Crepe Myrtles

Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia) - Watermelon

Around here, crepe myrtles will bloom from June until it's not hot.  There will be a constant flow of confetti-like petals littering our driveway.  Some people don't like that and consider it a mess.  Not me.  Boo Hoo.  I have pretty pink petals blowing around my yard.  Seed pod will form and can be snipped or left for the birds.  The leaves will turn orange-red between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Crepe myrtles like full sun and well drained soil.  Done.  If fact, once they are established irrigation should be done only when needed.  I've never had problems with mildew; but honeydew is an issue.  Aphids or other pests enjoy munching on the vegetation then process the plant material and produce honeydew.  That fine mist you experience while strolling beneath crepe myrtles is not a refreshing shower.  Nope.  It's insect pee/poop.  I don't worry about it and alternate my route.  Some apply systemic pesticides to resolve the problem.  I think I would rather have the honeydew than the poison.

Dallas Arboretum Crepe Myrtles (These are my favorites!)

Pruning crepe myrtles is supposed to be done sparingly.  Whoops.  Farmer MacGregor didn't read that part and has really giving this multi trunk tree and severe clipping in the past few years.  We are now in the process of trying to remedy the damage.  If the tree ever gets unhealthy, we'll just remove and replace.  But I'm hoping for the best.  Perhaps I can contemplate a front yard design incorporating a tunnel of lavender crepe myrtles, but I can't see Farmer MacGregor going for it.

Boy Oh Boy! Boysenberries in the Kitchen

Thornless Boysenberries

It's hot.  No one wants to be outside.  So, what do you do?  Crack out the frozen boysenberries.  They're great by themselves.  But they're really great blended with some vanilla ice cream.  Further inspired, I cranked up the oven (Really smart on a hot day.), and made a cobbler.  Yet another great use of berries and vanilla ice cream.

Cranking up the oven is as simple as it sounds.  I need to go out to the breakers and flip on some power to these 2 pricey Dacor ovens that sporatically work.  Come back inside and see if the oven will stay on long enough to heat up.  It did.  I proceeded to  assemble the cobbler.  Amazingly, the oven stayed on to completion of the golden brown crust with boysenberry juices bubbling through.  Unbelievable success.  I really didn't expect the oven to work at all.  I have been using the BBQ, crockpot, and stovetop to prepare meals.

The kitchen is on the verge of being demolished.  The 1969 kitchen designed by a man that never had to work in a home kitchen will be brought up to speed.  I hope to chronicle the metamorphosis here with before, during, and after images along with notes on suggestions of what to do and what to avoid.  The garden will be mostly on auto pilot with chores done in the evenings as needed.


If anyone has suggestions of things that MUST be included in a kitchen, I would appreciate an email or comment to consider your suggestions.  Anything.  Now the plan is for stainless steel appliances, Shaker cabinets with pull out features.  No hanging cabinets.  Built in china cabinet.  Soapstone counters. Stone floors.  Pot lights.  My inspiration is FUNCTIONAL.  Everything must be easy to clean and keep clean.  Extra little frills are not going to make the cut.  Oh, and overpriced fluff will get the ax too.

So, by mid July the kitchen should be complete and thoroughly enjoyed. Fingers crossed.

June Boom!

It's June 1st and, just like calendar work, the plums are ripening.  We enjoyed sharing the 1st juicy goodness for dessert a couple of nights ago.  Santa Rosa plums are the 1st trees to break bud in the spring and the 1st trees to have fruit ripe in the summer.  Makes sense.  Duh!

Santa Rosa Plum

Next up are the Blenheim apricots.  Netting was moved from one of the spent boysenberries to the apricots for protection for those pesky garden birds.  Is it just me?  Or do you get annoyed by birds pecking from one fruit to the next leaving many damaged fruit rather than simply destroying one fruit?  Birds.

Blenheim Apricot

Farmer MacGregor's tomato patch is coming along.  His Better Boy tomatoes have improved in vigor as the heat turned up.  Some tomatoes are large and should be turning red soon; while still others are just developing.  They were planted in early April. Salsa!

Better Boy Tomato

Unfortunately, I did not note when the Black Beauty seeds were put in the ground.  I may stumble across a scrap of paper with the information or perhaps I noted it on the seed package. 

Farmer MacGregor planted Black Beauty Squash (zucchini) on April 21, 2013.  Regardless, I still maintain that the world's hunger problem could be solved by providing each person 2 mourning doves (male & female) and a few zucchini seeds.  Bounty.

Black Beauty Squash (zucchini)

There is plenty more going on in the garden; but this is what I captured before the temperature knocks on 100°F and the battery runs dry on my camera.  Time to close the house up and stay inside until the sun kisses the Pacific.

Split Leaf Philodendron Like Swallows to Capistrano

Seems like the split leaf philodendron bloom is a bit early this year; but maybe not.  It seems to have opened in years past between now and sometime in June.  My mental note is to watch for this around Memorial Day.



Split Leaf Philodendron - 2013

This year, there are two buds/pods. I'm not sure temperature has anything to do with the process. It's been pleasantly cool/warm lately. I'm certain my fellow San Joaquin Valley gardeners are enjoying this refreshing weather before the bondage of summer forces us to do most of our outside work around sunrise and sunset.  The scent of this unusual bloom along with jasmine and the asparagus fern blooms make the shady side of the house full of potent perfume.  Very sweet stuff.  It's on the same side of the house as my BBQ.  The sweet perfume mixed with burning mesquite signals the fact that summer is here.

Garden Update:

• Boysenberry harvest is winding down with a final take of about 6 gallons of berries.  Pretty good for young canes.
• Plums are ripening.  Birds have started to  help themselves.  Netting was thrown over the tree this week.
• Apricots will be the next tree to ripen and will need netting to protect the bounty from the birds.

Lavender Success

Lavender looks successful in the garden this season. I planted seed way back in September 2010, and nothing really came of the seeds.  Now,  2 1/2 years later lavender seems to be popping up all around the garden. 

Little sprouts were growing amongst onions before Farmer MacGregor moved the seedlings and converted the bed to a melon patch.  I was pessimistic and thought the transplant would be a failure.
Wrong.

Lavender has taken root successfully in the cinder blocks.  There even appears to be a volunteer tomato thriving.

Lavender is even popping up through oregano that surrounds the pepper bed.  I don't know how these seedlings got started; but I welcome them to the garden.  I really don't think the seeds from 2010 finally germinated.  Who knows.  Perhaps the extremely dry year California is experiencing played a role.  Lavender doesn't require much water at all, draws loads of pollinators plus it smells really great.

PS - Feliz Cinco De Mayo!

Bye, Bye, Birdies

 

You can look.

But you can't touch.

 The netting went up on the boysenberries this morning.  The berries are ahead of schedule ripening and need to be covered with protection from the birds. 

This post is a note for my reference to remember how to put the netting up fairly quickly.

Tools needed:

• Netting.  Use the fabric cut this season for as long as possible.  One roll of 1/4" netting (7' X 100') will cover 3 berry structures.
• Scissors.  If fresh netting is required.
• Staples.  These are used to secure the netting to the ground.
• Hammer.  The ground can be a bit tough and a hammer helps push the staples completely into the ground securing the netting.

Here's how to do it:

• Take one section of netting that drapes from the ground on the north side of the structure over to the south side of the structure.
• Make sure enough fabric drapes over the one of the main posts to cover completely.
• Drape second section of netting the same way.
• Make sure enough fabric drapes over the remaining main post to cover completely.
• Overlap the two sections at the center of the structure.
• Use staples to secure the fabric to the ground around the structure.

Thornless Boysenberries

Don't tent the netting tightly against the berries.  Those pesky birds will use that netting to peck through to the produce.  Loose is fine.  Make sure to secure to the ground around each structure.  This will combat those pests from hopping up from the ground to steal the berries.

Leave My Berries Alone!

Thornless Boysenberry

The boysenberries are quickly ripening and need to be covered with bird netting to keep my feathered friends out.  Since there is no garden kitty, the netting is essential.  The bird habitat in the garden has gone berserk since Pumpkin passed.  The boysenberries are in their 2nd year and promise to bear loads and loads of berries for jam, pies, and the freezer if there are enough after fresh eating.  Let the birds eat the bugs and leave my berries alone.

Tomorrow morning, before the heat turns up, the netting will be going up with Farmer MacGregor doing the lion's share of the work.  The netting is draped over the trellis supports and anchored into the ground with large staples.  There are structures to cover.  I hope there is enough material.  We may need to make a store run.

I hope to remember to chronicle this process here for future reference.

Iceberg Roses ('Rosa KORbin')

Iceberg Rose - boysenberry end

The garden has eight Iceberg bush roses. Six to form hedges on either side of the pergola and two to bookend the boysenberries.  Most all are from Coiner Nursery.  Coiner grows out in Wasco - Farmer MacGregor's stomping grounds.  Each and every one is poppin' with blossoms.  So far, these are hardy, har, har roses.  They take the heat and don't need pampering.  That's my kind of plant.  They get irrigated and fed.  Occasionally, I deadhead the old blooms but that's about all.

 

So far, so good.  Knock rosewood.

 

Iceberg Roses - pergola hedge



Augusta West - Not

It's time for the Masters' Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  That golf course is famous for its azaleas.  My garden is not.  In 2009, we planted a bunch of camellias and azaleas in the garden.  Wrong.  They did bloom, but then they went kaput!  Only one azalea survives today.  Thriving in their place are thornless boysenberries

 George L. Taber Azalea

Garden Update:

Tomatoes (Better Boy):  Farmer MacGregor could not imagine a summer without homegrown tomatoes.  So rather than solarize the raised beds to eradicate the nematodes, he opted to plant a variety resistant to nematodes.  This is what we grew last summer in another bed. Planted last week.

Bell Peppers (Golden Bell):  Three plants should be enough to take us through the summer. Planted today.

Hot Peppers (Serrano):  Pepper poppers are a favorite around here.  MacGregor also prefers home grown salsa. So...Serranos were planted today.

Note:  I still cannot bend so Farmer MacGregor has taken on the task of planting.

Nectarine (Fantasia):  What's nibbling on the nectarines?  Ants?  Grasshoppers?

Fantasia Nectarines

Espalier:  All the espalier fruit trees (except for the Granny Smith apple) had a spring pruning.  Nothing too heavy.  The leaves are necessary to prevent scald.  The most vigorous growth was on the apricot and plum trees.

Ebb Tide is Here!

Ebb Tide Rose in Maybelline's Garden

Bare root roses were planted around the pergola on January 19, 2013.  Ebb Tide tree roses and Iceberg bushes.  Today, the flowers on the Ebb Tides have opened up. I thought they would have been darker and more purple in color. Compare the two images and see for yourself.  Of course, I have trouble photographing flowers with blue hues.

See how the flowers purple up as they aged?  The image below is of an Ebb Tide flower right before the petals drop.  It's much closer to the color of that from Weeks Roses.

Aged Ebb Tide Rose in Maybelline's Garden

I can't get down and take a whiff of them yet so I'll have to believe the description given by Weeks Roses:

Ebb Tide Rose photo courtesy Weeks Roses

Ebb Tide™

2006 Intro

(cv.WEKsmopur) Pat.#10,478

Floribunda - Smoky deep plum purple

Soooo mysterious in its color…and soooo powerfully perfumed…it's certain to attract attention. Dusky deep purple buds swirl open to very double old-fashioned flowers of velvet plum washed with a haze of sultry smoke. The intense clove fragrance can nearly bowl you over. But keep your balance or you'll find yourself face down amongst the deep green leaves.

• Height / Habit: Medium / upright, bushy
• Bloom / Size: Medium, very double, old-fashioned
• Petal count: Over 35
• Parentage: [(Sweet Chariot x Blue Nile) x Stephen's Big Purple] x [(International Herald Tribune x R. soulieanna derivative) x (Sweet Chariot x Blue Nile)]
• Fragrance: Strong spicy clove
• Hybridizer: Carruth - 2006
• Comments: Gets all the better with establishment in the garden.

All the roses are growing vigorously now.  I do hope they will be able to withstand the summer.  I'm a beginner at growing roses. I can understand a bit of the description above. I'm excited if we selected some good varieties for our area.  If they bloom all summer it shouldn't be so bad to sit out under the pergola trying to cool down my swamp pants.

PS - the plant that Ajax used as a chew toy has rebounded and has a generous amount of buds ready to burst.

PPS -  did you know the meaning of Ebb Tide?  I didn't.  It's the tide between high tide and low tide when the sea is moving away from the shore.

PPPS - who do you think of when you think of the song Ebb Tide?  Farmer MacGregor thinks of the Righteous Brothers.