My Garden Diary

Harvested dill. I did not get as much as last year because I harvested some earlier for my wife, who needed it fresh for chilled tomato-dill soup.

Checked the sprinklers in front to make sure they are operating correctly. With this heat, that is very important. At first, I was quite frustrated and concerned because I could only get one valve to operate. Then I realized I was pushing the wrong button on the clock-controller. I did not check the sprinklers in back today because I checked them just about two weeks ago.

Two of the miniature fences I put around my seedling hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) in back (19 & 20 Jun) were pulled up and tossed aside. No, they were not merely knocked over since I had staked them to ground. Leaves on the affected seedlings had already been targeted by snails. I reset the fences and added fresh snail bait.

Trimmed the edges of the pink clover (Persicaria capitata) lawn in front along the public sidewalk and the brick path to the front door. I also trimmed a gap between the pink clover and the dwarf English ivy (Hedera helix 'Hahn's') under the liquidambar tree (L. styraciflua).

While bending over to pull a weed, dripping perspiration began to pool on my eyeglasses. That meant it was time to clean up, put tools away, and go back into my air conditioned house.

Went across the street and picked ripe figs from a neighbor's tree. My neighbor had previously shown me how to unlatch his gate. He told me not to bother ringing his doorbell, just to bring my own bucket and ladder. For this visit, I brought neither bucket nor ladder and only picked four figs within easy reach. MMMMMM! Once you eat a fresh, ripe fig you will never want a dried or canned fig again.

I started the day with much ambition. After less than an hour in the heat outside, my ambition evaporated.

It seems that trimming the Australian tea tree is a never ending task if I want to keep the adjacent paths clear.

Replaced a dead white-flowering Cuphea hyssopifolia in the rose bed in back.

For a long time, there was a nice group of Coreopsis grandiflora at the end of the east bed in back, where it meets the rose bed. These coreopsis grew low and had golden yellow, double flowers. I allowed the flowers to go to seed in order to expand and maintain the group. This year, however, only one plant remained. Today, I bought and planted another one.

Took a cutting from the overgrown Schefflera arboricola in the greenhouse window. I'm not sure how readily this can be propagated by cuttings, so I'm taking good care of the parent plant.

Fed the roses with a commercial fertilizer that also contains a systemic insecticide.

Some critter dug up and destroyed one of my new artemisia plants (23 May). I took two cuttings of the most vigorous of the older plants.

Tied down more canes of the climbing 'Peace' and 'Dublin Bay' roses. I also tied some star jasmine shoots (Trachelospermum jasminoides) to the vine's trellis, redirecting growth to cover and hide the metal work.

Removed some lower branches of the Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum). I want to make it more tree-like, albeit with multiple trunks.

Climbed My Hill to harvest grapes from the vine at the top. I almost filled a 5 gallon pail. I think these are 'Flame'; but until the third vine has fruit (perhaps next year), I cannot be sure they are not 'Black Monukka'. While sitting on the patio and picking through the bunches to remove grapes that were damaged — mostly by wasps — I fed quite a few to Cleo. I decided to try juicing this harvest. The last time I juiced grapes from My Hill, I used 'Perlette', which were so sweet that the juice was undrinkable — far too sweet. This time, the grapes had sufficient tartness that the juice was quite good. I got well over a quart.

Replaced two plants in the circular bed in back:

• A second 'Formosa' azalea died (14 Oct 2012). I think the soil was not properly prepared when it was planted. This time, I dug a generous amount of peat moss and gypsum into the soil with a handful of bone meal at the bottom of the planting hole to promote flowers. I set the new 'Formosa' slightly higher than the soil level since azaleas do not tolerate soggy soil.
• Cleo chewed another thrift (sea pinks , Armeria meritima) to bare dirt. I replaced it with a rooted cutting of 'Goodwin Creek Gray' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata). In this case, I omitted the peat moss, which is acidic, because lavender prefers a slightly alkaline soil. But I did stir gypsum into the soil to improve drainage and placed bone meal at the bottom of the hole to promote flowers.

The dwarf lemon and tangelo have been attacked by leaf miners. I treated them with a systemic insecticide drench. I saw no signs of miners on the orange or kumquat, so I did not treat them. The treatment should last a full year.

Harvested the 'Perlette' grapes from My Hill. Fortunately, that vine is near the bottom. The 'Flame' grapes near the top of My Hill still show significant green.

Finished trimming the rosemary and 'Goodwin Creek Gray' lavender in front (4 Jul).

Trimmed the edge of the back lawn along the large concrete patio.

Fed the dwarf citrus and the gardenia (G. jasminoides 'Veitchii') with commercial citrus food plus large pinches of zinc sulfate.

Tied down some new canes of the climbing 'Peace' rose. As before (12 Jun), two canes that I wanted to tie broke at their bases and had to be removed. But I did tie two others.

Lightly trimmed one of the fern pines (Podocarpus) in front. This one was interfering with the path from the driveway to the back yard and also had many vertical shoots (what are sometimes called water sprouts).

Trimmed the coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) away from some of the rose bushes in front. They were blocking the emitters for the roses' drip irrigation.

Started trimming the 'Goodwin Creek Gray' lavender (Lavandula lanata × dentata) growing in the parkway. Unlike the lavender in back, this is growing in a plant hole in a brick panel with nothing adjacent except for utility junctions. Thus, most of my trimming involved merely removing dead flower spikes without reducing the size of the plant.

Fed the roses in front and back with ammonium sulfate. I also gave a very small amount of ammonium sulfate to the potted Alstroemeria and the Penstemon that I earlier trimmed (19 Jun). I normally feed such plants only once a year. However, the Alstroemeria is in a pot with a fast-draining potting mix that allows nutrients to leach away quickly; and it was severely damaged by snails (19 Jun). Also, I generally feed shrubs and perennials after I severely prune them. (I do not do this for the rosemary or lavender because they prefer a "lean" soil.)

The 'Flame' grapes at the top of My Hill are beginning to show some color. I hope the weather cools before they are ripe. I hate to climb My Hill in any weather, but the heat the past week has been brutal.