Category: Gardening (Page 2 of 169)

Look! It’s a giant moth next to my tiny maple!

I’m not sure what the moth is. It reminds me of the tomato moths that my Grandpa Hummel encouraged us to hit with flyswatters and bats.

Dang it. Now that I’m inside on my couch and it’s dark outside, I remember posting about a giant worm eating my tomato plants. I think it was a tomato-worm moth. It probably laid eggs on my plants.

We interrupt our regularly-scheduled program to show you my Grande Dame rose:

It’s so symmetrical and floriferous and fragrant and beautiful! I love it!

Yesterday was a day off of school, and I did something! I am taking it as a good sign.

I’ve been digging out the rocks from the small strip against my house in the back yard. I started more than a month ago. My big problem has been what to do with the stuff I dig out. I’ve been putting it in trash bags a bit at a time, but it was taking forever, so I devised a new plan:

Only part of what I still had to dig out fit in those two giant pots, so I went out and bought two more, and that got the job done.

I had to buy more potting mix than expected to fill the empty space. I’m glad to be starting with a blank slate. There were a lot of well-established weeds in there.

Here are a few “before” and “after” shots.

And some whole side shots:

These plants grow quickly. In the shot below, the one on the right was planted in October. The middle one was from some plants I bought in February, and the one on the left was from a couple of days ago.

I’m happy to have this project completed. It represents a major development in my garden, and a major commitment. It means I can start dreaming and planning the next Big Thing. Yay!

I was off of school yesterday. It was almost like a Saturday, except places were less busy than they are on Saturday. I went to several stores, but the most interesting one was Lowe’s.

I went there for a new toilet flush handle. While I was walking through the garden center, I saw this:

It’s the spikemoss I’ve been looking for! I had almost given up my hopes of finding it, but then there it was – a whole tray of it! I bought it all.

I hope to finally plant all my spikemoss sometime this weekend. It’s four days long! Woo hoo!

When I got home, I walked in my garden. It’s waking up and things are beginning to bud and even flower. I’ve moved some things so that they are visible out the sliding glass window.

The arch will have some vines on it. I have so rarely grown vines. I’m excited about it.

But right now, I’m even more excited about my amaryllises. They’re blooming! Woo hoo!

In Southern California, amaryllises aren’t bulbs that you buy at Christmas time that bloom and then you throw them away. They’re perennials! Cool! I got these two years ago, and they’re multiplying. One of my neighbors has potted amaryllis plants that completely fill the pot! I’m looking forward to mine doing that too!