…and After!

So I cleaned up the leaf-burned foliage with fabulous results. Next I’ll have to find a new home for them!

10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (1) 10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (2)

Doogie decided he wanted to pose for me so I couldn’t miss this opportunity to photograph a spotted dog against the striped foliage.

10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (6) 10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (7) 10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (8)

I couldn’t resist this eye-catching succulent planter when I wandered over to Flower Mound and visited Westbrook Outdoor Solutions, a family-run garden center. I tell ya…I need a new camera with better flash. Or I need to stop taking pictures during dusk and dawn.

10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (3) 10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (4) 10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (5)

Finally, one (albeit poor) shot of the new ornamental kale still looking for a home.

10/23/2011 Gingers and Sedums (9)

Wishlist plant of the day: Hydrangea macrophylla Silver Variegated Mariesii or Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Variegata’, or the Endless Summer sport called Light o’ Day.

Storm tossed Tuesdays

Still more rain today. Still no A/C today. Email from the landlord says unit has shipped, waiting on installer. I can’t blame the installer; who’d want to work in the rain?

So no new pictures today. Observations aplenty however. Like, how there are no Asiatic lilies blooming right now, just waiting on the Navonas to bust out. Along with the Navonas, all our Dallas Stars have buds on them, and still more buds to come. Can’t wait to see them in bloom. I think I spotted a couple of buds on our new Stellas; but the other one doesn’t seem to be cooperating. Their leaves have turned yellow quite a bit, so I imagine they are acclimating to their new home. The only daylily without a single bud this year is–you guessed it–Hyperion. I asked the honey to cut back the Hot Lips which has again overgrown the lily bed. Perhaps the Hyperion will benefit from the shearing.

The replanted callas might be enjoying all this rainfall. Some of the Flame specimens I replanted along the salvia wall seem perky; the leaves appear lively and healthy-looking. I should think about rehoming some of the potted callas.

The dozens of coral salvia seedlings are assembling into a formidable army of growing plants. Some of the transplants are militantly swelling in size and girth–crazy! I hope the Ladies in Red are similarly vigorous. I’d hate to see them overrun by the corals…I was counting on a brilliant red display in the front yard. In addition, I hope to finally get the cosmos seeds sowed into the tree ring. along with more marigolds; and alyssum in the bare patches near the front yard fence line. I figure I might as well sow them somewhere and hope they don’t mind the short growing season.

5/24/2011 Spider Lily Bulbs Needing PlantingEgads, temps are looking to be around the 90s the rest of this week, with the wet weather behind us. I expect humidity and a lot of lying about the house…until the A/C is fixed. I’m hoping we don’t go cooler-less this weekend…I want to get some work done in the garden before summer hits. Those two bags of Spider lily bulbs won’t plant themselves!!!

On my garden wishlist today: variegated Snow Fairy caryopteris and variegated lacecap hydrangeas.

Made in the shade

I convinced the honey that the front flower bed does indeed receive 2-4 hours of sunlight every morning…I suspect we will be reviewing our bedding plans and determine what shrubs might be suitable for the location. So far I’m convinced that at least 2 Encore azaleas, 2 nandinas and at least one green-leaved fringeflower will be represented. I’ve found a good list of shade-loving shrubs that I’ll also be using as reference.

I’m still deliberating on the placement of the kalmia. I’m not convinced that Minuet won’t overgrow its position by the door, but being a dwarf mountain laurel means it won’t reach the normal size of the species, right?

I will also have to look at the hydrangea section again…it seems there may be a subgroup of the shrub whose leaves don’t offend me. I’m not fond of the giant oak-leaved hydrangeas…I’d prefer a finer texture and smaller form.