July 2011 – Page 2 – variegatagal

Another variegated pepper purchase

We visited North Haven Gardens yesterday, with the intent of picking up some sedum. Sadly, their sedum selection looked sparse (I imagine they had been cleaned out, since most of their sedum aisle stood empty), so I looked elsewhere to satisfy my new plant bug.

I caught sight of this ornamental pepper in their bedding section. This had been a variety I had been eyeballing ever since I saw it in the Park’s Seed catalog. Shu displays green and creamy-white variegated foliage with narrow, tapering cream to scarlet fruit. The specimen I picked up is about 12 inches high. I suspect that it will grow up to no higher than 2 feet tall like most of the variegated ornamental peppers I have grown. It is an eyecatcher and will definitely add a splash of color to a dark background.

A quick review of the July seedlings

The cover is off! The June-sowed seedlings are growing without the protection of their humidity dome. It has been nearly 3 weeks and most of the seeds have germinated. Only one Jupiter bell, one Thai chili, one banana pepper, and the salvia greggii failed to germinate. I’ve seen only one parsley seedling so far, barely out of the ground, but I’m not holding my breath on these seeds. Like the salvia greggii, I’m not even sure that they’re viable.

Since I doubled up on the Red Rubin basil and banana peppers, I’ll thin those out to separate pots soon. I also brought back indoors the last ornamental pepper seedlings that I attempted outside. It is joining its 5 other brethren in the bathroom greenhouse. Sadly, it appears only 2 are going to make it; the other 3 peppers probably won’t revive from the scorching exposure.

I’ve cleaned out the non-performing cuttings and still have a number of felicias left. I don’t think my oregano cutting is going to catch; I may have to run the community garden for another try.

Bring it on! More plants that love the heat

Today reached the hottest temperature in the Dallas area this year. So far. At 105 degrees (not including heat index) it was broiling hot out in the garden. I had made an error in putting out some ornamental peppers from the previous day into a planter trough, and all but one Purple Flash shriveled up in the heat. Haven’t I learned by now not to put seedlings out in summer?

As part of my morning gardening activity, I started watering and weeding the front bed. The azaleas had been looking mighty stressed all week, so I felt they deserved a good watering. Unfortunately, the weeding of the bed looked more like an all-day task, not something to embark upon during a work day. I did hack down the gaura by 2/3rds its original height. It had been slouching over all week, looking rather unattractive. As much as I hated cutting down the honeybee-magnet, it really needed an early summer shearing.

The blooming pineapple mints in the herb bed border also got a much-deserved haircut. I don’t know how readily they reseed, but I wasn’t interested in finding out. All the herbs, for the most part, are thriving in this heat. Even the frail little coconut thyme is looking healthy. Of course, the courtyard beds receive a dose of heavy watering every other day–the potted plants get water every day. The ginger mint is also blooming, but in a way I can’t describe: the inflorescence work their way up the stems, not something I’ve seen before. Is this typical of ginger mint?

That’s a Calico ornamental pepper seedling and the chinese eggplant in the background. Sadly, the eggplant flower disappeared, so that means no fruit yet. Hard to believe that the 2 ginger mint plants started from one specimen; I’m thinking of evicting 2 pineapple mints and moving them into the cinder block wall.

Among the losses, I counted the variegated felicia as another goner. While weeding the border between the herb and blue bed I stumbled upon its skeletal remains. All I have left now of the variegated felicia are 2 cuttings that have barely taken root. I’m seriously considering a liquid root fertilizer to speed up the process. But perhaps they just aren’t designed to tolerate this weather, despite being in a somewhat protected spot. The regular daisy is blooming sporadically but seems to like that spot it currently resides in.

Red basil, mint blooms and ripe chilis

The Red Rubin basil never did stay red for me. These days the leaves emerge green with red veining, but never fully color out. They have remained this way ever since I transferred them into starter soil, then placed outside during late spring. Could it have been stress-induced reversion? After reading some internet literature, I found out that the purple color in basil tends to be unstable and reversion back to green is typical. However, it still retains its characteristic basil scent when one draws close enough for a sniff.

The pineapple mint specimens are all blooming like crazy. I need to cut them back again…I’m concerned they might reseed heavily, like the coral nymph salvia which has jumped into the lawn.

Finally, the Thai chili peppers are ripening. The scarlet and orange chili fruit are very eye-catching. K reported that these were some spicy-hot chilis; he harvested one a couple of weeks ago from a specimen I gifted him.

Butterfly sightings

I’d like to think that our summer flowers are bringing in the welcome garden guests. At least I’ve seen a half dozen honeybees working the gaura in the courtyard every morning. I’m hoping one of these days, the hummers will stop by the garden for a drink. But, in the meantime, the man and I were surprised by a couple of butterfly sightings. I caught my first sight of a black tiger swallowtail (a black and blue-spotted butterfly) fluttering around in the courtyard on one day. Then, the honey showed me a yellow one of the same size perched in the photinia the other day. I suspect it is the male version of the tiger swallowtail, but because I didn’t glimpse any distinctive stripes, it could have been anything. In any case, I’ve put the honey on alert–capture a photograph of those butterflies at all costs.