Tag Archives: salvia

Ye Olde Garden

Enduring the heat 2011

Ten consecutive days of 100+ degree weather in the Dallas area. This is already the third hottest June on record here. It is also taking a toll on the garden. I can’t imagine what our water and electric bill will look like in the coming months.

Still, there are still a few plants still making a show…the scabiosa continue to bloom their heads off. The vinca and lantana truly enjoy this heat. I’m still waiting to see the marigold and salvia tree ring come to life; I’ve been catching sporadic blooms of the Durango marigolds, but have yet to observe the whole ring explode into color. The Dallas Star daylilies in the front beds still have a handful of buds waiting to burst open. And the Emerald Snow loropetalum in the front flower bed has surprised me with a smattering of white fringe flowers.

7/11/2011 July Survivors (1) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (2) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (3) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (4) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (5) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (6) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (7) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (8) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (9) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (10) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (11)

There were a few losses of course. The ornamental kale have reached the end of their life. I’m amazed they survived this long but they couldn’t take more of this weather, so I pulled them up. An old white dianthus mound gave up the ghost this weekend, which left an empty hole to fill in the lily bed. It also appears I will lose the raspberry salvia greggii in the salvia wall. The tricolor sage cutting appears to have lost the fight (I could try to rescue it by repotting it). And I’m down to the last Seabreeze salvia seedling.  Those young plants that need the most protection (i.e. common chives), I’ve put into the ground or in the planters. Very few plants are surviving in pots, like the callas, petunias and sweet potato vines. Even the lobelia which I thought would endure are looking very dried and shriveled.

7/11/2011 July Survivors (12) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (13) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (14) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (15) 7/11/2011 July Survivors (16)

Ye Olde Garden

Warning: hot July days ahead

This week has been a string of 100+ temperature days. Even the early mornings (by early, I regard 6am-8am early) tend to be muggy. I haven’t gotten out to tend the garden, like weed, prune, or take pictures because of the heat. Earlier in the week I had pruned back one of the purple salvias in the purple bed–hard pruned by 50%. It had gotten so happy in its spot that I was afraid that it might choke the rose out, or seriously affect circulation. Of course, the rose contradicted me by putting out new buds, and one even bloomed yesterday. Pic forthcoming.

If I spend any time outdoors, it’s in 15-30 minute increments…doing little stuff like putting seedlings and starts into the planters for their own protection. A few days ago, I even put the tricolor sage into the ground–it had been sitting in a 4″ pot for long, and one of the clones died from the heat, so it was about time. The other sage clone seems to be doing fine. I added the golden oregano into the trough where I’ve sunk the Sea Breeze salvia, which incidentally are such slow growers right now. Like all salvias, they seem to prefer a lot of room to spread their roots and hate pots. With this in mind, I even got the rest of the Lady in Red salvia starts out in the tree ring.

I drench all the pots and planters before I go into work–when I remember. Yesterday, I noted that the salvia bed wasn’t looking hot, and it had gone 3-4 days without water. So, for at least an hour before work, I just let the sprinkler water the bed. This morning, the salvias greeted me with a mass of blooms. Sometimes they can be instant gratification shrubs. Again, pic forthcoming.

The bell pepper wilt hasn’t been resolved yet. I’ll probably try the peroxide-spray method next, and probably get a bag of cornmeal this weekend to amend the bed. But beyond that, next year’s pepper crop will have to be potted.

Oh, hey, I found a source online for bhut jolokia seeds. I still have time to start the fall pepper plantings.

Ye Olde Garden

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.