Author: variadm

Behold the blue

Is it a Mum? An Aster? I found the blooms hiding underneath the faded Oertel’s Rose yarrow. They looked nearly identical to the scabiosa blooms just barely a foot away, but smaller–about the size of quarters.

6/21/2011 A blue aster in bloom 6/21/2011 Actually this is more like the true color, a lavender blue

We had quite a thunderstorm last night, with strong winds that broke tree limbs and scattered debris across our yards. Of course the storm dumped quite a bit of rain as well, which probably gave rise to some new blooms in the morning.

6/21/2011 Crape Myrtle lavender purple 6/21/2011 White Nymph Salvia coccinea in bloom again

I sowed a new flat of peppers (Jupiter bells, Thai chilis, and banana), chives, parsley, and Red Rubin basil. This time, I’m using 3″ pots with MiracleGro garden soil for flowers and vegetables. I’ll be growing them under lights and clear cover in order to promote faster germination. By the time they are ready for transplanting, it should coincide with the proper planting time for peppers. Fingers crossed.

The community garden in early summer

Despite searing temps hot enough to cook an egg, the man and I braved the heat to check out the community garden next to Coppell city hall. The garden was awash in summer colors of yellow and orange. The cosmos were in full, rampant bloom, along with zinnias, lantanas, loosestrife, sunflowers and roses. It gave us an opportunity to observe how the vegetable plants fared in this heat. We saw several pepper plants fruiting, in addition to tomatoes, blackberries, squash and melons.

6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (1) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (2) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (3) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (4) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (5) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (6) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (7) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (8) 6/18/2011 Community Garden Early Summer (9)

Too hot for this JM

I discovered my Asahi zuru in dire straits–walked out on the porch yesterday and noticed that most of its leaves were curled and drying. I questioned the waterboy–who swore he had been giving the japanese maple plenty of water. Then he later recanted, stating that maybe he missed it after all. So, basically, the poor tree has been struggling through the past few 100 degree days…can it be rescued?

6/16/2011 Dry Japanese Maple (1) 6/16/2011 Dry Japanese Maple (2) 6/16/2011 Dry Japanese Maple (3)

Despite several gallons of water to saturate the soil, I believe more than 75% of the foliage will be lost. I am just waiting to see when they will be dropping off. I hate to write off this JM even though it lost most of its variegation last year and probably won’t get it back. It’s still a Japanese maple and pretty in that JM way.