A Tuesday herb sale at Calloway’s yielded a pot of Coconut thyme. This thyme has a lighter texture and stringy habit compared to the upright lemon variegated or the lime thyme I currently have. I took some rooted cuttings in hopes of having a 2nd planting soon. So far, the cuttings appear to be surviving in the bathroom nursery.
The Autumn Embers and Monarch are currently in full bloom. Since we cleaned up the front bed, they are front-and-center the main attraction in the bed, along with the white-flowering loropetalum. Our late bloomer, Autumn Twist is laden with buds but has yet to make a bloom. Given that we’ve only seen two seasons of color last year from this particular specimen, we’re hoping for a good spring show. My guess is that it’s just not as vigorous as the red- or scarlet-flowering azaleas.
Even the Hot Shot azalea sitting in the lily bed is ahead of the Autumn Twist, already boasting some open blooms. The shrub itself has reverted back to a mostly-green foliage, though still a darker shade than all the rest of the azaleas. Of the bargain-priced azaleas, the Macrantha orange has the best foliage, looking completely lush and full despite coming out of a harsh winter season. It sits directly under a crape myrtle, but I can’t imagine what other factors have caused it to appear so vigorous. The Delaware Valley White and the Crimson azaleas are about as spindly-looking as the medium-height Encores in the front bed, and while I anticipate them to flower well this year, I expect them to also look fuller due to early-season feeding.
The hunny got some mulching done, raked up the remaining leaves in the back yard, planted the white gauras to flank the Midnight Blue Rose, and got the newest oxalis plants into the lily bed. He also managed to redo the border on the rosemary topiary, though I’m not sure if any of the work is justified given the health of the plant. He also made the observation that the japanese painted fern in back of the shade garden looks particularly vigorous, counting out 2-3 more fronds than last we saw it. I’m still concerned that the other painted fern hasn’t made a showing yet.
This Ecosense brand spray from Ortho appears to be working on my hostas. Barely any nibbles since I last sprayed them heavily. Of course, I have yet to put down some bug killer around the base of the plants. If the weather continues to stay dry this weekend, I plan on getting that done.
I have to mark the passing of my red salvia plant. It did not survive whatever caused it damage (possibly weed killer). I plan on replacing it and the soil it sits in with last year’s cutting, which hopefully will grow up fast to fill the void. The other red salvia seems to be hanging in there, though looking a little better than its sibling.