow hybrid tea rose)

This is the first time I have tried the Biozome roses, which are advertised to be “easier on the environment” because they need less fertilizer. We also bought some wild bird seed formulated for our region and a new feeder and birdseed for small birds.

Back at the casa, I turned turned the compost into the shade bed and area where we lost the two rose bushes last year. Then I stuck all the plants into the dirt.

So while I didn’t do what I was supposed to do today, I feel good about what I did accomplish.

Diffusion and Diversity

This red rose is one of the success stories of building the side yard bed last year.

I may ramble a bit today, because I’m not really focused on what I want to say. It was a nice day of catching up on chores, watching TV, and recuperating from the stresses of the work week. Suna and I went to a party this evening while the boys went to eat pizza and listen to Jeff play.

I didn’t do much in the garden today, except to enjoy its progress. Suna and I sat on the front patio for a little while watching the wrens and other neighbors. The wildflower garden is making good progress, but the shade garden is having problems. The ginger, which looked for awhile as if it might wilt, seems to be making a comeback. But many of the coleuses, which seemed to be flourishing, have turned to mush. Still, I’d rather replace a dozen plants that cost a couple of bucks than one that cost nearly forty.

Then I made salsa for the party. G & R have a beautiful house near the church, and many of the people I only know passingly from church were there. It was refreshing to see Republicans mingling with gay people instead of bashing them. I had a nice long conversation with two of the most right-wing members of the church while enjoying the sunset on a deck that was probably ten feet above a back yard that falls away rapidly toward a greenspace. I was impressed with the house, its appointments, and color scheme. And it was a pleasant evening getting to know people better.

Coleus Garden

A variegated ginger, several coleus, and some hypoestes—more images on Facebook

I decided to plant a bunch of coleus in the shade garden I built last fall. The shade garden is on the west-y side of the house. It is shaded by our house, the neighbor’s house and the huge oak that attacks the house and will eventually have to come down. When that happens, the fence will still provide shade from that direction.

So Suna and I made a trek to Round Rock Gardens today to stock up on all the varieties of coleus the have in stock.

• Black Dragon (I think we got one of these to overwinter, too.)
• Festive Dance
• Oxblood
• Wizard Jade
• Wizard Scarlet

The wildflower bed is filling in nicely.

To that I added the plants we got to overwinter in the kitchen window. Sometime I want to build a greenhouse so we don’t have to keep replacing these wonderful shade-and-heat-tolerant plants.

Suna had the great idea to anchor the beds with some Ginger. The stripey leaves go well with the coleus, and all the colors complement.She also suggested planting the Hypoestes at the front of the beds. I chose the Rose Splash^TM Select variety with pink in the leaves because it’s was between the red and white in the coleus.

The shade garden also smells very good. Part of the bark mulch came from shredding our Yule tree.

Gardening Update

Suna made this on her desktop image.

I wanted to catch up on the state of the garden this first day of March. Here is a teaser. I put more pictures up in a Facebook album.

The blue pansies to the right are in the front bed. I took the picture by holding the camera at ground level and snapping. Thank goodness for autofocus.

The flowers to the left are some of the wildflowers I planted last Fall. This patch did better than the others, some of which never came up at all. Hopefully, this one will fill ne more next year.

First Day Back in the Garden

I took a bunch of pictures of my new wild flower garden, but none of the pictures were usable. Maybe tomorrow.

Today was the first time I’ve had a chance to get back into the garden since winter set in. I had a lot of fun, and my head is clear even though I forgot to take my allergy medicine today.

The first thing I had to do was drag all of the equipment out of the garage. I ran the mulching mower over a big pile of leaves the wind had gathered in the side yard. I was going to put them in the compost pile after sifting through it. But I ran out of time, so the bag of leaves is still sitting by the back gate.

I then ran the edger and swept the resulting dirt and grass pieces. Finally, I ran the weed eater around the flower bed walls. It was all great fun that pointed out how out of shape I am after the winter’s inactivity.

The cure for this is more work in the garden. Luckily, the days are getting longer, so I will have the chance.

It’s Not What You Think

What this post is all about

All photos except this one
by Beccano

I realize I haven’t been as faithful about posting to this blog as I should recently, but I finally have something interesting to write about that Suna hasn’t already written about better. Sigh.

Today, I learned a new application for an old skill. I was even able to use one of the same old tools.

It all started out innocently enough with me starting to clean out the garage after stuffing it full of by-products after Thanksgiving, the wedding, and Christmas. After moving the shredder out—BTW, I got the shredder running and finished demolishing the wood pile in the back yard. Now there’s only ongoing maintenance to use it for—I noticed the basil I had hung to dry.

So I interrupted my garage progress and brought the basil in to process. From the three plants I salvaged after an early freeze, I got an 18-24 month supply of dried basil and $10-$20 worth of seeds. I know the seeds are viable because volunteers were coming up in September.

Stripping the leaves and flowers is easier if you start at the end and strip toward the stem. I figured that out when I was mostly done.

Here’s final the process (I refined it as I went, so this doesn’t quite match the photos.):

1. Lay an album cover—one that folds open—on flat work surface and place a colander on top of it.

I supplemented the work surface with a large cutting board. The extra height makes it easier to pick up the album cover when you need to.

I used A New Life by the Marshall Tucker Band. I don’t think any of these large Southern boys would mind their album being used to clean the seeds out of a food product, or anything else for that matter.

OK, you don’t really have to use an album cover. Any bendable flat surface will do. You just need a stiff surface than can form a funnel when needed.


I found that shaking the seeds onto an album cover or other light, stiff surface works best. The cutting board shown here provides too much friction.
2. Strip some leaves and buds from a basil branch.

I started out the wrong way, of course. It works much better if you start at the end of the branch and work back toward the stem. The leaves and flowers just fall off that way. Some people would not want the flowers in the final product, but I think they add more fragrance and flavor than just the leaves. They are…sweeter.

3. When you have about two inches in the colander, shake the colander and allow the seeds to fall onto the album cover.

You can use a coarse sieve if you have one with holes larges enough for the seeds to fall through. Some of the finer leaf product will also fall through the colander.

4. Set the colander aside.

I eventually put down another sheet of paper to catch any fallout while the colander was at rest.


Keep tapping and lifting until most of the seeds roll free. As I worked I found it was better to let the seeds roll onto a piece of paper. It’s easier to use the paper as a funnel than to pick the seeds up on the knife.
5. Lift the album cover to about a 30° angle, and tap it with the back of a wide blade knife.

I found it was best to fold a sheet of paper to form a back stop and set the edge of the album cover on it. As you tap the album cover, the seeds fall faster than the leaf product. Keep tapping until the seeds run off onto the paper. If the leaf product approaches the edge before all of the seeds fall off, take the sharp edge of the knife and lift the mixture higher. Some of the seeds should roll off as you do so.

6. Put the seeds in a container for later use.

You can leave the leaf product on the album cover along with a few seeds.


Crush the leaves and flowers between your hands.
7. Lay the album cover flat on the work surface and place the colander back on it.
8. Crush the remaining leave and flowers between you hands, letting the product fall back into the colander.

This is my favorite part of the process. Your hands smell great!

You are accomplishing a couple of things here. The pressure releases the seeds from the flowers and breaks the dried leaves into more usable chunks.

9. Lift the album cover to about a 30° angle, and tap it with the back of a wide blade knife.

Yes, this is a repeat of Step 5. The same guidelines apply. Just keep pushing the product back to the top of the album cover until it is as clean as you can make it.

10. Place the seeds in your seed container and the cleaned leaf product in a separate storage container that will look good in your spice cabinet.

If you grow your own, you know that fresh herb always tastes better than dried. The surprise is that home grown dried herbs taste better than store bought herbs. I actually prefer them to fresh herbs frozen in ice cubes.

11. Repeat this whole procedure until all plants are processed

When I was done, the smaller stems went onto the compost pile. The larger ones went into the brush pile. Eventually, the larger pieces will all go into the shredder and become part of the bark mulch that helps keep my flower beds healthy.

Live Oak Gardens Receive Award

Hella receives a gardening award

As part of the closing ceremony at church today, Live Oak’s master gardener Hella received an award on behalf of the church for her work in creating a wonderful native garden. The butterflies and bees showed up in abundance to help with the honors.

This is just one of the garden’s many admirers.

Hella works really hard on the gardens. And even though she has lots of helpers, I think of them as her work. She is the brains behind the organization.

As a master gardener, her responsibilities include passing on her expertise. She has a number of devoted deciples, so I am sure Live Oak’s gardens will continue to prosper long after she is gone. One day, I may even be able to count myself as worthy of studying under her.

I posted a few other pictures on a Facebook album.

Balding Jew

Why is this Jew balding?

Something has gotten to my wandering Jew. All of the leaves above the pot were stripped over the course of a week or so. I never did see the pest, but it may have been a squirrel burying its nuts in some of my hanging baskets. One of my begonias has suffered similarly. But that doesn’t account for the middle leaves being stripped from the only coleus that overwintered.

At least all of these plants are starting to put out new growth. Still, I am a little indignant. Pesky Pests!

Another Hot, Dry Saturday in August

The kids use a grid like this to play. When I was a kid, we had to draw our own grids on graph paper and the DM never commented about the accuracy of what we drew.

I’m taking a break to cool off and write this short update. Suna is on sabbatical with some of her friends this weekend, but I’m holding down the home front.

Mr. Stripey is gone. I ripped him out of the ground and ran over him with the mulching mower. Mostly, he is now part of my compost pile. The good news is that I now have room to plant a couple of fall tomatoes, and the unnamed variety that Suna bought now has a fruit. That little ’mater signed Mr. Stripey’s death warrant.

One of the New Guinea Impatiens I transplanted to the front yard has also returned to the earth. About a week ago, it just started dying back. I cut the affected stalk off, but the others soon followed and left a gaping hole. I haven’t got a clue why. The others in the bed are all very happy.

Not much else is going on. TubaBoy brought over a bunch of male friends, and they played D&D late into the night. They were not overly boisterous, but they did make enough noise to let me know they were having fun. Mostly, I tried to stay out of their way and let them have fun. Maybe sometime they will let me play, too. I really enjoyed that game when I was their age, but I stopped playing when I couldn’t find anyone who was interested.

Oh, and I’m putting up some shelves in the guestroom closet. I can get some of my books out of boxes that way. Let’s hope we get some rain tonight. I’ve been doing my part: leaving car windows open and watering the lawn when it clouds up, but still no measurable rain.

---

18 August Update: The kids played again last night. I was able to update the picture to reflect their actual game area. Sigh! I guess I’m getting too old to really want to stay up all hours of the night to play. They didn’t get started until after Suna and I had gone to bed, old fuddies that we are.

Heat Kills: A Gardening Ramble

These poor phlox keep trying. They looked so good just a few days ago.

My garden is suffering under the sun’s merciless onslaught. The John Fannick phlox have withered, as would most of the other plants if I failed to give them their daily watering, and the lobelias are gone.

Mr. Stripy is still barren as is the newcomer. Shaking the plants and threatening them doesn’t do any good. I am beginning to think that the pollinators prefer the other flowers to the tomatoes. In a couple of weeks, I will pull up Mr. Stripy and plant a rank of fall tomatoes from a real nursery.

Even the sunflowers that Beccano insisted we plant (I grew up thinking of them as weeds—sorry, any Kansans who stumble on this post.) are wilting in the unrelenting solar oven we call a climate.

The remnants of the last tropical storm to hit the Texas coast brought us ¾” of rain. It took less than two days for that relief to become only a vague memory. The storm that hit yesterday brought us almost nothing. It did keep the temperatures down to the upper 90s for a couple of days, so I’m not complaining.

One star is the Jacobi, which is flowering again.

---

11 August Update: Added phlox photo taken at the time but not uploaded.

Book Review: The Informed Gardener

Chalker-Scott, Linda, (2008). The Informed Gardener. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Photo source: LibraryThing

Linda Chalker-Scott makes it clear that all content in The Informed Gardener is available for free on her web site. She published the book only as a convenience for those who wanted to read her previous articles in book form. Frankly, I’m glad she did. I probably would never have found this wealth of information otherwise.

Chalker-Scott writes in a clear, down-to-earth style that conveys useful information to people who intend to use it. She organizes her columns (chapters) in the form of common gardening myths to be busted. And bust them she does. For example: she states that long-term research shows that transplanting trees and shrubs bare-rooted is much more effective than leaving the root balls undisturbed. She also shows that the people who most often tout the benefits of emending lawn soil are the people who sell the emendments. Interesting, huh?

Every serious gardener—and those of us who are only passing serious—needs a copy of this book.

Buchanan Trip

This double-wide mobile was the nicest place with lake frontage that came anywhere near our price range.

We had fun this weekend!

With the pending sale of some of my property near Yorktown, we decided to take a trip to Lake Buchanan to see what we could find. Suna really wants a house on the lake, but all we can possibly afford (and that would be a stretch for me) is the double-wide shown here.

Luckily, it is in really good condition. It also has so many of the amenities I want: a nice two-car garage, four other out buildings, a great lot, and a sprinkler system that draws water from the lake. (I really like the idea of watering the lawn with “natural” water (as opposed to chlorinated and treated).

We’ll just have to see what happens at the fruit company tomorrow.

After looking around, we ate dinner at this really quirky restaurant called The Maxican. It features really good Texas cuisine (Tex-Mex, BBQ, and so on) and barely adequate margaritas. Suna seemed to enjoy hers, but mine were only about 60% frozen. There’s nothing like the taste of a warm margarita. Luckily, it was strong.

Today, we took a look at two other properties that would require a structural engineer and a geologist as well as an architect to build on. Not for me. I really can’t see stretching the budget that tightly just to get a piece of land on the lake that will require pouring tons more money into and still not having a house. So I walked around the mobile again while Suna knitted.

Then on the way home, we bought a fun bird bath and some miniature roses in hanging baskets.

Shaking Hands with Mr. Stripey

Suna stands in front of Mr. Stripey

It’s funny how a small thing can lead seamlessly to a big thing.

Mr. Stripey has put out lots of wonderful foliage. (BTW, he is taller than she is, even when she stands at the same level.) He has even put out a few of those ugly yellow flowers, but so far, no fruit! I have begun to wonder if Mr. Stripey is shaking hands with Mr. Happy. I had always thought that was OK for tomatoes. Can’t they self-pollinate?

Well, just in case they can’t, Suna and I went shopping for a friend. We bought another variety of tomato, a pretty John Fannick phlox, and a trio of rose bushes. These are the first roses for this address. Of course, we don’t have any place to plant them.

So I took out a chunk of my original front flowerbed. I’m going to run it down the side of the house in a nice windy meander. And you know what? July is a freeking hot time of year to do that!

Grateful Monday

This is one of my favorite scenes in the garden. I know I have posted it before. Just showing progress.

This is the last Monday of my current contract, and I have a lot to be grateful for. Forgive me if I ramble on.

Suna and the boys

It is so wonderful to have a place of refuge where I can find peace and support. Suna and the boys give me more than I can hope to return. I am grateful for this.

Nature at home

Yesterday, Beccano took Suna and I upstairs to show us a nest of cardinals just outside the guest room window. The cardinals incorporated dog-chewed plastic bottles, dog hair, and more traditional items into the nest. This is like having a science museum at home. Unfortunately, I think the screens will keep us from getting good pictures from that perspective.

We also got about 7/8” of rain last night. It was a gentle, soaking rain—very unusual for this time of year. When we get any rain at all, it usually comes as a quick deluge that runs off before it can do any good. The cloud cover has also kept the temperatures reasonable today. You can go outside without feeling like you’re stepping into a convection oven.

I am grateful to be able to enjoy nature at home without having to worry about how to extract a living from it.

This assignment

Not only has the money from this assignment been good, the support of the people with whom I have worked has been very healing. I had developed a very negative attitude toward ALE in my tenure there. Now I am grateful for this team, who has helped be regain the equilibrium that ALE originally destroyed.

I came here nine months ago—time passes so quickly!—on a 90-day contract. I have enjoyed my stay and been productive, earning what I have been paid. Now I am going without regrets. Thanks to this team and ALE. I look forward to the potential of coming back again.

Yard Work and Cardinals

Of course, I’m not the only one working in the garden. Photo by: Beccano

I have been busily trimming the big oak, spraying the wounds to help prevent oak wilt, and shredding the trimmings. Several weeks ago, I bought a used Troybuilt chipper/shredder, and once I figured out that I had to use starter fluid to get it running, I have been very happy with it.

I’ve been taking the shredded branches and spreading them over the flowerbeds as mulch. Even with the cost of gasoline, that is much less expensive than buying mulch, and I get the satisfaction of recycling the biomass in the yard. Mulching in this manner has been shown to keep plants healthier by protecting them from the sun and reduce water consumption. (We are currently under voluntary water rationing, but that will become mandatory as summer progresses.)

I took a break from that activity this afternoon to work the compost pile. It had gotten slightly out-of-balance and taken on that sickly-sweet smell that comes just before going completely anaerobic. Working the pile gives it a complete turning and should enable it to regain balance. Of course, it yields a nice crop of compost for me to distribute among my hungry, deserving plants.

The double impatiens seem to have survived the division and massive root pruning. Hopefully, they will be happier with more room to grow again—not to mention fresh soil.

Double Impatiens

I used the opportunity to repot a could of sickly things that I don’t remember what they are. (Suna, my consulting taxonomist, informs me that they are double impatiens.)

When I depotted them, I found that they were completely root bound. Their roots had become a solid mass that retained the shape of the hanging basket. To make matters worse, both baskets had ant colonies.

I shook the ants out into the freshly turned compost pile. I figured they could battle it out with the ants that were already living in the pile. Or since they were different species, they might find their way back into the tree. I count at least four different species of ant living in the yard. No wonder they keep coming into the house.

Then I went to work dividing the impatiens. From the two baskets, I was able to:

• Replant the original baskets
• Pot up an 8” container
• Plant two more groups in the front flowerbed expansion

All of these should be healthier and more vigorous with more room and fresh soil. I do worry that the front yard may be too hot for those I moved there. But I planted them in the back of the bed where they should get very little direct sun. They are in the shade of a rosemary bush that has been happily growing since before I moved in.

Although they weren’t labeled, I think they closely resemble Caladium bicolor (Florida Sweetheart). You can see the shredded oak mulch.

Caladiums

I also potted two red-leafed caladiums (Thanks again, Suna.) in a recycled pot that held the New Guinea impatiens I put in the front of the front flowerbed expansion. These went on the green garden table, next to Beccano’s pineapple.

Potting Mix

For planting, I use a 50-50 mixture of potting soil and compost. I had enough compost left to give all of the plants a nice top-dressing and spread some in a troubled patch of lawn. It sure feels good to give this back to Nature. All of the materials in the compost pile would otherwise had ended up in a landfill or down the disposal.

Wall Progress

I am making progress. Only the back remains, but I may have to add another course. I hope not.

I finished the front part of the expanded bed in the front yard. The back still needs doing. But since I had been acquiring some plants for the expansion, I decided to plant them.

The soil is very clay-y there, and I hope I don’t kill my lovelies, which consist of:

• Some of the extra red flowering landscape tray we have been keeping in hanging baskets even though they are not suited to such an application
• A lovely four-pack of New Guinea impatiens that I hope do well
• Two of the pepper plants that have been surviving in the shady back yard but need more sun.

Some time this week or next weekend, I hope to finish the wall. There is enough money on a gift card of Suna’s to pay for the needed stones—unless I have to add another course.

Compost Happens, and You Can Waller in It, Too

Me loading my new compost sifter

Photo by: Beccano

After mowing and watering, I spent the rest of the day today building this compost sifter. I found a set of plans to fit a standard wheelbarrow here, but I didn’t want to bend over that much. So I modified the plans to fit my planting table. (Yes, that is a recycled shower pan.)

Other than one piece of 2x4 and the ½-inch hardware cloth, it is made of recycled materials. (There is an interesting story about the guy who worked in Home Depot’s hardware department not knowing what hardware cloth is, but I’ll save that for another time.) Later, I found another 2x4 in the scrap pile that would have let me say this sifter was made of 100% recycled wood. Sigh.

Heaving the unfinished compost into the wheelbarrow

Photo by: Beccano

I put two forks of compost in the tray. As I move the tray back-and-forth with some gusto, the finished compost falls through the hardware cloth onto the planting table. I dump what remains into the wheelbarrow. I repeat the process. This time, I leave the tray in the wheelbarrow and scrape all of the finished compost down the drain. It falls into a small bucket on the tray under the table. Three of the small buckets fills a large cat litter container, and I take the finished compost to wherever I want to distribute it.

These Queen Victorias are some of the happy plants getting ready to bloom.

It took a little over two hours today for me to process my whole pile and distribute the finished compost. The plants all said, “Thank you, Lee.” I heard them.

Once I finish working the pile, I put fresh compostables (from cleaning out the fridge) at the bottom and move all of the unfinished compost from the wheelbarrow and other temporary storage devices back into the pile.

Unidentified Flowering Object

One more reason to blog your garden.

It turns out that our lazy New Guinea Impatients is neither. It is, however, pretty. I just wish I knew what it is.

BTW, Friday’s Feast is off-line this week.

---

27 May Update: Suna and I were walking through the garden center and found a different variety of this lovely plant. When she showed me the tag, I recognized the word Jacobi. Yes, these are a variety of Jacobi. They are no longer unidentified.

Landscaping, High School Band, and The Greencards

New Edging, Established Bed

Photo by: Suna

I finished putting in the edging around the front flower bed nearest the house yesterday afternoon. I stopped on the way home and bought the remaining 17 stones. Then over the course of the afternoon, I carried them from the truck and laid them on top of what I already had down.

If that doesn’t seem to be a full afternoon’s work, it wasn’t. I was working from home, so when my brain would cloud over, I would go downstairs and move a couple of stones to clear my head. It worked, too.

Beccano prepares to play.

The other big event of the day was going to the bad concert. The high school has four fully-populated bands, and we listened to them all. The top band sounds professional. The band TubaBoy moved to because he didn’t want to work so hard sounds like a college-level band. The band Beccano is in as a Freshman sounds like a very good high school band. The lowest band is for students who picked up their instruments late.

We had planned to go see The Greencards afterward. Suna had even won free tickets, so we would only have had to buy one. But the powers that be decided at the last minute to start the concert a half-hour late. By the time all of the bands were finished, we didn’t have time to get there. Sigh. Beccano really wanted to go.

Gardening Happiness

After work last night, I got a chance to plant the new babies we got at the home center Sunday. In a large green planter that was blocking a hole in the fence, I put:

• Chives (ajo morisco)
• Double impatiens (impatiens doble)
• New Guinea impatiens (impatiens de nueva guinea)
• Verbena (3 small from a landscape mix)

Suna had also picked out a pretty yellow pot, into which went:

• Creeping fig (ficus pumilo repens)
• Coral bells amethyst mist (no genus)
• Verbena

Finally, I scattered more of the verbena in some other pots and placed them around the patio. I still have some left for the front flower bed. I hope to add some pictures later.