My sister is entirely to blame for this. I think I told you guys, she offhandedly noted that the big deck I have that wraps around more than half of my house really needed some planters full of flowers. Welp. I bought half the planters I need (budget!!!), got bags and bags of dirt (OMG so expensive!), then spent a small fortune in annuals. I can’t pause to think what this “little” project has cost without making my wallet cry, but next year I don’t have to spend for the dirt a, so it will be not so big going forward, except the water bill and the other half of the planters I need to get next year – then just annuals and water. When did water go up so much?
Now, this is what the front half with all the deck looks like. The planters go around the end of the deck, and then I moved two to the back, just so the back side of my house had some love, and the deck over the garage (far right at the prow of the house deck) seemed like it really didn’t need that much in flowers yet hanging above it. I added the hanging baskets, will have more next year (budget!), I think I need like 12-14 more planter boxes to completely finish it off, maybe a little more.
More plants have gone in pots in the back from last post. They are all growing like crazy – lots of rain and heat. The plumeria is blooming, the gardenia is completely covered in new blooms, the camellia is slow to do anything, I need to see if I’m doing something wrong there. She looks healthy, but just not doing much. Banana tree and mango tree are exploding – will get backyard pictures next time, along with some veg garden pics! I have a bazillion cantaloupes set on my vines that are bigger than a golfball now. Sooooo! Google tells me that they will be ripe in about 35 days – end of July! Watermelons are a little behind that, so probably August for them. I’m just worried that these vines will be able to support all the little melon saperlings on them!
I’ve studied and know I keep the water on them until they get the size of a baseball (the watermelons, maybe the canteloupe, am checking into that now), then you start watering a little less, and about two weeks out from them being ready, you pull the water. This baffles me, how will I know when they are about 14 days away from being ripe? Stripes become distinct, big flashing sign goes off? This whole thing is a puzzle that’s fun, but frustrating. It sorta sounds like I need to start pulling water off of the cantaloupes now too so they get enough sugar set in the fruit. Do I have an expert on this that reads this blog? Help!
Pulling cucumbers out almost every day to eat. Tomatoes are set on, about a half dozen that I can easily see. I really, really like this farming thing. For a girl who grew up on a farm and hated ALL of it, this is surprising. I’m eyeing my front lawn and thinking how I can turn the half that is out of the shade into a little orchard – I have started with two peach trees, just need to keep going next year.
So what does the ambitious old gardener wear for perfume? Heretic Dirty Coconut, it seems. It’s like the right amount of light milky sweet with some earthiness for the summer heat – it blends in with what you’re doing and smelling, but adds something to it. Tough for me to find something I love to wear regularly in the summer, but this one I just keep grabbing on my way through the perfume room. I’m not that familiar with the Heretic line, but I find myself liking the ones I have tried a lot. That sent me down some indie rabbit holes that… well, I have complaints. Here is just one:
I really like supporting small craft perfume lines, but why do they have to make the labeling so difficult to read? Make whatever fancy brand label you want with dumb lettering I can’t read, but please, please, please, just put a nice plain label somewhere on the bottle with the name of the perfume printed neatly, Heretic isn’t guilty of this, this is just an aside on stuff I noticed with other, smaller craft perfume brands.
Winners of the Dusita sample set – AnnJune. Just click the Drop Us a Note at the top, send me an email with your address, remind me what you won. I will give you a quick reply “Got it!” email so you know it didn’t wind up in my spam filter and get the sample out to you. Congrats, I hope you love it!
Will do as drawing for two samples of the Heretic Dirty Coconut, which is super fun for summer! If you could plant your dream garden, would you plant A) an orchard? B) Veg garden? C) All flowers? D) Tropical plants? E) Or ALL the things? You know what I picked here – E, E, E and then E again.
My dream garden would be “E” but I’d include an enclosed herb garden. I’d have my tropical plants in a small greenhouse too. I treasure my antique roses which luckily bloom year after year but only once.
Love those planters, pots and hanging baskets Patty! You’re doing a great job! I would do flowers with lots of roses in my Dream garden. This year I’m doing pretty well staying ahead of the weeds. Two of last year’s rose bushes died though. I have a notorious black thumb, so I’m better at admiring other people’s gardens!
I do have a good amounts of roses, and I slowly add to them, but it seems a lot don’t make it. I’m a rose killer about 50% of the time, and I hate that! But I did get two roses that looked dead about a week ago. My son told me they WERE dead. I took a picture so I could complain if that were true, said let’s plant them anyway. The darn things have new little leaves on them. I planted them right next to each other. Sometimes I think planting roses too far apart isn’t the best move. Maybe I’m wrong, but all the ones I’ve put closer together tend to sort of bind on each other and provide some protection, I think? Too far apart, they seem weak and easy to wind up dead. 🙁
Went on a big splurge on annuals a few weeks ago -all thoughtfully bought and lovingly planted. And then came the Portland Heat Dome. We watered them. We covered them. We mulched them with money. 115 degrees for two days. It was all very sad. Now it’s back in the 70s. Yeah. Great. Thanks.
Oh, no, that is just awful, I’m so sorry. I’ve had years where I spent after the recommended time, then we would get a deluge of hail, and it stripped them all. Maybe some will come back? I hope!
Beautiful deck! I have a large roomy deck as well…perfect for many potted things but since I can’t even make any flowers appear on the tiger lilies, somebody else will have to be in charge of the ‘growing’ part!
Have you tried succulents? I picked a pot of those up last year on a whim, just put it on a table in the back yard by the pool and kind of forgot about it. The thing was happy as could be! It like tripled in size, and I still have it. It did not winter great because I didn’t have some lights for it to be under during the coldest part of the winter, plus I think I may have overwatered it. Thrives on complete neglect and many of them are cold hardy and can survive zone 4 or 5 up.
(E), obviously. During the pandemic, I’ve been working from home, so I went a bit crazy in our teeny backyard. I’ve got literally a dozen squashes (zucchini, butternut, acorn, unidentified) in 10-gallon grow bags, along with several cucumbers, a golden melon or two, six peppers (no idea which yet), and four tomatoes (same). Then I’ve got flowers in pots and in the earth everywhere I can fit them. Most notably (for me), I’ve got these lovely amaranths that are as tall as I am. I don’t grow them for the grain, but rather for the fluffy flowers they produce. Since we live in California, we also have a number of citrus and stone fruit trees on our property, at least half of which predate us (the half that’s merrily producing fruit). Anyway, I think once I go back to work in person, my ridiculous vegetable bounty will need to be pared down to a half dozen or so easy-to-care-for plants, plus all the flowers in the earth. I envy your wonderful gardens!
You are me! I love all the growing things. Now I need to go look up amaranth and see if I can grow it here (thanks for that rabbit hole dive!). I love big fluffy flowers. I have those pink fluffy flower plants, like five of them, that are new along the back fence of the pool. They aren’t going to do much this year, but I’m hoping next end of summer to have this big pink fluff ball there! 🙂 I envy your fruit trees. I remember the first time I went to Cali when I was 19, I think. My uncle drove us by an orange grove, and we stopped and I went and smelled them, and I had NO idea they would be so big and smell so amazing. I think we stole one too, and it was the best orange I have ever had in my entire life.
I can’t wait to see pics of the pink fluff balls here next year 🙂 I LOVE walking through the streets in my neighborhood during peak orange blossom season to take in their heady scent!
Muhly grass, that’s what it is called! I mean, if you can have pink fluffy grass balls, why would you not fill your yard up with it? But doing a preliminary round to make sure I do love it before I put it everywhere. Orange blossom, I wish! I may try doing a container orange tree next year and a lemon, depending on how successful we are with a greenhouse setup and wintering the tropicals we have over. Our winters usually aren’t that bad, except of a couple of bad spells, but we shall see!
Your deck is beautiful! I envy your ambition – hoping one day to have a garden for fruits and veg, but that will have to be post retirement, I think.
And very excited to have won the Dusita draw!! Thanks so much for this, excited to try a new house with such glowing reviews : )
Congrats on the draw!, Make sure you email with your address. If you have already, it did not come through (this happens!). I’m not retired, but working from home and have slow periods in my work, so I have the time and inclination to do it, and more so now that I’m old’ish and content to putter around the house and see my old lady friends for lunch and the occasional drink. 🙂
some Musings:
1. it’s gorgeous.
2.Start composting now – when next year rolls around you’ll need to dump the existing dirt (no, not get rid of – just DUMP) – so get a 55gal bin on wheels (folks are always getting rid of those, so you don’t even have to buy new) – you’ll mix the existing dirt with your compost (double points if you have a stables around for Black Gold which you need to get starting now, so it can compost).
3. Don’t be afraid to start some annuals from seed. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment but if you’re into that FBMarketplace/Craigs is an excellent source for that.
4. You love this because it’s not farming, which is a whole ‘nother discipline entirely. This is gardening. Farming = your livelihood. Gardening = whatever you want to make of it.
5. Don’t forget to thin your canteloupes, etc. And congrats on those. My soil (and my Melon ADD) aren’t set up for that.
6. It’s gorgeous!
xoxoxo
Okay, composting sounds like foreign language to me! We may need the help of a phone convo for me to understand. I did do seed this year, and I’ll do more next year since my watermelons and cantaloupes are all seed raised by me! Thin by taking some of the canteloupes OFF the vine? How many should I allow per vein? I feel like a murderer. My mom says no, let nature sort it all out. 🙂
well, it depends upon how big you want them – I thin mine, just as I do tomatoes and peppers (and I also thin my peaches) so I can control the growth/size. I usually give them 6-9 inches between, sometimes more. If you’re okay with smaller ‘loupes, that’s not necessary.
xoxo
Okay, I can do that! A couple of them dropped off on their own, might be all the rain, who knows, but I’ll try and keep them some distance apart.
Oooooh CAMP PATTY next summer!!!! My gardening dreams are being fulfilled (hilariously) right now by moving into this casita on the property of the owners/landlords who’ve done extensive landscaping (drought tolerant/drip irrigation) and who have a gardener to tend to it, lol, so all I have to do is admire. I have micro-ambitions for two pretty pots framing the front door but haven’t gotten to them yet.
LOL! I’m glad you are living vicariously! Do you get to keep the gardener as long as you live there? I could use one of those for the heavy, dirty work. It would make this so much more fun! I think your ambitions are perfect. Did you get your furniture? I’m guessing so!
I DID and I’m settling in! That’ll be my next post!
Love your wrap-around porch and totally with you on spending ‘too much’ on plants. I want to grow a plumeria — we’ve got a microclimate and it’s very wet but I wonder if it’s warm enough. We haven’t yet got ‘hot’ this summer. What kind of garden would I want … I think E but I don’t need an orchard. What I do need is to grab at least half of my neighbours’ overgrown garden — I could do so much with that space and they do absolutely nothing.
If Only we could borrow the neighbor’s space! I’m not sure you have to have super warm, mostly wet. Same with Bananas. They want sun and wet, but I don’t think heat is a factor beyond they need it to be 70s for growing time. My plumeria has flower buds on it, I’m very excited.
ooh! congrats on the plumeria. Have you planted a daphne yet? I know you’re All About the Daph!
xoxox
Yes! So far two, maybe three look like interim survivors. You never know until after winter who won the lottery. I planted four, and I think I accidentally pulled one out in one of my weeding frenzies when the sweat was pouring into my eyes. As soon as I did it, I went… uh-oh. So three is good! Probably drop to 2, and I’m okay if I can get one! Once they are established, you cannot kill them.
Oh, just looked up plumeria. £80 for little one. not going to happen this year …
Your yard is so lush and green, and your planters and hanging baskets look beautiful on your large deck!
Attempting to make our dirt backyard that came with the new build a “dream” space has been a work in progress. We have grass for our dog, and have planted big pine trees and an autumn maple so far, as well as lilac bushes and royal purple smoke bushes. I am trying my hand at gardening; starting small with a raised planter with tomato plants only. I’m somewhat limited to drought-resistant plants here in Denver. I love the idea of tropical plants and wish for gardenia, but they wouldn’t do well here. Finally after several months the birds have found our feeders!
Oh, thanks, Kathleen. New space is so hard, and so is Denver. I struggled with that climate and gardening in it for years. Daphnes do well there, though daphnes are a plant them and roll the dice if they live kind of thing for everyone. Oh, peppers also do well, I grew those one year, even though I really don’t eat peppers. They are really pretty!
If the tomatoes do ok, I’ll add peppers next summer. Thanks for the daphnes recommendation! I’ll look into those.
Agreed Denver weather is a challenge; we can get all the weather variables within weeks, and the dreaded hail and water shortages.
You are BLOOMING Patty!
Pop some cow manure or chook poo and blood & bone around the leaf line of your camellia at the end of summer and leave it for the worms to bring into the earth. She’ll be right for late winter flowering. Don’t prune till after it flowers.
Portia xx
blood and bone? Oh, you do have camellias there! Are they slow growing or should I worry about that? she is super healthy, the leaves look great, just very relaxed about getting bigger, so I worry.
P&P – just a note to remind you that camellias are… tricky.. in the Midwest and you probably won’t see blooms until very late Spring where you are, Patty. Portia’s fertilizer advice is spot-on, though!
xoxo
Okay. I’ve got some seaweed stuff that I’ve put in there, and I’ll add some worm casings as well this year. I don’t want to be too agressive this first year for it, thinking just the transplant shock is hard and just need it to stay alive and healthy.
Yeah, Sydney is a perfect Camellia zone. They all vary in their growth speeds and how bushy or tall they become. We had some long hedges of them in the old house. Two varieties: japonica and sasanqua. Sasanqua does better in full Aussie sun and grows faster, also flowers earlier, so are excellent for hedging.
If it’s not complaining, don’t sweat its growth. The camellias are currently flowering here in Sydney, my BFF’s Dad has dozens at his place. A really beautiful display from little white ones all the way up to giant deep red ones.
Those sound just beautiful! It makes me long for life in a more tropical zone. Enjoy them for me!
Oh, the planters – gorgeous and you’ve made your beautiful deck so inviting. Worth the effort and $$!
Mr. SP recently built a very tall planter for me (to be easier for planting and farther from rabbits) but wow – the compost and dirt and peat moss it was lots of work and money to fill it. Still all worth it in the end. I have lots of herbs, a few tomatoes, green onions, chard, lettuce, zucchini, peppers and nasturtiums. Very excited!
Yes, please enter me – Dirty Coconut sounds like fun!
Oh, your planter sounds lovely! I’m adding some of those next year. Don’t have rabbits, just really pesky squirrels that dig up my flowers hunting for nuts. Your garden sounds lovely. I need a place for root plants next year – potatoes, beets, etc.
Everything looks beautiful! I love big wrap-around decks.
My garden is all flowers, with way too many dahlias. Perfume and dahlias are my obsessions.
I have been eyeing the Heretic line. The Dirty Coconut sound delicious, both as a perfume and as a cocktail!
I only have one dahlia plant. For some reason, I have had trouble getting them to grow from bulbs. I think because the dogs and squirrels would get in and dig out the bulbs before. I’m going to give them another try next year with my netting over the pots and the dogs not allowed in the area with the plants. Heretic is fun! I liked their dirty mango and the dirty gardenia too. I didn’t hate anything so far that I’ve tried, just need to spend more time with some of them.
Your garden sounds amazing! I’ve been saving up to hire a designer for my yard and I’m finally starting the process. It’s going to mostly be flowers and shrubs, with a few tea-oriented herbs (think mint, hyssop, etc) that can take warm, low-water California summers. I love the red bark and little flower clusters of manzanitas so I hope to have a few varieties (I already have two different ones in the front). Taken together it should all smell herbal and woody, like the chaparral in the sunshine.
Oh, that sounds so pretty! I always envy you that have those great climates to grow in, but the water restrictions are rough for that. The manzanitas sound lovely, I am full of envy!
You’re doing great! My garden will be very small to start with because I know nothing. I wanted to plant an apple tree but it seems you need to plant 2 for cross-pollination and it all sounds a bit delicate and dodgy for the first few years, so I may chicken out. Maybe just rhubarb and berries the first year? And a lilac bush.
I can’t wait to hear about your gardening as you move forward in your new place! You do need two trees, but often you don’t have to have it with some things, you just get more fruit if you do have it. I think start with what isn’t overhwhelming and isn’t too needy. Fruit trees are good at that. Just give them some water daily for the first few weeks they are planted, and most of them will do okay. And lilacs too. And iris! And day lillies. Those don’t need much and really start making a place feel gardeny.