So, remember how last
week I swore up and down that I NEVER planted anything in July anymore, because
“Ho, ho, aren’t I so smart now?” or something along those lines… Yeah, well,
maybe it’s good for us every so often to make such definite statements—gives our
guardian angels a great laugh. So, here I am this week—yup, it’s still July
folks—planting my fool head off! How does this happen?! I’ll tell you.
A certain friendly
neighbor of mine, who happens to love gardening and plants as well, offered to
share a bunch of starts with me. Starts = baby plants! I can’t turn down free
plants! It’s not in my DNA. Plus, she had some plants that I’ve been
wanting—feverfew! lady’s mantle!—plus several more that I am happy to have. It
was a short contest between conflicting core values: never plant in the heat of
July vs. here, take some free plants! There was a clear winner. I filled up
every pot I had brought along with me, and then some.
Okay, okay. I will give you a list of everything I brought home, because I can tell you are DYING to know. (HA! Yeah right. Just humor me, alright?)
Lady’s mantle: the
leaves are as beautiful as the flowers! (Not sure why these have different
color veins.)
Feverfew (as
mentioned) x 12
Lady’s mantle x 3
White irises x 3—big
and beautiful; these things are at least 3 feet tall;
White perennial phlox
x 10
Heuchera—one long,
ungainly stalk that I split into 2 pieces
Purple salvia x 1
Wednesday I planted
half of the feverfew, all 3 lady’s mantle, the salvia, one phlox start, and the
heuchera. I have been under some pressure to get the rest done. You see, we are
leaving on a trip tomorrow morning—Saturday. In this hot weather, I had my
doubts that these starts would live through our absence, unless I could get
them into the ground.
There they are. Yum!
Thursday was going to
be Round 2 of planting. Best laid plans often go awry, and all of that, because
instead we ended canning apricots. My awesome in-laws brought up several boxes
of apricots and even stayed to help us can them. 36 jars of apricots and 18
jars of jam later, we got that taken care of. I’m happy that we did it—we love
apricots! However, it didn’t leave much time for more planting. I got a little
bit more planting in during the 45 minute window after I put kids to bed and
before dark. I also acquired approximately 53 more mosquito bites during that
same time frame.
Today, though. It had
to happen! I got up and walked out the door to sprinkling rain! What?! In July?
I was LOVING it! Perfect transplanting weather, for the win! It stayed cool and
rained on and off all day. I was so happy!
This was my Planting
Priority Plan (or PPP for short!):
- Last 3 feverfew: these were in the smaller 6” pots
and I didn’t think they would make it while we’re gone unless they’re in
the ground. The only setback was that I wasn’t 100% sure where I wanted to
put them. I ended up planting them in the back corner flowerbed, around
the birdbath.
- Phlox: these would have been #1, because they kept
wilting on me, but the place I wanted to plant them was very dry (side
task: replace the sprinkler head there!). So, I needed to put the water on
that area. The rain helped me out there, but I did add a little extra
water prior to planting just to soften up the under layers of dirt. Some
of these also went into that back corner flowerbed— I think planted 3
different groups there—then I put one right in the middle of my front oval
bed. Oh, and a few over by the honeysuckle bush.
- Irises: of all my precious pass-along plants (PPP for
short—again), these got the vote of “Most Likely to Survive While We’re
Gone.” So they were my last priority for planting, and I actually didn’t
get to them today. Not stressing about it.
As usual, it took a
long time to get all these plants in the ground, because I was pulling out
bindweed for 20-30 minutes first in every location. Sigh. An Abomination of
Bindweed.
I’m very excited to
add all these plants to my flowerbeds! The white will be especially useful in
making arrangements, because it goes with all the other colors. Yes, they are
all going into my flowerbeds at this point. I want to get set up with raised
beds that are full of perennials just for cutting, but I have not made that
happen just yet. I think when I take out that dead cherry tree out back, I want
to put a raised bed in its place and fill it up with coneflowers and daisies of
different varieties. #goals
That rain today was
such a blessing! I was able to get all my outside chores done, then come in and
put together flower arrangements for my 2 business subscribers, get packed, get
my baby’s clothes packed, and still make it down to my niece’s rehearsal dinner
down in Provo (1.5 hour drive.) Busy day!
My husband brought me
home a new hose, sprinkler, and timer for the garden, so that it will get
watered while we’re gone, bless him. I still need to figure out drip
irrigation, but I haven’t taken the time to sit down and do it. Our sprinkler
from last year—and our best hose—both sprung big leaks this summer, so that has
been an issue.
We’re off! I’ll see you next week—maybe I’ll have some fabulous wildlife pictures to share. :)
