I Ask You: Where Are My Toad Lilies? Hmmm?

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

• I allowed myself to hope.

When it comes to gardening, I’m usually more cerebral than heartfelt.

I don’t assume that just because I plant something, it’ll thrive. Instead, I focus on those plants that get with the program and grow.

Like this cute little tree in the concrete urn that I can see out the window from our study.

• But there’s something missing from this photo.

Around the base of this cute little tree there are supposed to be 5 toad lilies, which I bought last spring for an outrageous amount of money from an allegedly honest garden nursery catalogue [which I’m not linking to here because I don’t want to advertise for the company].

• I know that toad lilies can grow here.

Years ago, before the front planting beds were re-landscaped, there was a thriving toad lily in this exact location.

That’s why I planted them, right there, uniformly around the base of the concrete urn, anticipating autumnal beauty whilst gazing out my window.

• But do you, gentle readers, see any thriving toad lilies?

Or do you, like me, see one scraggly looking wisp of a plant, barely hanging onto life?

That, my friends, is what $60.00 will get you when you dare to believe the copy in a catalogue. A catalogue that should be named: A Sucker Is Born Every Minute Garden & Nursery Store Catalogue For The Easily Gullible.

Because, really, that’s what the catalogue is all about.

Or so it would seem to me, Ms. Gullible.

As Autumn Arrives A Legend Returns: Hello Fuzzy The Squirrel!

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 / Ally Bean / 27 Comments

• The squirrels have been scarce around our yard all summer, allowing me to grow pots of petunias, and now pansies, unbothered on our deck.

• So imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon when I saw Fuzzy the Squirrel on our deck for the first time in months. I’d begun to wonder if he was still around.

• Naturally he was causing trouble, indulging his appetite for destruction in the right-hand pot, while prudently avoiding my new cute jack-o-lantern decorative spike thingie.

• To his credit, once he realized that I spied him, he tried to hide from me behind one of the pots, while pretending that nothing untoward had happened to my petunia.

• Then taking a different approach to destruction, our friend, Fuzzy the Squirrel, began digging into the left-hand pot while I watched.

• However, I’m happy to say that he quickly became bored with the whole idea of ruining my pretty Halloween tableau.

• He jumped up onto the deck railing where he purveyed our forested backyard… where he should be, imho.

• Then turning my way for one last photo, he posed so that I might snap him next to my new cute jack-o-lantern decorative spike thingie… which he better not damage. Or else.

~ THE END ~

Confessions Of A Bad Pansy Momma

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 / Ally Bean / 32 Comments

Yikes!

With plenty of water, a spot in the sunshine + a prayer to the gardening gods above, I’m thinking that these poor pansies might make it. Right?

~ • ~

ON WEDNESDAY AFTER PLANTING BUNCHES of pansies underneath the monkey grass beside the stone path in the backyard, I was tired of gardening.

I put the rest of the pansies, destined to be interspersed between rose bushes along the front walk, in the garage.

Then while fiddle-farting the rest of the week away, I forgot all about the pansies, until yesterday morning when I stumbled over them.

Clearly, I’m not going to win the Most Beautiful Autumn Yard Award, Amateur Suburban Gardener Division, am I?

[Well, there really never was a possibility that I’d win an award because: a) there is no such thing in this subdivision; & b) I’m the poster child for B+ students everywhere who get close to the prize, but never get the prize.]

~ ~ • ~ ~

Bombdiggity!

Monarch butterfly feasting on this little yellow milkweed plant that is almost thriving. Sort of. Fingers crossed.

~ • ~

WHILE MY PANSY MOMMA SKILLS might once again be in question, I’m happy to report that 3 of the 4 potted milkweed plants, purchased at a garden nursery last spring, have lived through the summer.

One plant, encouraged to stand using a bamboo pole stuck in the dirt + cotton twine, has even flowered a few times throughout the summer. I think he’s an amicable little plant, even though he isn’t the strongest one out there, he keeps hanging on.

Literally and figuratively.

Now the question is: are these milkweed plants perennials? Or do I have to do something like save the seeds for next year?

I’m hoping that they take care of themselves, because as my pansy momma experiences have shown, I might not be the most reliable gardener.

~ ~ • ~ ~

A “Better Call Noah” Garden Update

July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 / Ally Bean / 16 Comments

This summer has been humid and wet– mold everywhere on the roses, on the tree trunks, on the sides of terra-cotta pots, on stones along the paths.

Perennial plants, such as cat mint, are so waterlogged that they’ve wilted, unable to spread their roots, trapped in clay soil that has formed its own kind of water-filled hole around them.

And then we have some potted annuals that are going out of their way to show-off their colors. Like these petunias, for instance. That have gotten leggy and dramatic, attempting to cover the entire deck.

On a weird note, unlike previous years in which squirrels took over our property, this year has brought us rabbits, snakes and one red fox. The rabbits seem intent on eating all the weeds [yeah!], while the snakes lurk under bushes, near the front door.

Not happy about that. Neither one of us is.

The red fox seems to be joyful as he jogs across our property. Don’t know much about him, being a newcomer to the suburb ‘ya know, but from the skip in his step I can guess that this summer is his kind of weather.

~ ~ • ~ ~

On an encouraging note, I’m happy to report that two of my three my milkweed “experiments” are doing well. The plants that I started from seed didn’t take, but the white milkweed, a sturdy plant that I purchased at the garden center, is growing 30″ tall in the back yard near the woods.

No flowers yet, but looking good.

The yellow milkweed, purchased at the same garden center, looked half-dead when I bought it. Withered brown-tinged leaves. Not so big. But now, planted in full sunshine near the garage, it’s about a foot high and has pretty yellow flowers on it.

Just goes to show, don’t judge a potted plant by its leaves. 😉

I’m not certain but I think that we are beginning to get monarch butterflies here. Zen-Den saw one when he was mowing out back– and I snapped this photo of a butterfly [moth?] when I was out front.

Usually by mid-summer I’ve glorious flowers, waiting in the sunshine to be photographed. But this year I have Noah on speed dial while my camera naps the days away.

Too soggy for photos of posies.