Garden Makeover Update

Everything appears to have survived so far. It's kind of hard to tell with the Bee Balm and Anise Hyssop since they had already died back. They don't look any deader, so I guess that's a good thing. The Cosmos and Calendula plants I saved revived nicely. I broadcast some cosmos seeds over part of the garden before I replaced the mulch. Hopefully they will germinate next summer.

Today I took some Mandevilla cutttings. I'm trying to root one in water and the other with rooting hormone in a potting soil mix. As for the rest of the plant, since Mom doesn't really want it dug up and brought inside, I'm going to cover it with straw, a rose cone, and possibly some burlap.

We are expecting a frost over the weekend, so I brought some containers into the garage. I discovered that one of the plants in the herb container had grown through the drainage hole and into the ground underneath. I think it's the fennel since it's the largest plant in the pot. I also rummaged around in the shed and unearthed a cold frame. I put it over one of my remaining basil plants and some lettuce. I'm hoping to be able to grow lettuce all winter, or at least get an early start in the spring.

Here are some pictures from Wednesday:
This is from after I finished replacing the mulch.
This is from June, so you can see the changes I made. (The pictures are not taken from the same angle. The picture above is the front of the garden and the one below was taken from the left side of the picture above.)

My Horehound:
And last but not least, my 'supervisor':
Farewell~
Sarah

So Many Things To Do, So Little Time

I've been pretty busy the past few weeks. I spent 8 days in Raleigh, NC with my sister and grandparents, visiting my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. It rained the entire time we were gone, and I could not believe the size of the plants in the vegetable garden. Hopefully I can get some pictures up this week. I'm leaving again next Monday to visit my Great Aunt and Great Grandma in Chicago.

The Japanese beetles seem to have disappeared, so we decided to take down the bug bag and not invite more trouble. The Japanese Maple looks pretty bad, and it lost a lot of leaves. I hope it survives. I also noticed that despite all the rain, the 4 o' clocks have not grown at all, and the Cleome isn't doing that great either. The soil must be to rocky for the roots to grow well.

All the veggies have flowered, and some tiny tomatoes and beans are starting to grow. I had enough Spicy Globe Basil to make pesto, and it tasted wonderful!
The Calendula finally bloomed, although I expected it to be taller. The Cleome plants are producing seeds, as are the Cosmos plants. Again, I expected the Cosmos to be taller. Maybe it's because of the late start I got planting everything.

So, on the agenda for this week: fertilizing some of the flowers, collecting seeds, starting a third planting of radishes and possibly scallions and lettuce, finding a recipe for all the zucchini that grows as soon as your back is turned, and getting all my pictures posted in my online photo album.

Farewell ~
Sarah