Garden Diary - July 8, 2016

Well, it's been a long time since I wrote in my diary. It's been extremely hot lately, in the mid-to-upper 90s every day for awhile now. I water every morning, and sometimes in the afternoons just to cool the plants and soil off.

The outside garden (top) has filled in very nicely, but some things aren't doing as well as others.

It's hard to believe that less than one year ago, this was the original outside garden. I remember carefully planting those little slips of plants and mulching them with Spanish moss. the lantana is gone now and that tiny little slip of lemon grass on the far left has gotten so big that I had to tear some of it out this year. Luckily, my next door neighbor took it and is going to grow it in her garden.

The Confederate Rose (top far left) was horribly infested with whiteflies, so I had to remove all but the top few leaves to save it. I've been treating the whiteflies that came back daily with a spray of dish soap, oil and cayenne in water and so far, so good. I've also been fertilizing it regularly, and it's started to put out lots of nice, healthy side growth.

 On the other hand, the bulbs I found discarded in a pile of leaves next to the dumpster turned out to be crocosmia, not gladiolus, and they are blooming beautifully.

The double purple datura that I grew from seed is also blooming finally. One put out a bloom in the spring, which is now a nice seed pod for fresh seeds for next year.

 

The coleus are all doing exceptionally well. I especially love the Japanese Giant (left back below) that I got when a neighbor moved out last year. This thing will get about 4-5 feet tall by the time it's done growing.

Also in the above picture you'll see that the dwarf yellow poinciana planted out this spring to replace the lantana is doing well. It's grown almost a foot, and I'm counting on blooms in the fall. The sweet potatoes are taking over the garden and the Little Ruby alternanthera (front bottom left) that was one solitary sprig this spring is spreading like crazy.

Sadly, the New Zealand spinach is not doing well. I took cuttings hoping to root them, but although I had read reports of how easy they are to root in water, mine just rotted away. I've also read reports that it takes awhile to get started and will surprise me one day by growing like mad, so I just leave it there and hope that report is right, or that it at least reseeds itself for next year.

One last picture, then I really do have to go back to work. I bought some markdown plants at Lowe's last year, and while they aren't doing as well as I expected, they are still alive and growing. The Sallyfun Blue salvia is growing very slowly as is the Luna Red hibiscus next to it. The hibiscus bloomed today, which is nice, but the three spindly stems are so weak I had to stake it up so it didn't fall face-down into the ground. I'm going to be moving this in the winter, maybe putting it into a container.

That's it for now. I'll report on the inside courtyard permaculture garden soon. Happy Gardening!