Today I was graced with the first camellia blossoms of the season. The first camellia shrub to bloom is Old Faithful in the front border garden. My understanding is that Bob Fyock brought over a jack hammer to break up the rock shelf under six inches of topsoil when that camellia was planted many years ago. Seems to have worked.
If my review of the journal is correct, this camellia did not bloom until January last year. I will try the same program of acting watering and regularly feeding this next year, as Old Faithful continues to thrive and generate new growth.
I trimmed back the asters and put them to bed for the winter. I thinned out the runners and pulled up the outliers. Sprawl is this plant’s middle name. MJ always reminds that the profuse clump of asters came from a single plant. While I was at it, I pulled up more black plastic sheeting, although sheeting does not appear to have stunted the aster growth.
The carpet rose beside the summer house had holes and teeth mark from some animal enjoying a snack. I buried used cat litter in the boxes, courtesy of Mike’s cat Awol, and will see if it deters further snacking.
I trimmed off spent blooms from the Marguerite daisy and pruned the outliers for shape. It appears to own the narrowest and thinnest end of the front slope garden and continues to give through the end of the dry season.
A Year at the Snake 