Yes, this is my garden journal for the Garden of Weedin for June, 2010. But, it is much more than simply a planting journal or gardening record. For the Hillbilly Gardener, it is a gardener resource, to use to help in planning my garden, track my low budget gardening efforts, help me keep track of what worked and what did not. This is a garden history journal to remind the Hillbilly Gardener of the many things he saw, experienced and enjoyed in his Ozarks plateau world. It is a gardener resource to be a help planning a garden and as a reminder of all of the good reasons why the Hillbilly Gardener loves his Garden of Weedin and as a tool to help me remember that everything does not always go well. In fact, sometimes in the Garden of Weedin, some things are a downright disaster. My garden journal helps me to avoid experiencing the same disaster more than once. This IS the garden history journal of the Garden of Weedin and the Hillbilly Gardener here on the Ozarks plateau of Missouri. Perhaps my efforts here will help inspire you or help you to avoid some of my mistakes. If this can be accomplished then this garden history journal will have been successful and the Hillbilly Gardener will be happy. the "Hillbilly Gardener"
Wednesday / June / 02 / 2010 - The temperature today hit 91 degrees with relatively high humidity. A bit unusual for this time of year. It doesn't normally get this hot this early in the year and the forecast is calling for quite a bit of 90+ weather over the next couple of weeks. Our son finished the side - sidewalk today and it looks great. Oh, perhaps a stone or two needs a little tweaking here or there to get the surfaces a little more uniform. But, for his first try, it looks great and even more importantly, walks great. When laying out a stone walk, especially an inlaid walk, there are several mistakes that to many folks make: They're to high They're to low They're to close They're to far apart They're not flat or level across the tops They're to small (the individual stones) Rarely - they're to large
It can be an art to setting a really good stone pathway and our son did a good job with this one. Without getting into a a treatise on building an inlaid walkway here in this journal, all I will say at this time is that the size and placement of the stones should be such that it allows the person walking to walk in a natural manner without altering the distance of their stride. Saturday / June / 05 / 2010 - Brilliant sunshine and warm today. The temps are going up to around 90 today. But, this morning is a fantastically beautiful morning for taking coffee on the patio and watching the birds and squirrels as they wake up and start in with they're antics. As I drink coffee and enjoy the morning, I survey our humble surroundings and am pleased at how much better it is looking around here now that some of these nagging little projects are getting done. Cleaning up the Utility area, getting the sidewalk in and the end of the patio area finished off. I can't help but be convinced that this will be a year of the catch up projects project. Korean Hyssop I find myself looking forward to cutting back on the number of volume of plants and better utilizing the ones which provide a better return for my efforts. This throwback to my days when I had an interest in unusual herbs, the Korean Hyssop may not be the showiest plant or have that many endearing qualities from many standpoints, but it is such an excellent source of food for bees, butterflies and other insects that I will keep a couple of them. But, with limited space, I don't need several plants. However, its 3 to 4 inch long spikes of purple blooms are pretty and last quite while. The spikes are actually long torches of tightly packed blooms that start blooming at the bottom and progress to the top of the spike over a progression of approximately two to three weeks. These are borne atop the stems which are 4 to 6 feet tall. So this makes a good background or screening plant. The leaves reportedly make a good medicinal tea that is used in the Orient where it originates. It reseeds readily, which can be a problem if the seed heads are allowed to ripen on the plant or are disposed of in the compost. Wormwood (Artemisia) The Wormwood is another throwback from my days when I had a keen interest in unusual herbs. It does have an attractive grey-green, ferny foliage. But, its growth habit is rank, sprawling and really not very attractive. Its flowers are diminutive, light green and unassuming and don't appeal to many insects that I have seen. Perhaps, in a much larger setting and at the back of a bed, it still might have a place, but not here, where the allotment of space is small and the worth of a plant is going to be gauged by what it gives in return. Add to it's qualities, it's smell. which is much like that of black walnut foliage and it no longer has a place here in the Garden of Weedin. Wormwood also has the distinction of inhibiting the growth of many plants near it, much like Black Walnut. I would not recommend wormwood to anyone with a small garden or limited time. Meadowsweet The Meadowsweet, after fussing with it for a couple of years has taken off and has now grown to form a rapidly expanding clump that needs to be cut done by at least 1/2. It has an extremely pretty pink, fluffy flower that is quite pleasant to see. The flower is plumy in appearance and almost looks like a small puff of pink smoke that lasts for approximately a week. But, with many blooms coming on a mature plant, the blooming period is approximately 2 to 3 weeks. But, it has the bad habit of having relatively weak, jointed stems, which are roughly 4 to 5 tall. This means that it flops quite easily. Probably not a big problem if a person gets proper plant supports in early. A proper and ideal plant support system for this plant would be a "grow-through" system I believe. But, I have not seen any systems on the market large enough for a mature plant. Therefore, a frugal garden might need to make due with something else or construct their own grow-through system. But, This has not been one of the Hillbilly Gardeners stronger qualities. But, with a decrease in other things that require my attention, perhaps this can change in the future. So, for now, I'll keep the Meadowsweet for another year. But, it will need to wait until fall before digging it. I was going to pretty much keep it where it was, but have since changed my mind and want to move it more toward the back of the bed as a screening plant because of its height. Joe-Pye-Weed The Joe-Pye-Weed is really a cultivated weed, closely related to our "Iron Weed" we have growing in fields around here locally. But then, nearly all flowering plants are simply plants that are weeds in their native habitats. We simply choose to invite them into our gardens and cultivate them for a particular purpose. It is really quite well behaved and has few issues. It grows tall to roughly 5 feet and makes a good screening plant that bears large, flat-topped blooms made up of many frilly purple blooms that bees and butterfly's enjoy. This will make a good background screening plant in the corner garden to be moved this fall. It does best with little more than additional compost added to the soil and doesn't require a lot of moisture. It's only drawback might be that it does attract Borers, which tunnel into its pithy stems and weaken them, making them susceptible to blowing over in the wind. Otherwise, the borers don't seem to hurt the plants ability to bloom well and some support stops the blowing over issue. Multi-Colored Yarrow Multi-colored Yarrow. I do like the colors when it blooms well and its 2 foot height makes it a good plant for the middle of the bed. It doesn't spread much and in the 5 years I' had my three plants that I started from seedlings, they've only grown to about 18 to 24 across each. The drawbacks with any Yarrow are that they can get rather "rank" looking as they sprawl open without some serious support to hold them upright. It is possible that judicious pinching when small might help stop that, but I've never tried this yet. If this is something that would help, it is something that always seems to come at a time when there are so many other things that also need to be done in the garden. All that maintenance adds up when you're trying to reduce the amount of maintenance in your garden. At this point, one of the three plants is slated to go into a large container as an experiment and the other two into the corner bed. We'll see if we can come to terms with the its "rank" nature or an easy and effective way of controlling its rank nature. Otherwise, we may end up "hoiking" it later on in favor of a more well behaved plant. Feverfew Feverfew, now here is a pretty little plant that may be treading on thin ice as to whether or no to keep it. This plant is also a throw-back to my "medicinal herb" days. Feverfew is an herb that is traditionally used to treat mild to moderate migraine headaches with some success and each year it is covered with small daisy-like white blooms. However, it also has a very rank habit that gets worse with age. The old wood gets gnarly and twisted and must be removed regularly. Feverfew does benefit from being pinched back to keep it bushier. If not pinched back, it will grow to roughly 4 feet tall and makes a good plant for the middle of the bed. I've had pretty good success cutting it back in late summer when it still has time to re-grow some before fall kills it down. Otherwise, I get aggressive with pruning it in the spring. Once it starts blooming, it will have a main flush in early summer and will then continue with small amounts throughout summer. If you cut it back after the main flush, it will come back with a smaller flush of blooms in late summer. It requires little additional fertilizer and only moderate amounts of moisture. It tolerates drought well, however this increases the amount of gnarly stem growth. I likes full sun, but tolerates partial shade quite well. In fact, here in the Garden of Weedin, it seems to like a little bit of shade in the heat of summer in the afternoon. It's only other drawback may not be a real big problem for many - it reseeds readily and profusely. Additionally, many of the seeds will stay viable in the soil for several years, so you will have Feverfew plants coming up here and there for several years after the plant is gone. But these are easy to control with judicious weeding and/or deadheading. If you do not wish to have volunteer plants, do not discard these seed heads in the compost. Bearded Iris The Bearded German Iris must be dug and thinned out. Summer is the recommended time to do this, however I have never found a bad time to this unless perhaps the dead of winter. They are one of my most favorite of all flowers and unfortunately, I only have a couple of varieties right now, but would like to a large bed dedicated to nothing but Iris some day. Unfortunately, this is a plant that really does need to have some space allocated to it unless you have time for digging and thinning and a source for the plants. It is about as low-maintenance as you can get in a plant and, unless you should happen to get a case Botrytis, which unfortunately is somewhat common in Iris or possible rhizome borers, nearly all of the maintenance with Iris is centered around keeping them weeded and thinned out. This is where the room comes in. the smaller the space, the more often they will need to be dug and thinned. I have had these plants for three years now and already they have outgrow the amount of space I have available to give them. But, for Iris I don't mind. The problem is not in the digging and thinning (which can be hard work), the problem is in accepting the fact that one can only give away so many plants. Therefore, a gardener must develop the strength and willingness to destroy the excess (I cringe at the thought). Then comes the next worst hurdle, Iris and all of its parts are one of the plants that should absolutely NEVER be put in the compost because nearly all Iris harbor some levels of botrytis, which cannot be destroyed by normal home composting and will simply be spread throughout your garden. Rue Lastly, Rue. An interesting herb also dating back to my days of collecting unusual herbs that most would never see. Of the many I once had, I now only have one left, unless there is an occasional "volunteer" plant. Here, I admit that I am completely undecided and am at odds with myself regarding this plant. It is somewhat foul smelling. The blooms are a rather unspectacular yellow-green, but they are much larger than many of the other "undesirables". The plant reseeds prolifically with "volunteers". The foliage is a somewhat interesting grey-green color, but otherwise, this plant has probably no desirable landscaping qualities and from the standpoint of the small garden is probably not a plant that a person would want to keep around. Well, I should not say that. It is a very sturdy plant with no tendency to flop around at all and does not need any staking. If pinched back early, it will become quite full and bushy and can be a pretty good substitute for boxwood as a dividing plant in a larger setting that, unlike boxwood, does at least bloom. At the time I planted it, I can not recall even why I did. But, after doing so, I discovered it had a valuable quality that now posses a dilemma for me - it is a good food and nursery plant for a large "swallow-tail" butterfly. Everyone wants the butterfly, but few are willing to provide the plants to help the butterfly to get there. So - now what do I do? A singular plant is of little value, but I am not sure at this point that I want to dedicate the room for several of these, even for the butterflies. Valerian (Garden Heliotrope) The rue was going to be the last thing. But, the Valerian (Garden Heliotrope) is one which I can not ignore. It is a sweetly scented plant with large white flower heads composed of large clusters of small white flowers arranged in a large flat umbel, measuring from 6 to 10 inches across. These are borne on hollow stalks of 4 to 6 feet in height and will bloom for 2 to 3 weeks. The foliage somewhat resembles that of carrot and here the plant acts like a biennial to tender perennial, depending on the winter. But, because the stalks are hollow, the full height of the plant is seldom seen because it is nearly always flopped over. Valerian does not produce a mass of bloom stems like the Joe-Pye-Weed, but a mature plant will produce as many as 4 or 5. Valerian lends itself best to staking the individual stalks rather than mass staking, Now, if I were to keep this sweetly scented plant properly staked, this would be an awful lot of stakes that I would need that I do not have at the present, staking to do that I have traditionally have not done well at in the past and continual tying as it grew also that I have not done well at in the past. But, if I really do cut back on my other "projects" and other "need to do's", will I have the time, or take the time to take care of this plant if I save it? I don't know, but right now - it looks terrible. Habeck Mint Ok, Ok, so lastly was a couple of plants back. This one jumped out and grabbed me as I walked by. Habeck mint, sometimes called "Biblical Mint" and believed to be the mint referred to in the Bible, originates from the Middle-Eastern region. I purchased it from a British nursery as a novelty item more than anything and it is a rather pleasantly scented plant that makes a passable tea. But, it is extremely rampant and vigorous in its growth and will consume large areas in a short period of time if not contained. It does bloom with a pretty little blue "mint" bloom that bees enjoy. But, its rampant growth habit, along with low landscaping qualities makes this plant undesirable. So - "HOIK" - it goes. I have no time to tame its unruly behavior. I have many other mints that are equally unruly, as all mints are. But, at least they have more endearing qualities and a much more pleasant tasting tea. These are some of my plants that I am taking an a evaluation of this summer. Do I go for strictly low-maintenance or do I accept some maintenance and work in order to enjoy a plant? What value does it bring to me and the garden? These are all things that every gardener should be asking themselves with every plant that they place in the garden. One of the hardest decisions every gardener must face I suppose, is do they have the willingness to hoik a plant that doesn't behave well or meet your expectations? In the past, I haven't. But things are different now and the will-power to hoik is something which I am finding is coming more easily. Sunday / June / 06 / 2010 - About three years ago now, we had our bad ice storm that destroyed many things around here. It also left me with a large steel frame that I had been using to hold bird feeders in the winter. I had originally planned on using it to also use it to hold hanging baskets in the summer, but this never happened before the ice storm brought down a big limb that knocked it all down. It has just been sitting around waiting for the right idea to emerge to reuse the frame. Well just such an idea emerged. I moved it to the edge of the patio where I bolted it down. The hooks that once held bird feeders now sport wind chimes and the center will later get a plant trellis system of some form for a containerized climbing plant. It looks really good and helps to provide more definition to the patio. Later, with the addition of a climbing plant, it will also provide screening. Music outdoors has always been something I have enjoyed. Our son had an old stereo system that he no longer used. So he mounted the speakers under the eaves of the garage where they would be out of the weather and put the stereo in the garage. Now, we have "TUNES"! I finally got around to easing at least part of the hose problem I have here in the Garden of Weedin. Like so many gardeners, I have far to much area to cover with far to few outdoor faucets. This means what sometimes seems like miles of hose strung all over the place. I placed a hose holder on one of the posts of the patio and strung one dedicated hose from the hose faucet to this holder. the hose was routed along the side of the house and out of the way of the mower. I then staked it down with home-made staples. I then keep just one hose on this holder to get to the back of the yard, thus cutting the amount of hose to roll up in half and it makes it a lot more handy. Ultimately, the goal is to get to where hoses are strategically placed in such a way that everything can be reached with no more than 50 feet of hose. I made my decision on down-sizing some plants today. I dug out the wormwood. This was thrown onto the burn pile. I also dug out one of the three Korean Hyssop plants that I had saved. The remaining 2 plants will be moved to the back of the bed where they now reside. Lastly, I started formalizing what plants I want where. I will follow this up with some sketches, measurements and drawings for planting later this fall. Back To Top Tuesday / June / 08 / 2010 - A little rain today - about 3/8 of an inch and about seasonal in the middle 80's. Friday / June / 11 / 2010 - My son mowed today and collected the clippings this time. The clippings were placed on and around the area where the new walkway was installed to keep down weeds for now. Later this fall I will spread some grass seed over the area. Right now it looks pretty good with just the mulch down and helps to set off the walkway. We took the time to enjoy the evening this evening. The last several nights, the fireflies have been flying high. To high to catch. But tonight they were flying low so Papa got with the youngest granddaughter and we caught fireflies. She loved it, especially with her new "bug jar" that Papa made for her. Actually Papa made it for her for him. I got tired of having to help her hunt for the lid all of the time that she was always loosing. So Papa made a bug jar where the lid was permanently attached to the jar with a string so she couldn't loose it. The fireflies were later released unharmed after she had enjoyed them for a while. Papa has taught her from the very beginning that it is Ok to catch bugs and enjoy them. But "good" bugs should be let go unharmed when you are done so that they continue to catch "bad bugs" and then you can catch them again later. After it got too dark to see to catch fireflies any longer, we were sitting around on the patio and were blessed by a visit from a big ole toad frog who came to the lantern light to catch bugs. We use Tiki Torch oil with citronella oil in kerosene lanterns to keep skeeters at bay. The lanterns were sitting on the patio instead of hanging up tonight when the toad came to call. It was the neatest thing. He was completely unafraid and came right up next to us where we could watch as he would wait and every so often we would see him grab a bug. The garden is a wonderful place! Saturday / June / 12 / 2010 - It's the weekend. It's bright and sunshiny. It's going to be hot today. It's only 8:00 AM in the morning and already very humid (relatively speaking). But I'm only going to do one one thing this morning. I'm going going to remove one of the two remaining mole baskets in preparation for changing the large corner bed. Ok, why all the hoopla over that? Because we have company arriving sometime this morning from out of state that we have never met before, but I feel like I must do at something in the garden. While digging out the basket (I've talked about them many times before) I ran into a very large burrow under ground that I've ran into before at other locations nearby. Evaluating the facts that: There are no entry or exit holes to the burrow. The shear numbers of mole runs I have all over the place in the yard. Its close proximity to the foundation of the house
It must be the central mole run for "Mole Central". The mole super highway for all of the moles in the area. From this one run, many moles can access any part of the yard they choose in a matter of minutes without having to burrow their way to it. Beyond the fascinating fact that they would do such a thing, coupled with fact that it is 4 to 6 inches in diameter and apparently fairly well maintained is quite fascinating to me. But fascinating as it may be, I also find that it is also a primary target for some Castor oil based " mole repellent " to drive the little buggers from the Garden of Weedin. While I was in the shed to fetch a tool I discovered a family of wrens that had built a nest in a small child's watering can I hanging up in the corner above the tool bin. I guess for the next few weeks, we'll need to excursive extreme quite when retrieving tools and leave them set to the side for now so we don't disturb them. The funny thing about this story is that just two days prior, my son and I had been having a conversation about how I wanted to get some bird houses up next year, particularly wren houses. I also expressed the fact that wrens had a habit of building nests in all sorts of things, where you would least expect it. Who would would have thought? Back To Top Sunday / June / 13 / 2010 - Sunday morning. So humid outside you feel like you want to take a knife and cut a hole in it so you can breath. While it's 73% humidity outside right now and not exactly normal for this part of the country, I don't know what I would do if we had the kind of constant humidity other folks have. I did get out this morning and cut back all of the Valerian stalks. They were starting to stop blooming. Valerian blooms through a succession of small, white blooms that open up on the large slightly domed flat heads. They were down to roughly 10-15% blooms and getting ready to set seed. They looked really bad, so this really cleaned up the area and by interrupting the seed-set cycle, the plants should go ahead and continue to bush out and live for another year. This should interrupt the biennial tendency of the plant. Monday / June / 14 / 2010 - Got up to light showers this morning, which proceeded to a fairly steady little rain that brought with it much cooler temperatures. It's to bad that by 10:00 the sun was coming out and the rains had stopped. I guess we can count on a steamy day today even though it is supposed to be a little cooler. But, we got a half inch of rain anyway. I was going to start on the project of cutting back the climbing roses out front today. But, that project got put on hold for a while. We have been seeing a pair of Cardinals flying in and out of one of them for a few days now and new something was up, but could never see anything in the bush. Well it became evident today what all the fuss was about with the birds. They were building a nest inside one of them. I would have thought it was a little late to be raising a second brood of young, but I'm sure the birds know much better than me. I've never had Cardinals nest here before, so the roses will stay as they are for now. I can still take cuttings though to start new plants. Tuesday / June / 15 / 2010 - A second morning in a row getting up to showers (about 1/10 inch) and cooler temperatures. I should be counting my blessings! I did get out and started tying up tomatoes today because they were getting tall. I noticed that the heat was causing blossoms to drop. So I'll need to do a little bit of spraying with some "blossom set" to get them started. For those who may not be familiar with blossom set, what it basically is, is a hormone that will help to start the fruit setting of many plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, squash and many others. When the temperatures rise to 90 degrees F or above, the fruit setting of many plants can, and often is, interrupted and the plants will drop their blooms without setting fruits. By spraying the blooms with a product such as "blossom set", you trick the plant into producing its own fruit-setting hormones, which allows it to produce normally afterward. Once the first fruits have started on the plants, the applications can cease. However, if the temperatures rise above 100 degrees F. often there is little that can be done beyond waiting for cooler temperatures. This is the plants natural defense mechanism to prevent it from trying to produce fruit during a time that it perceives as a threat to its existence. Conversely, fruit that is already growing on the plant when the temperatures rise above 100 degrees F. may also be dropped from the plant as well, as it tries to get rid of the fruit that would drain extra energy and water from the plant that it needs to survive. Additional water and mulch will help with this condition, as well as some afternoon shade in some cases. Yes, I did get them sprayed with blossom set this morning. Now, we'll see if they set fruit, or is my spray getting to old. Back To Top Wednesday / June / 16 / 2010 - Started taking an inventory of the plants that I wanted to divide, thin or get rid of entirely (that I haven't already hoiked). I am doing this so that I can get an email off to my future sister-in-law to see if there are any of these that she might want. I also have a friend of the family that has expressed an interest in some of these. Any that do not get spoken for soon are going to get hoiked! I am doing so in preparation for revamping the beds this fall into their smaller size. To this, I will add some new ones that will add more pizzazz and color to the garden. You know what? It's just to darn warm to get very energetic in the middle of the day right now. Is it really the weather, or am I just getting older? It sure seems like I used to work right through the hot part of the day at one point in time, but now, it seems like something I once read about in ancient history or something. Or is it possible just the ramblings of a prematurely aging mind? Friday / June / 18 / 2010 - With temperatures in the low 90's and the low to mid 90's forecast for the next seven days with little to no chance of any significant rain, about all this ole Hillbilly is going to be doing is concentrating on mulching and keeping water down where needed. It's hot weather maintenance time here in the Garden of Weedin, even though it's rather early. In looking around the garden at the things we want to cut back on and those things we possibly want to eliminate from the Garden of Weedin, we've come to the conclusion that if it is not a plant that we definitely enjoy and is truly both low maintenance and easy to care for, we're not going to offer it to others. If it's not an ideal plant for us, then it's not going to be an ideal plant for others and we will not recommend it by passing it on. If it's borderline, then we might possibly pass it on to the right person. But, only with the proper warnings. This being the case, there are a lot of plants that are going to get hoiked unceremoniously, even though I may keep some for myself for now. Even at that, there are plants that are going to be on probation pending finding an easy way to make them low maintenance. The fact is that the majority of the gardeners today, myself included, do not have the time that gardeners of years past, nor are they willing to take the time to spend on the garden. Most gardeners today do not wish to be "fussing" with plants. they must perform well and be well behaved, or they do not belong in a modern garden. Maintenance is something that the average gardener today is not willing to invest a lot of in a garden, especially in a flower garden or landscaping. LOW-MAINTENANCE is the key phrase here and I guess, that is something I am seeking more of now. Saturday / June / 19 / 2010 - Woke up this morning to thunder, lightning and rain (about 1/4 inch). It cooled off for at least a little while. But, the forecast is for temperatures around 94 degrees F. today, with temperatures around 95 degrees F. for the next several days. As I often run into, there is is a person of my acquaintance who recently joined the ranks of first time home owners, but came from a background of no experience with any form of gardening whatsoever. Not an unusual one at all. After all, we all must begin somewhere, but they did express an apparent desire to learn how to garden and grow some things around their new home. One of the first places that they wanted to start is where most people want to start, around the front of their house. This is only normal, but the exposures of their new home pose some challenges which must be considered if one is to have any chance of success at all, which we discussed a little, but agreed to revisit when they decided to start planting. I have since learned that this person has since gone out on their own, without further consideration and purchased many plants to grace the front of their new home that all require full sunshine (which they do not have) and will range in height from 18 inches to 48 inches in height if they ever reach maturity. Now this is fine, as it is their home, but the plant types are all wrong and the plant heights are largely not in keeping with the scale of the location to be planted. All mistakes that could have easily been avoided by simply asking a few questions. But, like so many first-time gardeners, they were drawn simply to the pretty blooms that were on display at the nursery. All right, why do I even bring this up here in this “Garden Journal”? What does any of this have to do with the “Garden of Weedin”? What business is it of mine if they fail? Maybe it's because I care about others and whether or not they succeed or fail. Maybe it's because I want to see others succeed and learn to enjoy the act of gardening as much as I do. But, you can not force anyone to do anything that they do not wish to do and it is a fact that most folks have an insatiable desire to “do it myself”, even if it means they are destined to fail. The problem is, that if we refuse to take the time to realize our own limitations, shortcomings and weaknesses, we fall victim to all manner of failures, disappointments and slick marketing campaigns promising this and that by those who care little about us other than to get our money. Then when their flowers (or any plants for that matter) fail to thrive, or possibly die altogether, they are left either confused as to why or swearing that they have a "black thumb" and can't grow anything. Then they swear off gardening altogether. There are those who actually seem to believe that all that is required is to find some "dirt" and stick a plant in it and tomorrow morning it will be producing flowers luxuriantly. This belief and attitude I have actually witnessed on several occasions. The problem is not that they can't grow things. The problem is that they refuse to recognize, accept and learn what is required, their own weaknesses and experience and refuse to listen or learn in order to correct and/or counteract those weaknesses. They want the beauty and all of the other benefits that come from green, growing plants, but they seem to want it both instantly and without cost. And if they fail or quit altogether because of a failure of their own design or making, I have little sympathy or patience. But, to those who are making a genuine effort to try, are willing to listen and learn, I'll work with them as long as it takes. Knowing full well that they are going to make mistakes, just as I have in the past and will continue to do so. Mistakes are the vehicle by which wisdom is gained. But blind ignorance and closed-mindedness has no cure. Is this a “hardhearted” attitude? I don't think so at all. But, further elaboration would not be appropriate in this journal. This would be a good point for a “Blog”. By the way, the day ended with a nice little summer storm blowing through that left us with an additional 1/2 inch of rain and much cooler temperatures for this evening. Some welcome relief, even though tomorrow will probably be quite steamy and hot. But, I'm not having to water as much! But, the grass and weeds keep growing as well also. OH WELL! Back To Top Tuesday / June / 22 / 2010 - June is winding to a close, it's hotter than a firecracker and the humidity makes me truly sympathetic of those folks who live closer to the coast. About all I can do is keep everything very well watered and wait for cooler weather. Well, that's not entirely correct either. I can do much more, including planting. But, I am not willing, or need to put that much effort and water into the garden right now. It would be different if I needed to and since I do not, why put the plants through that kind of stress? Some interesting observations. The Blue Flax is still blooming quite well. No, it is not loaded with blooms, but it does have a respectable number of blooms on it. However, I have not seen the formation of any seed pods yet. But, without at least one other plant, this is not really a bad thing. The other thing that I have found interesting is that the Butterfly weed that is in the container bloomed quite beautifully and is finished. It is now setting seed pods, while the ones in the garden are just now coming into full bloom. I find this rather interesting. Another interesting thing that may be be purely coincidence is the oregano. This spring, it appeared that it would probably die, but it had just one tiny little spark of a shoot of life making an attempt to grow. So, I was babying it along and trying to get it to take off. Our son dumped a about two or three cups of fall leaf tea on it (this was about the end of May). This stuff was "quite ripe", but within 24 hours you could start to see improvement. Today, this plant has grown quite large and is growing like gangbusters. Like I said, this could simply be a coincidence, but I have put nothing else on it and the "compost liquor" could be quite good for it if not overused. However, the odor can test the strength of ones olfactory senses as well. Unless of course, one is used to working around cattle barns and horse stables. Wednesday / June / 23 / 2010 - Many folks provide bird baths  birdbaths for the birds, but few think about the many other forms of wildlife in their backyards. Many of these do not require much water and get most of their needs from the foods they eat. But as the heat of summer continues or increases, the water content of their natural foods decreases and therefore must be supplemented in some way. Providing supplemental water sources, particularly on the ground, can provide this water source for them and you with a great way to watch more wildlife in your yard than just the birds. I got out yesterday evening and rustled up several large plant trays that I filled with water and placed on the ground around the bases of the trees around the yard. With the heat we have been having, this will provide much needed water for the squirrels and other wildlife. Squirrels do not bathe like birds, nor do they require a lot of water, but they do require some water for drinking. This added water source will be welcome once they find and get used to its presence. But, once they start coming to it, just like the birds they will start depending on it until normal rains return. So, just like the birdbaths, I must keep them filled on a daily basis. Thursday / June / 24 / 2010 - We got a little break in the heat today, with the temperature only getting into the upper 80's. I got out and did some watering this morning since the rains that rolled through the area, as usual, split and went to the East and West of us again. Time and again, I have watched over the past several weeks as rains have remained a hundred miles to the north, a hundred miles to the south or split and went around us. It's been quite strange, but interesting. As I was watering the potted plants  watering the potted plants, I couldn't help but think about how many people just either do not know or do not care to water container plants correctly. If container plants are watered exactly when they need it, the soil does not have a chance to shrink and therefore the water will go directly into the soil as it should. However, there is a fine line between the exact proper time and to dry and let's face facts, how many of us have the time to (especially in the heat of summer) to check our container plants every little bit? Most of us will be doing good to check our plants a couple of times per day. Perhaps in the morning and again in the evening. By then, the soil will be dried out enough to at least start pulling away from the sides of the container as it starts to shrink. This is normal. But what happens when soil shrink occurs? This gap, no matter how small, allows much of the water to run down the side of the soil and out of the pot without ever soaking into the soil and properly hydrating it. The best best approach to watering container plants, especially in the summer, is to apply a small amount to the center of soil and allow it to soak in for a couple of minutes. Then apply some more. Repeat this process a few times and the soil will soak up enough water to expand and close up the gap around the outside of the soil ball. Then all of the water will be forced to go through the soil and properly hydrate the soil. Perhaps, a person could also use plant trays equipped with drains to save water. I haven't tried this yet (I just now thought of it), but it sounds like a good idea. I checked the tomatoes after spraying them with blossom set the other day and it appears that they are starting to set fruit. So apparently the spray I have is not to old. My concern is that I have had the spray I have for many years and I do not know what the shelf life is on this product. But, I am going to guess that it might still be a good idea to get some new spray for next year. In any case. there will be tomatoes, but they will be late this year, even though we got them out at the right time. The garlic was roughly 2/3 died down, so I pulled it today. I must admit that I was very disappointed at the small size of the bulbs. But, considering that the one variety rotted altogether, I guess this wasn't to bad. I must also consider that perhaps garlic requires much more fertilizer than I provided it. There is very little information available on growing garlic in the Ozarks, especially in the form of information from others who grow it around here because no one else does. It appears that the Hillbilly Gardener is breaking new ground. Will I try again? I'll consider it. That's as far as I'll go for now. But for right now, I have many factors to consider first before and if I do. Back To Top Saturday / June / 26 / 2010 - The day started out like most days lately, sunny and going to be hot again with temperatures in the 90's. Again, here in the Garden of Weedin, we were not going to plan on anything but keeping things alive with needed watering. Then, about mid morning we got a little shower. Nothing special, just a little "dust settler". Then, a little later, another shower of about a quarter inch. But, it brought with it cooler temperatures. Then, along about 2:00 PM, it came a a good rain that gave us an additional 1/2 inch for a total of 3/4 inch today and some much needed relief from the heat. For the past several weeks, I have watched as one major storm system after another has tracked across Nebraska, Iowa and northern Missouri. The farmers in that area have not been able to get hay bailed or many crops planted and their temperatures have been well below normal. Yet here in the Ozarks of Missouri, we have not yet suffered from drought, but we have experienced much oppressive heat. What a difference a hundred miles makes! In years past, I have planted and moved plants in the Garden of Weedin throughout the summer. Then I would mulch, mulch, mulch and water, water, water and hope, hope, hope that they would survive. Often, it worked, but often it did not and the plant would succumb to the heat and rigors of summer and die. This year, I'm not subjecting either the plants or myself to this torture and stress. I have made it quite clear throughout the many entries of my journal that I am going to completely revamp the gardens again. But this year, I'm going to make every effort to "work smarter, not harder". Therefore, the transplanting will wait until fall and cooler temperatures. Both, the plants and myself will thank me for it and next spring, I will reap the benefits of it. Sunday / June / 27 / 2010 - I have always advocated getting children involved with "bugs" early and helping them to learn to distinguish between "good" bugs and "bad" bugs. This has many advantages for a child when it comes to nature - BUT. Today, I introduced our 5 year old granddaughter to 2 bugs, the "June Bug" and the "Long-Eared Beetle". Actually, the June bug is a continual reintroduction, but that's for another time and place. One result was fair at best and the other was - well let's just say I never gave the possible result of the other any thought whatsoever. June bugs, where did they get their "bad rap" anyway? I really did think about it (at least a little). Aside from their scratchy little feet, I could think of no reason not to introduce our granddaughter to June Bugs. Most species of June Bugs do not even have true moth parts and they can't sting. So, with some coaxing to counteract her previous teaching from others I did get her to hold it. She jiggled and quickly dropped it because it "tickled". But, she did at least give it a try. The Long-Eared Beetle was different story though. It also was drawn to the light of my flashlight and I caught it gently and let it crawl on my hand and arm. I then let it crawl on her hand, which it quickly fell off. This is where the Hillbilly Gardener blew it. Knowing the habit of small children, I did little more than to warn her not to grab it. But, being a small child she did her dead-level best to catch it by grabbing it. Now parents, stop and think a minute about what Long-Eared Beetles eat - hard food! Wood, insects and other stuff that requires a strong set of mandibles. You guessed it - it bit her! And it drew blood on her little hand. Needless to say, I cannot say how bad I felt at that moment. It is our responsibility to teach our children and grandchildren. Part of that teaching involves always learning about the subject matter that we are teaching them and teaching them correctly. I suppose that learning some lessons the hard way is a part of the learning experience. But, not all things learned must come from bad experience. This was "My Bad" and I'm sorry for it. But, life goes on and I'll keep on teaching her so that when she grows up she will have a better knowledge and respect for all things living. Wednesday / June / 30 / 2010 - While I was out and about today, taking stock of the various plants growing in the various beds around the house and deciding what I wanted to move where when the weather cooled, I made a surprising discovery. One of the Ashwaghanda plants I thought had died was sprouting. I had started with three plants and over time they have declined and this spring none of them resprouted. Now this decline was due in large part to where I have them planted. They are planted on the south side of the house for the warmer microclimate. They need a zone 7 or above and this area provides this. But, the large overhanging eves of this house also makes this area extremely dry, thereby requiring a lot of supplemental watering. Something that has not been one of my stronger attributes in the past. I normally have leaned toward plants that require little extra water. Now while this herb does not require a lot of extra water, that does not mean that it does not require no additional water. There are additional reasons for not watering much here that are being addressed in the bed remake, namely water intrusion into the basement. All of these are being addressed in the bed revamp as I remodel the beds. I have gotten ahead of myself though and if I was simply writing a garden journal for myself, I would probably now need to elaborate on what Ashwaghanda was. But, because I am writing a my garden journal so that others may also read it, let me elaborate some. Ashwaghanda is a medicinal herb grown commercially primarily in India and is used in much the same way as Oriental Ginseng is used. It was purchased from a European nursery several years ago during my period of interest in medicinal herbs and is probably never seen in this country. At least not by any average North American gardener. It is an upright, somewhat shrubby plant with small, greenish flowers that form into a small, red berry that contains the seeds. It dies down each fall and resprouts fairly late each spring from the root if it is mulched well. In my opinion, it has no endearing qualities in the landscape and does not attract butterflies, hummingbirds or other wildlife that I have noticed. The flowers appear to be pollinated by small flies, but it does not appear to be bothered by insects or diseases in this area. Now, what to do with it? Yes, it is a survivor and fits into a xeriscaping theme of some sort I suppose, but I do not think that it has a place in where I am going with the gardens now. So, I suppose it will go. Back To Top Conclusion - June has been month of "flux". Many of "lifes crossroads" are starting to come together in June and many of the decisions that the Hillbilly Gardener was starting to face last year are starting to be put into actions now. After so many years of really strange weather, June has been a month that, in many ways, has been somewhat normal in temperature and humidity and this has made it a little bit hard to do much work outside after such a cool, wet spring. With the help of my son, a couple of old projects have been finished this month. The small walkway to the side yard was completed and the utility area has finally been cleaned up completely. It actually looks like someone other than a "Redneck" lives here now. As part of the clean-up effort, I got some simple decorating ideas put in place in the patio and I finally got my "tunes" installed as a permanent part of my outdoor world for entertainment while outdoors. One of the hardest things that I have had to do in June is to evaluate the plants I currently have and make hard decisions about which ones will stay and which ones will go. It has never been in my nature to get rid of anything, especially plants. But, I have started evaluating my plants and actually applying standards to them. If they do not meet those standards, they are being "hoiked" out of the garden to make way for plants that will. The garden is about change and June has seen the Hillbilly Gardener start to make the effort to try to start to make a change that will carry over into the future. One of those changes is the realization that just because you can grow a thing, doesn't mean that you should grow a thing. Nowhere is this more true than in the vegetable garden. I have always grown at least some of everything, whether the family would eat it or not. I guess it was the fun of growing it, but no more. From on, it's only the vegetable that we enjoy the most and nothing more. I'm Ok with this now - I think. But, can I really change old habits that I have enjoyed so much? Now, what will July bring? the "Hillbilly Gardener" Back To Top | 
