This is one of the photos of the Panda bear at the zoo in Bejingfrom our trip this spring. These bears scarf down a lot of bamboo. Maybe I should have just a tiny one to keep my black bamboo in check. Actually, it does not run too fast. Just enough to dig out and give to friends. Derek picked up his sprouts yesterday, along with some crocosmia. I removed the crocosmia from the area by the roses at the front, as they were flopping over the path and being quite annoying. They multiply like crazy. I had divided them into 4 bags and put them out at the street for Free pickups by anyone who wanted them. 3 bags were taken and I had the one left to add to the ones I gave to Derek in his bamboo pots. Hope they grow for him. I think Ray and Nancy's is growing. I am going to plant the Japanese quince in the spot where I took out the crocosmia. The leaf mulch from the trees keep the weeds down here. I might have room for a few more pinks along the edge of the border of the stone path.
This is one of the last of the figs from this year. There were 10 big ripe ones. We had the last of them last nite after we got home from the Greek Festival. Good lamb and spanakopta. We have small green figs left on the tree yet. The stepping stone path around the fig is covered with the wonderful little Corsican mint. There is a bit of grass trying to grow in it. I must keep after this grass to get rid of it. I shall try to get the mint to grow in the stone path at the front too. I had to weed those little orange flowers out of this year. I think they might come with the sand I buy and apply to the paths.
The germander is in bloom for a long time! The bees love it. It is nicely spreading and keeping down the weeds where it grows too. This is in keeping with my present plans of making my garden lower maintenance. This is along the back fence, in front of 3 hedging cedars and a yew. Next to the germander is where the tall bearded iris bed starts and extends to the water tub. Next to the tub is where the woodland officially begins. Across the old sidewalk from these plants is the gorgeous big lacecap hydrangea underplanted with sweet woodruff, and a few other voluntieers, as well as daylilies. I think I will get rid of them, as the orange colors clash with all my colors in the garden. Like the name... the flower lasts for a day, only so it is no good for bouquets. There is a huge evergreen fern and a lovely lily of the valley shrub at the end of this bed, and officially in the woodland. :-) These two plants hid the old compost bin very effectively.
The purple plums are almost ready for harvesting. The yellow ones are just about finished, so that works out nicely. I do not know what has happened to some of the purple plums but they seem to be scarred .. at least the skins seem scarred. It appears to be only skin deep. I am happy to see that the tree is producing this year. It seems to have some kind of fungus or something that causes these lumps that look like burls, but at the end of a fruiting shoot. I must try to look it up with Google and find out how to treat it.
This Autumn Joy sedum is a lovely easy care plant. This one grows along between our driveway and Shawna's. The one I started along in front of the new cedars along Mrs. P's driveway, does not seem to be doing as well. Needs better soil perhaps.
Last week I had hoards of these little skippers in the garden. The day I went out to shoot them, it was windy, of course, so it was not a very successful shoot. I need to entice more butterflies to the garden, somehow. The butterfly plants on the deck do not seem to be working, at all. I never saw a butterfly on them this year. This is the second year for the butterfly plants container, so I will probably take it off the deck, divide the plants and put them where ever I can find space in the garden. At the moment, this space might be where I am not very successful at growing vegetables, as there are too many tree roots and not enough sun. The little rockery is on one side of this area, so this will become the cutting garden, or to be more realistic... the catch all spot.
This is the last of the yellow plums, photo taken a few days ago. I have 4 jars of these plums made into a preserve and frozen. The plums are very juice. I boil them for a minute or two with a bit of sugar to help preserve them, and then freeze them in the glass jars. It works well for me. Leave space at the top of the jar because when the liquid freezes it expands a bit.
I imagine that serious vegetable gardeners have had their winter vegetables planted about a month ago. It is time to get bulbs to plant. My crocus field at the front is doing fine. I don't really have space for any more tulips, or bulbs of any kind, so I can just look at whet is for sale. And then go home with a pail of bonemeal to feed the bulbs I already have planted.
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