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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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Mom’s makeover; check your hollyhocks(!); and a special hibiscus request
Posted Jun 1, 2010 by Loren Omoto
Updated Jun 1, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Ahhhhh, it was great to have a long weekend, but alas, I wasn’t able to garden much. I have my first case of “prickly heat,” and both the prickly and the heat turn up full volume when I start to sweat.
Anyone know how to prevent this nasty rash? I could use the tips, if ever I recover from my current case.
It started after my second afternoon of digging in my mom’s flowerbeds. I was so determined to finish her Mother’s Day makeover, I probably stayed out there too long. These pictures aren’t the best, but I thought I’d give y’all an idea of how your suggestions (very much appreciated) got put to use.
Here’s her sunny bed before the makeover. It had lots of little pagoda clerodendrum volunteers, which needed to be thinned out and moved around, a Washington begona, and a couple evergreen shrubs.
I took everyone’s advice to amend the beds and pull out what I could. I added yellow/orange/pink lantana; porterweed; and portulaca Pazazz. When the pagodas in the back get taller and flower, it should make a pretty display of yellow, red and purple.
The shady bed was quite the challenge. Part of it is part-shade, the other part is deep shade. It’s surrounded by a wood retaining wall, and the ground slopes down behind the wall. Here’s the before:
I pulled out the shabbiest of the podocarpus, those tall skinny shrubs. Mom wanted to keep that big one in the middle, even after I twisted and twisted and twisted her arm. There were a couple more near the far right of the bed, which I got rid of. Mom also wanted to keep her purple queen (a good thing—have you ever tried to get rid of that?), an arboricola and a little poinsettia she’d planted.
This bed also had pagoda volunteers which I thinned out and moved around. And a Washington begonia. And some strange palmetto volunteers that took hours to dig out.
I added purple salvia in the part-sun portion—it makes a big statement with so little effort. Behind it I put a cluster of three yellow shrimps. The salvia are growing much taller than I expected, and the shrimps seem unaware that this is a race and they need to get bigger than the salvia.
I put another cluster of shrimps in the shady end of the bed, along with some torenia, which will probably never get tall enough to peep over the wooden retaining wall.
Finally, I very nicely asked the purple queen to start spilling over the wood wall. Here’s what it looks like so far.
Hopefully, once everything grows a bit, this will be a nice mix of red, yellow and purple to match the color scheme over in the sunny bed. .... For the record, I have already purchased a present for my mom’s birthday in September. I’ll be ready when she says, “Have you already bought me a gift, because if not, there’s something I’d like you to do!”
Watch out for your hollyhocks!
Farmer Rick found some mysterious beetles chomping away in every seed pod on his compost-pile hollyhocks last week. (I can’t wait for the day I have hollyhocks blooming in my compost bin.)
He did some checking and learned it’s Euphoria sepulcralis, or scarab beetle. They go after corn, roses, and fruit tree flowers, too. This photo is from the University of Florida’s web page on the beetle.
Farmer Rick says they move pretty slow, so you should be able to just pick them off and squash, or drop in soapy water, if you’re among the unlucky. I feel pretty much guaranteed I’ll be seeing these guys.
Weeping hibiscus anyone?
Peggy Moran lost her two “large and beautiful” weeping hibiscus in the freeze. She hasn’t been able to find replacements, so I told her I’d ask y’all. If anyone sees weeping hibiscus for sale, or has a cutting to offer, please give a shout.
(Yes! She has checked Kerby’s!)
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Janna) on June 01, 2010
Your hard work paid off, Penny! Nice Mother’s Day makeover. You did a great job adding to what you’re Mom already had to make those new and oh-so-colorful beds.
The purple queen will undoubtedly spill over the wall in the shade garden. I’m sure the shrimp plants will eventually get taller than the salvia, too.
I’m gonna’ check my hollyhocks for beetles again. Thanks for the info.
I’ll also keep my eyes open for weeping hibiscus!
Posted by (mangoman) on June 01, 2010
Armored beatles and grasshoppers! What’s next? Armored catterpillars??
My friend has those beetles on her sunflowers. I don’t have either. yet.
Boy are we in for it this year. lol
Posted by (kgardens) on June 01, 2010
Great job on those Mom-beds! The sunny one looks perfect already. The shady one is going to be even better with the purple queen spilling over. I know purple queen is used a lot but I love it.
Oh my goodness! Those beetles are scary. I’m checking my roses carefully. I just had a sunflower volunteer spring up and it is covered in blooms; I’m checking it too.
Posted by (Chip) on June 01, 2010
Oh boy Looks good Penny! We know that 90 percent of work in a garden go’s unseen so that is a lot of work! OK so are we going to have to get Raid with armor Piercing Technology? I thought I had it bad until my Daughter moved in with her boyfriend and they have mole’s! only gos to show you nothing is perfect I would kill for a yard that size but the moles would be a deal breaker! Good job Penny!
...“Chip”
Posted by (RickBrown) on June 01, 2010
Mangoman here is inspiration for us all…http://www.birchfieldnursery.com/about-jack-dunckley
Posted by (Chip) on June 02, 2010
Do not worry Penny these moles are out by the county est. service office. I had a chat with one of my Daughters neighbors. One look at her yard and you can tell she is a serious gardener. What she told me was she has been doing battle with these vermin for 15 years. Baits poisons gadgets she has tried them all none worked or worked for long. Her solution solved two problems for her. With watering restrictions she could not support her whole lawn so she created a grass-less oasis with drought tolerant plants that the moles cant hurt and every now and then spread mole repellent on her beautiful yard! Very smart it looks like everyone else just chase’s them back and forth from one yard to another ...“Chip”
Posted by (mangoman) on June 02, 2010
Rick, thank you so much for the link. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one interested in this proffesion at my age.
Penny, I haven’t even thought about that blog in months. Maybe this summer I will start writing more frequently. Don’t forget saltwater aquariums, mowing and chicken-raising on that list. lol Hopefully this summer will be less exciting.
Like that’ll ever happpen
Posted by (Pumpkin) on June 03, 2010
I have those beetles on some of my roses and sprayed their big behinds, so far so good. Pumpkin
Posted by (mangoman) on June 03, 2010
Penny, the chickens are doing great. They are getting big but still are incredibly cute. The coop still needs a roof but it will probably be done tommorow.
Yes, I guess busy is better than bored.
Posted by (Pumpkin) on June 03, 2010
Penny, I sprayed them directly with wasp spray, just like I do the grown up lubbers. Pumpkin
Posted by (Pumpkin) on June 03, 2010
Penny, I did raise chickens and will get more, they are just plan fun. These are the types I raised http://www.poultryhelp.com/brpics.html and http://www.backyardchickens.com/breeds/ameraucanas.html The Barred Rock lay a large brown egg and the Americana lay a green egg. Mr. Grumpy and I donated the chickens to the student of Alonso High AG dept. Pumpkin
Posted by (Susan Gillespie) on June 06, 2010
You did a fabulous job on your mother’s renovation. I love the mix of plants you chose. Of course we will need pics as the plants fill in and grow.
I think I saw that beetle floating in a birdbath near one of my knockout’s. Ack! If I see another one the wasp spray is a great idea. Thanks Pumpkin.
That Anderson crepe hibiscus looks beautiful, Peggy. I see why you want to find them.