I worked in the garden today while the ladies cleaned the house. The area where the photinia will be planted needed a pickax. I tucked in the photinia with ample fortified water and added a new irrigation feeder. Drainage was reasonable, to my surprise. The pickax must have loosened the rock shelf. While on the subject I cleared grass away from the far side of the rock wall and around the tree.
Oenothera in the front slope garden is growing rapidly and continues to produce beautiful white blooms. The English or French lavender is in full bloom with long sweeping branches and blooms at the tips. The gazania has started to bloom, in its habit of opening by midday and closing again. The dahlia is as splendid as I hoped it could be. Bees have found both the oenothera and the dahlia, a great garden crew for pollination. Fortunately, they don’t bother me and I don’t bother them.
The hummingbirds are drawn to the salvias, irrespective of color, blue, pink, red or magenta.
To address the list of Things That Annoy Me, I cleared the area around the dianthus in the upper front border garden. Clover, oxalis and general vetch. I applied and watered in the Preen and laid down a new layer of Mike’s Mulch.
A Year at the Snake 