Good morning, and this is different. Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
Denver has had a very odd weather week: we've had persistent cloud cover, high humidity, but no rain and highs in the upper 80s — and yesterday it was 93°. It's very bizarre for Denver to have so many cloudy days. It's even more bizarre to have clouds with no rain.
Another of my new oriental poppies has bloomed — this is Manhattan. I previously had a Manhattan poppy, but it had gotten overwhelmed by the nearby herbaceous peony, so I replaced it.
I also planted Brooklyn and Staten Island, but I don't know if either of those survived. I've several oriental poppies that made it through the winter, but either are not large enough to bloom this year, or that haven't bloomed yet (a couple of plants have buds).
I've also had several more bearded iris come into bloom. I'm not sure of the name of this one; I think I got it from Dutch Gardens two or three years ago. It really is quite stunning, and big enough to divide, so now I'll have it in the front yard, as well as in the back.
I did manage to make some progress last weekend, despite being interrupted. I got the newly purchased gladiolus in the ground, and plugged at least some of the roman chamomile into the turf in the back yard. Unfortunately Caligula thought the newly-planted roman chamomile was veerrry interesting — and promptly dug up several of them. Oh those pooties can be soo helpful! (And on the pootie front, I received confirmation from the Cheezburger Network that Caligula's photo will be in the next all-kitten Cheezburger print book, which comes out in December. Yes, you now know a celebrity pootie.)
And I discovered where the missing lobelia is — Lowes and Kmart didn't have any, because it was all at the fucking grocery store! Yes, Albertsons seems to have cornered the local market in lobelia.
The rest of the week has been a wash out — I had extensive dental work done on Wednesday, so I've been pretty well out of it for the last couple of days. Percocet has dealt well with the discomfort — but percocet also puts me to sleep, so I've spent the majority of the last three days nodding off over a book. Periodontal problems have plagued me since I was in my 20s; it was first recommended that I get full dentures when I was in my early 30s.
I managed to avoid that for almost twenty years, but the inevitable finally arrived — and the timing really sucks. The snap peas are ready for eating — and I can't eat any! It will be at least a week before I can chew them. I'm already resigned to no corn on the cob this year; I am getting implants so I will be able to eat it next year (that's what I told the prosthodontist — that in the end, I had to be able to eat corn on the cob, and chew a steak).
And I am feeling better now, so I hope to get knock off some chores today — at least before it gets too hot. Now that I have lobelia it needs to go into the hayrack planters with the begonias. The tuberoses, chocolate cosmos and other annuals must be potted up.
And the Dr. Huey rose again trying to take over the front beds. The Mister promised that he would take care of keeping the damned thing in line, so he needs to capture the rampant canes and get them lashed out of the way — the canes are starting to reach out and grab at me anytime I go past that corner of the porch.
I do have an evil plot brewing in my mind. I'm hoping that if he gets lashed often enough trying to keep Dr. Huey in control, the Mister will acquiesce to my taking the brush killer to it and being able to get rid of it. Of course I also run the risk of the Mister destroying anything planted in the general area as he attempts to control the uncontrollable. I am past starting to loathe that plant and am now progressing to outright hatred.
I also have a section of soaker hose that needs to be replaced — there's a 2' section that's breaking down and developed a lot of little breaks. I have plenty of replacement hose — I just need to get out there in the heat of the day, when the hose is warm and more flexible, to get the repair done.
I'm still waiting for my tumbling composter to arrive — my last contact with 4Seasons Greenhouses was that it was to be shipped the week of May 24. Yeah. Right. The price was very good, but the service sucks pondwater. I sent off another e-mail on Thursday, to which I haven't received a reply, so I'll try and get them on the phone on Monday — and report them to the Better Business Bureau. I understand that companies can occasionally run short on inventory, but it's also incumbent on that business to keep the customer informed on just what the fuck is going on and how they are going to make it right. From these people — no communication unless initiated by me, then a made promise and broken.
And I still have a boatload of cleaning up to do — vinca ripped from the ground that hasn't made it to the compost bin, empty pots that need put away, or thrown away, weeding (thank gawd there's little of that). So between naps, I'll chip away at all that other little stuff, too.
That's what's happening here? What's going on in your gardens?