Doing the chores

I was going to plant some of my cuttings, and Little Goth Bob offered to help, so he harnessed up his trusty turtle and started to haul the cuttings for me...

They should get to the flower bed in a week or two...

And the heat begins...

Hit 90 today, so summer is starting. Got our first afternoon wilt, where the plants get droopy in the heat. Your first instinct is to water, but that is a mistake. As soon as the sun sets, or even a shadow shelters the plants, they recover. These wilts are necessary to prompt the plant to develop strong roots, if you water they don't bother and may even rot. If they're gonna survive 100+ later, we gotta tough em up.

Big storms...

Got a little hairy around here last night... tornado touched down a little south of us, and further south west, there were actually fatalities. We had a lot of thunder and wind, but that's the worst of it.

Spent most of the day cleaning up after it.

I should never have allowed Little Goth Bob to watch Avatar a few weeks ago... ever since he saw that movie, he's been trying to get this goose to fly him around...


I'd put a stop to it... but there are enormous commercial possibilities if he should succeed...

Today, I'll be starting with rose cuttings.

Yellow roses.

The lady of the house has received this wonderful arrangement...

We have decided to try to make cuttings and grow rose bushes. Also the crysanthemums, and hypericum ( coffee bean stems, which aren't coffee or beans, but that's what they're called) Ive seen it done, and I know it can work, so wish me luck...

E . Misouriensis blooming...

The cemetary cactus, which I've written about rather extensively in the past, and graces the header of my blog, has honored more with a bloom today. Many more coming, and rhe bright red berries from last years fruit make the plant look good too!

Little Gothic Bob gets artistic...

Bob spent the day spiffing up things around the yard, so the garden would look acceptable this summer. here he is on a painting project...

And here ids the finished project...


I must say, for a goth, he had a vibrant sense of color....

Giant pumpkin update...

Since the last post re: pumpkins was a week ago... here's an update... might as well track the things...

General info: of 6 seeds planted, 4 sprouted. They were planted in the ashes of an old burn pile, so the soil is particularly rich. Since water will be an issue, mulch is a must... we're using compost mulch, which means grass clippings, bolted lettuce plants, spent flower heads, etc. Not a pretty mulch, but free, practical, and it will decompose and further feed the soil. There's an old clay flower pot acting as an ulla... basically you fill it with water and it gradually soaks into the soil to water plants. Less wasteful than spraying around with a hose.

They're growing quick...

Awwwwwwww.....

Baby bunnies....

Frustrating

The weather here is annoying as all get out this year. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... 80's, just like normal, and then... I wake up today to the 40's. With a chance of frost tonight. That's right, over a month after our average last frost, I'm sitting here drinking got chocolate.

I blame global warming. And George Bush. And rap music. And Martians.