Friday, May 30, 2014

Can You Color Coconut Liner?

I have taken a few days off from the gardens and I can't say I haven't enjoyed them.  It is raining off and on, however.  I have currently five "feathers" in the peacock.  The coconut liner has come in and I want it green.  when I considered painting it, I felt that it would not "stick" and the green peacock would turn brown, looking like it was dying.  So I and two other people I asked came to the same conclusion....food coloring.
I have gotten much better at the screening, etc.  I use the henry ford method, if you will....do one concept at a time.  Instead of digging, screening, planting a plant one by one, do one concept at a time...you think I would have learned this by now.

I was looking at pictures online of other peacocks and this will be fine. 

This is more purple than the picture shows.

Lots of Marigolds

I will gradually shorten and widen the feathers.  I was thinking of doing the "outline" of the tail in mexican heather.  This is still the plan.

I think if the coconut liners green sticks it will looked filled in.

I will need to trim the lawn around it shortly.  Still no word on the mower I am wanting to buy.  The pool liner has finally been ordered.  I don't recall when I said I would show the garden...I think a month from the 6th...but I am not sure it will be ready to show...but we will see...I have gotten a lazy bug again lately.

I think it will look good.

Here is the coconut liner roll I bought.  I think it is two feet wide and 33 or 36 feet long.  Don't remember off the top, but I was going to line the inside of the topiary.  I bought four gallons of green food coloring...I am hoping this will work.  I was gonna lay the liner flat on a tarp outside and use a sprayer to stain it.  It's a filament so I am hoping this works....

Mom gave me this rose.  I don't know what it is but it is a pretty orange shade.

Gerbera Daisies are coming up

JFK Rose

Mr. Lincoln

This time of year I think is the worst.  It is typically humid and hot, without any rain in sight.  So I love to see rain this time of year...July is typically much wetter.

Storms are brewing....

Still more to come today...I love a good storm, don't you?

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Journal Notes...Peacock Tail Continues, Trimming Popcorn Trees, Pool

After my muscles were screaming so long, I opted to work on something else.  So I decided to cut the popcorn trees growing by the pool.  I had already cut these down once but since I did not kill the roots, it grew back, fast!
I used lopers, hedge clippers and tree pruner (thingy).  I call everything a thingy.

Popcorn trees and pools do not mix.  There is a big oak near the house that needs to come down too.

The pool continues to drain.  There is a hole in the liner we eventually found.

The rose garden still has a trench and "zone 5" that needs to be completed.


I need to clear the path to the garage as well.

My husband was in the pool making sure that the schematic measurements were correct.  The liner had lasted about 10 years.  I did not care for it at all, so I was not upset to get to pick the new liner.

Rose garden looks better this memorial day than it did last year.  Last year, the grass was all dead.

18 x 36 oval pool.  You can see the tear in it behind my husband.

Roses and canna

Did go to lowe's and buy more annuals.  They, also, had a sale on mulch.  No matter how diligent I am, it takes me a full day to plant a tail.  Now matter how early I get up, if I manage to get them in the ground it's not before 1pm.

Yes, it appears I am using "hot colors" when peacocks have cool colors.

Morning Glories are coming up except for one.



I am going to be filling the peacock with coconut liner, but I want to color it green.  Will have to look up how.


I bought salvia. Next year I will probably pick different plants but if I don't get them in the ground now, it won't look decent by the fall.....they are called the Gardens of October, or at least they will be. I realize that aside from liking October, that is truly when they are ready to show.

This bulb digger was a godsend.  With 36 plants a tail, this saved an hour off my prep time.

Some of the marigolds were on clearance.  As insurance, I planted seeds in the holes too.

20 bags of mulch.

Sorry for the picture sideways but this is what the holes looked like.  I actually weeded this before screening.  I am learning, albeit slowly.

It's getting there.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Journal Notes...Rose Garden, Pool, & Peacock

The pool's liner has a leak.  So we will be replacing it.  I am not saying I am upset about this.  I didn't care for the liner and it pleases me to help choose the new one.  I have been comparing memorial days, or at least I did last year to the year before.  Not sure if this year is better.  As an accountant, I use a "balance sheet" concept to snapshot a point in time to compare.  I am hoping one day it will seemed to be improved but I notice that gardeners tend to be their own worst critic.

I intend to use Mexican Heather for some of the peacock tail or I may use another type of flower.  It's easier to buy a pallet than move theses.

 I need a break from the peacock.  So this weekend I was going to work on the back rose garden.  Weeding, pruning, feeding, mulching etc.  Today, is gonna be a scorcher and my muscles hurt terribly so I may start on it this evening.
The trench where the water pipe still isn't filled in so I need to do that.

The lead hose to the water timer is leaking so will be fixing that and pruning these bottlebrushes and azaleas.  I was gonna move the bottlebrush but I sit on the porch watching one hummingbird after another eat them so I think they will stay.

The bed with the sundail is completely overrun.  The morning glory that I did not plant can stay but the rest goes and it needs to be finally irrigated.

Side bed looks okay but needs to be weeded...again.  I should have used the preen.

Hydragengea irrigation systems seems to not be flowing properly but they are blooming anyway.

Easter lilies are starting to bloom.

Lantanta

I mulched the peacock tail last night.  It took six bags and it really wasn't enough.  Will have to go to Lowe's instead of the co-op.

Morning glories are popping up.



Pennington wildflower mix that I planted two years ago and never again (because I don't have to)  It reseeds itself.  They are starting to come up.

I can tell now the daylilies from the once blooming lilies that my Aunt Agnes gave me.  Not all the wildflower seeds I planted had washed away so those are coming as well.


I don't know what this purple flower is but I thought it was pretty.