Gardening as therapy.

Mina, I had just gotten home from the hospital when I posed the lavender post. Just thinking of it's lovely fragrance was soothing.

CWillie, I've read something to that effect as well. I guess lavender doesn't like to be babied. My soil was fairly rich as I had added a lot of compost.

I recall reading something else about lavender that was surprising, something that affected its longevity. It's somewhere, back in the recesses of my mind...somewhere....

I have a poor neglected lavender plant I planted at my sister's house by the front door at least 15 years ago, it has even managed to have babies. I think 'neglected' is the key, lots of dry, gravelly soil seems to be what it prefers.

Hi GA....I think it was Hidcote but could have been Munstead.....pretty sure one of those 2. And planted on east side of house (but know what you mean about the strong west winds here). Actually, both varieties are supposed to be OK in zones 5-8 but you make good points .... I think I'll check out some of the new varieties, too. And I see, like me, you are keeping late hours tonight (fell asleep for a couple hours while watching TV.....now I'm wide awake!).....

Mina, I have grown lavender successfully although it didn't produce as many wands as I had hoped as I had planned to make lavender wands and sachets.

It eventually died, I think because it became overgrown and woody and I didn't realize that I probably should have cut it back or cut out some of the woody stems.

I'll check my own gardening records to see what specific variety I grew. I think it was Munstead but I'm not sure. There are some newer varieties now that I'd like to try.

Did you mulch your lavender heavily? Was it in a prevailing westerly wind? I lost some good roses because I didn't realize how drastically the west winds would harm them. But the lavender was way back beyond the house so it was somewhat buffered from the harsh winter winds.

GA....have you had any luck growing lavender in our zone? I tried a short border along a brick walkway a few years ago....made it thru the winter 2x but didn't come back the 3rd year.....wondering if there is a variation strong enough to withstand our cold winters?
Just FYI....for those who enjoy the garden magazines, Houzz does a series of regular articles on gardening - both seasonal and regional - and they have a nice online archive, also, that you can search.....beautiful pics, too.

Linda, I never thought of verbena, but it would be pretty. I can just imagine how fragrant an herbal lawn with thyme, rosemary, marjoram and oregano would be. And can you imagine how many bees would block to it? Wouldn't it be great to have a pollinator lawn?

My oregano was a slow grower, so I'd probably have to have something temporary to fill in while it was becoming established. Morning glories could easily provide a fill-in, as well as sweet alyssum.

CWillie, I do have vinca, but it's so aggressive, although it's met its match in the more aggressive black locust seedlings which blow over from a neighboring yard. They're even worse. And I have had weeds poking through the vinca.

I guess I'd have to hand weed the ground covers but hopefully not as much.

I do like ornamental grasses, love hostas and a lot of other shade plants.

What I might do is use a mixture of the larger types of plants as more extensive borders to minimize the "lawn", and fill that with herbs as Linda suggests.

I did google "lawn free" and can tell that this is going to be a funfilled venture, if I can just not think about all the digging that's involved, although I've been thinking of getting a tiller. Digging isn't as easy on the back and thinning soles of my feet as it used to be.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I'm envisioning fragrant, flowering herbs surrounded by lovely green foliage and ornamentals.

This is going to be a nice project to develop over the winter when the snows obliterate the yard.

Anything that is fast and easy tends to be invasive, so I would be very careful of the selections you make. There is also the issue of weeds coming up in the ground cover, you can't really use a fabric weed barrier if you want your ground covers to fill in naturally.
You might consider filling the space with a variety of small shrubs like euonymus, spireas, low growing junipers and low maintenance perennials like grasses, hostas, lavender etc depending on your sun/soil and location.
Try googling going lawn free, there is some interesting info and it's fun to look at the pictures even if you don't use the ideas.

Perennial verbena, trailing rosemary, oregano (bees love the flowers), marjoram, wooley thyme, caraway thyme (great for cooking)

Need some advice and help, please...

Finally decided that I can't keep up a large garden anymore and am going to begin downsizing. I don't want to put in grass because of the cost, time, and energy expenditure, and I don't want to mow any more lawn than I already have now.

What I do want is a ground cover of various flowering plants and herbs, probably no more than about 6" high.

I probably will get some thyme, but the thyme I've had is slow growing and I'd like something to spread a bit faster. I might use morning glories to cover large areas until I get more perennial flowering plants. Sweet alyssum might also be a nice annual until the perennials become established.

What I also could is use taller herbs but train them to grow along the ground through gentle bending of the stems as they're growing.

Has anyone done this, on a small or larger scale? What plants and herbs have you used? I'm in zone 5/6, depending on the severity of the winter.

Met a few little friends yesterday while working in the yard. One was a fluffy, fuzzy orange and brown caterpillar lounging on one of the leaves of a plant I don't even remember now. I think it was a Wooly Bear Caterpillar.

That area of the garden has been host to a lot of white/ecru butterflies over the summer, but I don't think they're the Wooly Bear Butterfly/moth. Not really sure about this species. I noticed the little white butterflies were usually hovering around the mulleins, which grew like Amazonian plants this year.

Another sighting was of several very small bees, smaller than I've ever seen. They were barely 1/2 inch long. I'm wondering if they were baby bees? Or maybe they're just smaller because of lack of food. They were in what I think is False Bugbane, which now has a reprieve from being pulled up to be composted since it attract these little bees.

I've seen regular honeybee sized bees as well as the bumblers, but never the minis.

Anyone have any experience with these smaller bees?

Sendme2help, What a good name for your skink! And it turned out to be smaller in size and not so scary. I'm glad. They typically run from people so that helps the fear factor, too.
Re: hubby and soapy non-potable water: A florist neighbor once told me that soapy water is used by florists because it kills soft-bodied insects. It's considered a good thing. Mild soap as in the hand wash dish soap kind. And non-potable water can be full of nutrients for plants, it just depends what's in it. I can't use our softened water in the house to water plants, nor do I use the city water with chemicals. I use the well water. Our sprinkler system uses the well water as well. We have too much iron in the well water but the plants are happy.
Some food for thought, anyway.

I'm glad to hear your bougainvilleas are doing better. Do they winter well or must they be brought inside?

Now is the time to plant bulbs if you enjoy them. I want to plant irises. We have lizards in our garden, lol!!

Sendme, love the story about the skink. I have a lot of toads and some grass snakes (nothing venomous here) and I leave a strip along the north side of the house to grow wild for them.

In the spring I started out gung ho but with all that's been happening in my world I've not had time to deal with much in the garden lately. Asparagus and green beans were steamed and frozen, blackberries frozen and the never ending tomatoes I'm stewing down, putting through the blender and freezing for now. Lots of beets and carrots coming in now as well. I've given much of the produce away. Flowers in pots on the deck are pretty much finished now. Tomorrow a crew is coming to take down 3 huge pine trees on the front lawn. They make the house dark, cut out the sun in winter and if they get a lightning strike and fall they could crush this tiny house.

I'm a lousy housekeeper but pretty OCD when it comes to neat and tidy. House renovations continuing so there's stuff everywhere but it's a priority as the wind howls across these open fields. My gardening efforts are coming to an end this year but the thought of all neat, tidy and growing come spring is keeping me going!

At 11:30 p.m., we went outside, and there it was the skink! Saw it for the first time!
If I were superstitious, I could say naming the skink brought it out. It was in plain sight, but on line with a shadow on the blacktop about two feet from it's home. It is only about 10" long, thinner and more lizard-like than a snake, so, no screaming. Zink the skink. It did turn it's head and looked at me when I spoke.
Now what do I do, o well. It's back is patterned, much like a rattler, or the common garden lizard that Colorsue described as anole. G'night Zink. You are safe here.

Thank you Colorsue and GardenArtist. I missed the advice for my bouganvilla plants. It is as you describe. I actually purchased the potting mix, shame on me. Now, have loosened the bound up vine and trimmed the tops. One is doing better in the back, not full sun. Tomorrow I will check the root balls. Thinking of planting both (quart-size) about 24" tall together in the large planter pot, about 26" diameter. They will protect each other? Then, I am going to talk to them.
They have enough water, but I will ask hubby if he has put soapy non-potable water on them.
I will call the skink ZINK, and hope he moves to the neighbor's yard.

Glad, I just wrote a long answer to your post and lost the entire thing! I'll have to start over after some refreshments. Given that it's a bit of a chilly day, I think hot chocolate is on the agenda. Back later, with some ideas but with more consolation than ideas.

And GA, this is much more therapy than even I need! :/

GA, do you feel like a trip to help reclaim my gardens, heck my whole yard! As you probably remember I had a fire at my home just over a year ago. The repairs are nearly complete for my move back a week from now. But now the yard is terrible, three ten-year old maples need to be removed, fescue sod has died out spirea need pruning, karl foresters need dividing and transplanted to areas where they have died and I have about a month where the weather will be somewhat warm enough to get this work done. And then also figuring out where to put things away inside and look for work. I am overwhelmed! HELP!

I apologize for not keeping the thread going. In the meantime, I thought you might be interested in seeing some unique floral applications.

According to the garden links from which I found these, they're made of flowers:

My favorites are the knight in shining armor (or should that be in shining flowers), the mother tiger with her babies (extraordinary!), the cow (or is it a steer), and the birds.

Van Gogh in flowers:
The second photo must be based on the famous self-portrait. I'm not sure if the animal is a hedgehog or armadillo (7th photo).

I assume that some of these are intense and dramatic because they're based on Van Gogh's life, and reflect his mental state. They're not anything I'd enjoy seeing on a regular basis, but I do appreciate the artistry.

(When copying the URLs, just delete the spaces, added to prevent automatic deletion of a dot com URL.)

Tomatoes still coming in like crazy ... stew down and freeze for now. On top of finishing house renos before winter, since my mother passed over the weekend I'm overwhelmed with that stuff too. Shrubs need trimming, carrots and beets need to be pulled but thankfully I mowed the 2 acres last week and it hasn't rained since. We need rain badly - supposed to rain on Saturday. In the meantime I have 7 rain water collection barrels to water the veggies. Flowers in tubs on the deck are done and need clearing out. Supposed to be decent weather into October so there's time yet.

Gardening here is mostly over, my zucchini has succumbed to powdery mildew and the peppers are turning red and need to be picked. I've tried different varieties if bell peppers over the years but I still like good old california wonder as it is always dependable. I liked to chop and freeze for them for winter as I hate to pay the high price for food shipped in from Mexico, plus I know my own haven't been sprayed. I miss my big garden.

I always liked to grow indeterminate tomatoes as they just keep on giving right up to frost, some little cherry/grape types, a few beefsteaks to brag about, a few ordinary garden center types and some romas for canning. And it was fun to try something different like yellow or purple tomatoes too. If you are lazy just toss whole tomatoes in the freezer, the skins will slip off as they thaw and you can toss as many of them as you need into sauces, soups, stews.

Some of the farmers around here plant beans or peas as a cover crop after the wheat is harvested, they must figure it is worthwhile or they wouldn't be doing it!

I'm intrigued by the variety of tomatoes and peppers that people grow, as well as you how preserve them.

Do you can, freeze, dehydrate?

I've never tried the winter sowing, wondering how well it would work in a Zone 6 that sometimes is a Zone 5 climate.

Linda, do you protect your milk jugs in a cold frame, or with bales of hay, or mulch, or something else?

Does anyone plant cover crops? I've planted buckwheat before but I'm thinking this year I might put some old beans in; they're too hard to boil and use for soup but maybe I can soften them enough that they'll sprout, with a little encouragement from the soil and rain. I'll leave them in place over the winter in lieu of mulch or in addition to mulch.

Any suggestions on beans as a cover crop?

The zucchini are still going - it was a task to handpick bugs and eggs with duct tape, but it paid off. The tomatoes are hanging in there - they were hit with aphids early so the plants aren't as prolific but still fruiting. The okra (burgundy) is doing great - best plants ever. Peppers are still going - poblano and orange mini sweets. I have a fledgling batch of bush peppers I hope will have enough time to finish out. Basil is getting cut this weekend before it starts to lose it's sheen. No apples this year - must've been zapped by frost early. Onions and leeks did well.

For me, gardening is a way to reset my head. Whether it's a good year or off year, it feeds the spirit. There's something hopeful and joyous about seedlings poking out.

BTW, I did "winter sowing" in milk jugs for a couple years - it works great and gets the early plants (spinach, lettuce, etc.) off to an easy start.

Watching the garden activity today, as well as watching the glint of the sun on what flowers still remain is a soothing pastime. The goldenrod remain bright golden but are gradually fading as Fall creeps in. They're a brilliant splash of color in an otherwise partially subdued landscape of foliage.

Leaves on the maple tree next door are already curling up, and seem to be shriveling in size in preparation for their downward flight to a winter resting place.

The sky today is a brilliant copen blue, contrasting nicely with the trees that are still intensely green.

It's a nice day to just sit and watch the leaves and the trees as they're gently tussled about by the winds.

Stacey, just a thought since you like your monkey tree.

1. You could take cuttings and put them in containers. That will limit the root growth, but you'll also have to keep the top growth under control so the tree doesn't produce more branches and leaves that it can't support.

2. You could bonsai it. My aunt and uncle had a small rock garden nursery. Uncle specialized in bonsai-ing plants. They had some really lovely and unique plants.

Fall and spring are both good times to transplant.

Gardenartist, Thank you so much for the MP tree moving suggestions! I will most definitely check those out! I do hat to loose it, but it Will become a Monster at the rate it is growing now! Funny how it fit in so nicely for the first 7 or so year's, but now is growing about 1-2 feet a year, and then what, it seems to be growing so much faster every year! Gosh, it was only 6 inches or so when I planted it, and knowing nothing about them, and their Not being native to our area, I never expected it to even grow. I should have done something sooner, but I would guess that the Fall is the best time to transplant, or the spring, IDK! THANK AGAIN!

SendMe, as to your bouganvillea...I'm not familiar with its growth needs but I do know that California has been battling the worst drought in its recorded history. So I'm assuming that soil everywhere has suffered.

There may be some alternatives though.

Coloresue is right - the plant might not have been healthy, or it may have been marginally healthy. I think another highly likely possibility given that the whole country is approaching the end of gardening season is that the plant has been sitting too long at a nursery, its growth has been restricted, and more likely the roots are bound up.

Over 2-3 years I lost a few dozen mums because I didn't realize I need to unbind the root ball. There are a few things you can try:

1. Trim back the browned top growth; it's the farthest from the roots and would be the first to show moisture deprivation. If the plant is already tall, that portion may not be salvageable anyway.

2. Dig the plant up, separate the roots if they're really compacted, and transplant it to a container with ample room for the roots to expand. Move it to a shady area and treat it as if it was a seedling being hardened off.

I call this my plant ICU treatment.

3. Cut back more of the vines and plant them in smaller containers. At least that way you can save some of the plant.

4. Do the same with the other plant. When you remove it, you can easily tell if it's rootbound as the roots will be strangling the entire root ball.

5. I assume you've amended your soil and added compost? If you have any mulch, it wouldn't hurt to add some to the temporary containers to help conserve moisture.

I checked the hardiness zone for bougainvillea - it's 9b. I can't imagine that making much of a difference though unless you're so far north that you're closer to the Oregon border.

Good luck - let us know how it works out - we gardeners have a special fondness for good root systems!

Wandering cats...in my experience feral cats do wander. Perhaps they've scouted out the neighborhood to find the yards that have the best free menu options. Or maybe they just want a smorgasbord of choices from different yards. Some cats may be partial to buffets.

A few years ago there were 8 different cats visiting my yard. Most were feral and ran away when I called to them. Some were seen periodically, never on any kind of regular basis, and some were seen only a few times over the summer.

Next year, only a few returned for a visit. Being feral, perhaps they moved on to better mouse pastures down in Detroit.

Sendme2help,
I recommend you cancel the race.
Maybe the plant wasn't healthy to begin with. It shouldn't have reacted so badly and I'd plant the other. Don't hesitate to take the plant back and get a refund if it continues to do badly. I assume you don't shake and mangle the root ball when you transplant!
You did mention high temps...maybe transplanting + hi temps = bad reaction in bougainvilla?? Possibly it needed temporary protection from the sun? Just guessing.