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My Garden Diary

May and June 2008

Copyright © 2008 by David E. Ross

Many years ago, when I first started my Web site, I created an online diary of my gardening activities and observations. However, with work and the commute from Hell, I was often so tired I had to choose between maintaining my garden and maintaining my diary. Sometimes, I did neither. In 1998, I stopped my diary and removed the pages from my Web site.

Now I am retired. I am well-rested and have plenty of time to both garden and maintain a diary. So here it is.

Also see What's Blooming in My Garden Now?


April-May 2004
June-July 2004
August-October 2004
November-December 2004
January-February 2005
March-April 2005
May-June 2005
July-August 2005
September-October 2005
November-December 2005
January-February 2006
March-April 2006
May-June 2006
July-August 2006
September-October 2006
November-December 2006
January-February 2007
March-April 2007
May-June 2007
July-August 2007
September-October 2007
November-December 2007
January-February 2008
March-April 2008

Entries are in reverse order (latest at the top). Daily, I might stoop to pull a weed or use a hose to water some potted plants; however, I don't consider those significant gardening activities. Thus, you will not see daily entries. Also, I might accumulate a few entries before updating this page on the Web.

When plants have well-known common names, their scientific names are given only the first time they appear on this page (entry closest to the bottom). There, the common name is in bold.

Dates refer to other entries in the same year (but perhaps a different page) as the entry in which they appear unless a different year is given.

Date and Weather Observations and Activities
30 Jun

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 65-93
Humidity: 8%
Wind: 1-10

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 37

Repotted the Cordyline that's in the greenhouse window, moving it into a larger pot.

Put up a cutting of the Kalanchoe that's in the greenhouse window. Unlike the Cordyline, for which I used my home-made potting mix, I used an unamended half-and-half blend of peat moss and coarse sand. Nutrients or compost in the mix might cause the cutting to rot instead of rooting.

One of the potted amaryllis (Hippeastrum) on my patio had divided into two bulbs, both of which bloomed this spring. I divided them, repotting the smaller bulb and planting the larger in the west bed, at the end near the tangelo.

Weeded My Hill some more. Having watered it thoroughly over the weekend, it was much easier to pull weeds with their roots. But merely climbing My Hill is exhausting, and I could not finish even the small section I had targeted.

Picked the first two peaches of the year from my tree. They were quite a tasty lunch.

29 Jun

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 64-96
Humidity: 24%
Wind: 0-13

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 36

Trimmed both edges of the north side of the main walkway in back, between the lawn and the rose bed.

Sifted compost. I didn't get a lot, but I did get enough for use in repotting some house plants and plants in small pots on the patio.

Noticed that new buds are starting to show along the branches on the 'George Taber' azaleas that I pruned only three weeks ago (7 Jun).

26 Jun

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 56-89
Humidity: 45%
Wind: 4-7

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 33

Trimmed both edges of the west side of the main walkway in back, between the lawn and the west bed. I also trimmed the lawn away from some of the sprinkler heads.

My landscape contractor stopped by to correct some minor problems from the work he did this past winter:

  • The concrete rounds under the pots for my dwarf citrus had to be raised. The tops of the rounds were level with the base of the back lawn's red fescue (Festuca rubra) sod. The air spaces under the pots were thus getting clogged with soil. Using a mix of coarse sand and gravel, the contractor's crew raised the rounds so that their bottoms are now level with the sod.
  • An 'Alaska' azalea in the circular bed was planted too close to an adjacent, existing daylily. They were crowding each other. The crew moved the azalea.
  • Both in front and back, sprinkler heads were adjusted to provide better coverage. However, some of the heads will have to be modified or replaced. The contractor did not have the necessary materials with him and will have to make another trip.
During that future trip, the contractor will also replace a clump of blue fescue (F. glauca) in the rose bed and a Rhaphiolepis 'Majestic Beauty' on My Hill, both of which died.
25 Jun

Overcast, hazy sun, and mild

Temp: 57-81
Humidity: 38%
Wind: 0-10

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 32

After 8 days of 95°F+ temperatures (100° or more on 5 days), the heat wave ended; and June gloom returned.

Climbed My Hill to pull weeds on the top-right quarter. It was 10 days since I watered My Hill. (I give it a thorough soaking every 2 weeks.) The surface was so dry that it was hard pulling the weeds with their roots. I think I'll wait until next week, after this weekend's watering.

Immediately next door to the west, our neighbors found a young rattle snake in their garage. They warned me to be careful when working on My Hill and elsewhere in my garden.

19 Jun

Clear, sunny, and very hot

Temp: 81-107
Humidity: 4%
Wind: 1-19

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 26

I had all kinds of gardening tasks planned for yesterday and today, a very ambitious agenda of weeding My Hill and sifting compost — both requiring significant physical labor. However, we're having a heat wave so intense that my plans were cancelled.

Nevertheless, I fed the dwarf citrus, this time with commercial citrus food plus a generous pinch of zinc sulfate. As usual, I also used the same mix on my gardenia and tea tree. While feeding the citrus, I also trimmed a dwarf myrtle (Myrtus communis 'Compacta') that was interfering with the tangelo and removed a very thorny sucker from the root stock of the kumquat.

15 Jun

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 69-93
Humidity: 19%
Wind: 1-8

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 22

New shoots have begun growing on the loquat tree since I pruned it (5 Jun), so I fed it. I used urea (50-0-0), lightly scattering it around the tree in places where no other plants are growing.

Trashed the Speringer asparagus (A. densiflorus 'Speriengeri') that was growing in the greenhouse window. It was just too messy for indoors, shedding little leaflets on the shelves and floor. I tried giving it away, but no one wanted it. This was a free plant, a volunteer that I dug out of a flower bed several years ago.

7 Jun

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 57-85
Humidity: 30%
Wind: 1-11

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 14

Although I weeded the area where the camellia and east beds meet in back earlier this year (30 Mar), the scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) had grown so thick that I could not find the stepping stones that lead to my compost pile. Today, I cleared all weeds from the camellia bed and a substantial swath into the east bed, filling my 5-gallon pail about six times.

The 'George Taber' azaleas in the camellia bed had grown so tall and thick that they hid the camellias behind them. Now that they finished blooming, I pruned them severely. In some cases, I left bare branches with no foliage. My experience with azaleas (especially this variety) is that new shoots will form on these branches. Where I left foliage, I pinched out the terminal buds to promote branching. The other azaleas in my garden don't need pruning this year.

5 Jun

Clear, sunny, and warm

Temp: 52-86
Humidity: 13%
Wind: 1-14

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 12

Fed the established roses with ammonium sulfate. Fed the dwarf citrus, gardenia, and Australian tea tree with ammonium sulfate plus a large pinch of zinc sulfate.

Trimmed the pink clover along the edge of the brick walkway and around the stepping stones in front. Just a few months ago, my dear Evelyn was concerned that this ground cover had not been planted densely enough. Now it's forming a thick mat that will soon be able to crowd out most weeds.

Since all remaining fruit disappeared while we were on vacation, I finished pruning the loquat tree (15 May). This included removing the central leader and shortening the side branches. I hope that I won't need a ladder again to pick the fruit next spring.

3 Jun

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 52-80
Humidity: 39%
Wind: 0-10

Rain —
Season: 12.35
Days since last: 10

Returned from our vacation to find that the pink clover in front has almost filled in the entire lawn. It looks very good.

While we were gone, it actually rained!! While the amount was only 0.04 inch, it was more than we usually get between April and November, even in a wet year.

15 May

Clear, sunny, and hot

Temp: 63-96
Humidity: 12%
Wind: 1-18

Rain —
Season: 12.31
Days since last: 42

Earlier this week, I pinched the tips of the newly planted chrysanthemum (C. morifolium) cuttings (17 Apr). Already, I now see growth buds swelling at the leaf joints.

Yesterday, in anticipation of an 18-day trip (Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago), I moved most of the potted plants from the patio to a place on the walkway between the rose bed and the lawn where the sprinklers will water them. I only left the 'Baby Blanket' rose and the larger pot of chrysanthemums, which my son will water in the middle of our vacation. Because they droop, I put the epiphyllum (tropical cactus) up on a small table. The others are on the ground. I laid out a rectangle of copper wire to discourage snails, which would find several of the plants to be quite tasty.

Dumped a load of output from my office shredder on the camellia bed. After spreading it around, I wet it down. This makes an ideal mulch for the camellias.

Mowed weeds growing in the parkway in front. I really need to pull the weeds, roots and all; but it was too hot today to work in the sun.

Pruned some of the branches on the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica 'Macbeth'), branches from which all fruit has already been picked. When the upper branches are free of fruit, I plant to head the tree to keep it from fruiting above my reach.

Trimmed the edge of the teardrop bed. I might have to cut down the pink clover (Persicaria capitata), which is smothering the cuphea (C. hyssopifolia).

5 May

Mostly cloudy, some hazy sun, and cool

Temp: 40-53
Humidity: 49%
Wind: 3-10

Rain —
Season: 12.31
Days since last: 33

Bought some more generic lawn food (27-4-6) and finished feeding the new plants in the rose bed and also fed the east bed and the plants growing through the lawn. Low nitrogen (N) is the limiting nutrient in local soils, which is why I buy fertilizer based on dollars per pound of N. This cost $1.96 per pound of N.
4 May

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 47-71
Humidity: 50%
Wind: 3-10

Rain —
Season: 12.31
Days since last: 32

Fed the new (this year) perennials in the west and rose beds in back. I ran out of the generic lawn food that I use before I could do the east bed.

Lightly fed the dwarf citrus, gardenia (G. jasminoides), and Australian tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) with commercial citrus food and a pinch of zinc sulfate.

Black aphids have been severely attacking my Artemesia 'Powis Castle'. I wanted to spray malathion, but my opportunities did not align with the watering schedule. Generally, I had the time and the winds were absent only on the days before the garden sprinklers were set to run. I notice that the Artemesia are now also covered with swarms of lady bugs, gorging on their favorite prey. Delay can sometimes be beneficial.

1 May

Clear, sunny, and mild

Temp: 49-77
Humidity: 10%
Wind: 2-18

Rain —
Season: 12.31
Days since last: 29

Moved the potted basil (Ocimum basilicum, 26 Mar) out into the back yard with the rest of the herbs. First, however, I wound some copper wire around the pot to keep snails and slugs away. I also wound some copper wire around the pot with the sage (Salvia officinalis), which also attracts snails.

Noticed ant activity near some of the potted herbs. I drenched the soil in the pots with a mixture of malathion and water.

Climbed My Hill and pulled weeds in a section near the top. Past experience indicates I will only have to weed My Hill this year. Next year, the ground cover of English ivy (Hedera helix) and African daisies (Osteospermum fruticosum) should be thick enough that, combined with my practice of watering only once in two weeks, weeds will be discouraged.

Weather data are from the Cheesebro (CHE) weather station, a little less than 1.2 miles ENE of my house.

The high temperature (°F) is daytime for the indicated date; the low temperature (°F) is for the night ending on that date.

The relative humidity is at noon. (In my garden, it is likely higher than reported, a result of regular irrigation.)

Wind speeds (mph) are average (not peak) low and high, midnight to midnight (subject to later correction for diary entries posted before then end of the day).

Rain is in inches. Rain amounts are omitted after 60 consecutive days elapse without any measurable amount.
Season is the cumulative amount of rainfall since the start of the current rainy season, which began on 24 Sep 2007 with the first measurable rain, until noon on the indicated date.
Week is the cumulative amount of rainfall from noon seven days ago until noon of the indicated date. If no rain fell in that period, Days since last is reported.

Characterization of the weather (e.g., Clear, sunny, and warm) is purely subjective; for example, "warm" might occur with higher temperatures than "hot" if the former occurs with lower humidity and more breezes than the latter. Also, a day that would normally be characterized as "mild" might instead be "warm" if the immediately previous days were quite cold.

The signature line I use when writing messages about my garden includes the following:

Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
March-April 2008
January-February 2008
November-December 2007
September-October 2007
July-August 2007
May-June 2007
March-April 2007
January-February 2007
November-December 2006
September-October 2006
July-August 2006
May-June 2006
March-April 2006
January-February 2006
November-December 2005
September-October 2005
July-August 2005
May-June 2005
March-April 2005
January-February 2005
November-December 2004
August-October 2004
June-July 2004
April-May 2004

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