Ten Days Later ...

Since the past post, ten days ago, there has been a burst of color and growth and a trip to the dark side.

The color has popped on the crape myrtle. The flowers appear to be pink in the photos. In real life they waver between pink and coral, depending on the degree of sunlight and cloudiness. It's lovely in any hue.

The growth spurt was enjoyed by the healthy paulownia. It is now taller than its red flag, and its new leaves are getting larger and larger. Dinner plate sized leaves are a feature of the mature tree.

Notice the Emerald Green soldiers. Jody told me not to water them. I haven't turned the hose on them once, despite deprivation being contrary to my instincts. They are growing nicely. 

About that trip to the dark side ... almost all of my life I've held artificial flowers, especially plastic ones, in contempt. However ... after throwing out the deader than dead marigolds that had surrounded the statue, I surrendered. The ceramic pots will only accommodate 4-inch flower pots, which dry out quickly. With the heat we have been experiencing, keeping up with them was next to impossible, hence the death of the marigolds, and thus a trip to Hobby Lobby and the purchase of a stem of silk flowers and a large block of florist foam.

 Three of the four living Rose of Sharon bushes are beginning to bloom. The fourth is the one that experienced the miraculous recovery. I don't see any buds on it, nor do I expect to see any. It gets full marks for simply surviving! The other two bushes do seem to be dead. The leaves they had have gone from withered green to brown. Will leave them in place for the time being.

On a separate topic: did I mention I'd like to screen in the little patio outside the back door? I ran my idea past one of the members of the Architectural Review Board, who wasn't thrilled with my idea to use a sheet of corrugated polycarbonate for a roof. I thought it would let in a lot of light. He thought it would look tacky and fly away in the first set of strong winds to come along. So I went back to the drawing board and emailed a new set of plans to the fellow who will be building it for me. I expect the estimate to rise dramatically, but the end result will be very nice.

A Month Later ...

Between the rain and the heat, precious little has been done by me. However, Mother Nature has been at work. Here's a quick rundown on how things stand as of the 4th of July.

First, the crape myrtle. It has produced a lot of buds. I'm a bit disappointed in the few that have opened. The catalog described the color as more coral than pink. I'm hoping that as more buds open it will take on a coral hue, but whatever it is, I'll be enjoying it.

Remember the Rose of Sharon that had the microscopic leaves? Well, look at it now! It is filling out nicely and looking very healthy. I'm so happy that it got the time it needed to recover. 

The two nearest neighbors of the recovering bush, which were putting out leaves from the get-go, now seem to be in distress. Their leaves are withering. They've had as much rain as everything else in the garden.

Difficult to focus the phone camera, but here area some of the wilting leaves on the Rose of Sharon right beside the one that is recovering. Will be interesting to see what happens next.

Next up, the paulownia trees. If you'll recall, I bought two of them bare root from the nursery that shall not be named. As of last week, I thought both of them were dead. Not so! One of them is looking like a dead stick.

But look at the other one --- there are little leaves sprouting from the base of the trunk. There may be hope for it yet.

Compare with this paulownia, which came potted, not bare root. It is growing very well. This shot doesn't show it, but it is as tall as the red flag now.

The hydrangea bush has produced two flowers, this one and another on the other side of the bush. I'm thinking I've learned the lesson with this. I pruned back like mad in the early spring without knowing whether it blooms on old growth or new growth. Since there is no sign of buds in the greenery, I'm now pretty sure it blooms on old growth. Oh, well ...

Remember the nasty bush growing under the fence? Joe cut it down to the ground but couldn't get out the root without destroying that section of fence. Well ... look at it now! It is in the side yard, not easily seen from inside the house, so it has escaped my attention until today. Guess who's getting out there tomorrow before the branches get too thick to cut with my hand clippers.

This morning I managed an hour or so of weed pulling, so at least part of the garden is looking passably good. I really need to get outside at the crack of dawn, before the temps climb into the humid high seventies to keep up. The balloon flowers are in dire need of deadheading. You can see some of them in front of the hydrangea photo above. The marigolds in pots around the statue on the island have curled up their toes. Not sure what to replace them with. The pots are small, and the heat dries them out so quickly that they need water a couple times a day. I haven't been keeping up. Buddha needs to be spray painted. And so it goes . . .