popular What have you done today in the Garden?

I hacked away at my 3 knockout roses. Took away a lot of large, older branches and opened up the center of the bushes. Two wheelbarrows heaped with branches.

Then I got 10 imperial plumbago starts in the mail and potted them on into 3 2quart pots. Three starts in two and the last has 4 starts in it. By spring those ought to have filled their pots with roots and should be ready to plant out. Last spring I divided a 3year old plumbago and transplanted them...both died. . . .

I still have my two scentsation honey suckle to plant. Still haven't gotten my trellis installed for them to climb on yet.

Then there is a group of four hardy plumbago, the groundcover ones with smaller, but darker blue flowers that I need to plant, and a new succulent that needs a bigger pot. I'm working on that this afternoon.

 

Anniekay knockout roses are beautiful, Hardy and never disappoint. They do grow fast and create a lot of trimming by the end of the season. But they are worth it.

Also I love plumbago’s. I grow them from seed as an annual here. The pretty blue flowers are always a good plant for a pop of blue which are scant in gardens and a nice change.
Your honeysuckle will be a good addition for height on a trellis in your garden. Calling lots of birds to chirp thru your garden .
I remember all your new plant additions this season you planted and you have developed a lot of good qualities for next seasons garden. Everything is filling in spaces appointed and next season it will become a nice vision of color , texture and style.

 

I have just one spot near the back of my house where the nosy neighbor and particularly her husband who is always outside gawking over here, can see whatever I'm up to on my back porch. I have two big white trellises that are going to go across that spot. They will have to now go up into their attic to gawk !!

I want lots of blue. It really sets off the yellows and oranges .

 

Just stared through the French windows at a very wet garden.





"Cue for a song!"

 

Planted some more tulips in one border and cleared the cosmos, Snapdragons and gladioli from another border to plant tulips, i have a lot of tulips.

 

I did some watering of stuff looking a bit piqued and dug up some, probably 13- 14 blackberries for my friend who came around this morning to collect them for her yard. Three came up in the grass and the rest were everywhere in one of the adjoining flower beds. Later this afternoon I have couch grass to remove from two raised beds, then I can put up my trellis and plant fava beans there.

 

Nothing unfortunately as I have a really bad back, made worse by stupidity moving big bags of compost and large pottery pots from one end of the garden to the nursery area yesterday. Why, on why did I do it as I knew my back was playing up .. To add to the misery I'm feeling I also have a horrid migraine too.

I did browse our county library online and borrowed a couple of gardening books to read when my head eased up.

 

Oreti I sympathize with back issues it’s torture. Plz take time to reset and rehab. I hope it will be better with time and perhaps a physical therapist can help get you back on track along with bone density issues. Physical therapy has helped me a great deal & great with building joint strengthening for all age groups and various physical limitations.

Sending blessings across the pond for a good recovery.

 

sorry about your back, @Oreti

 

Today I planted 2 more 25-gal containers with garlic. It's only 6 per container this time. I wanted them to have more room than last year.

I also planted one row in the spare raised bed. One row to go, then fall planting is complete.

I read garlic can be planted into November. I'm just about getting it done on time.

 

Thanks @Pacnorwest and @Daniel W , I'm sure with some tlc over the next few days it will ease up, I'm never going to have a day without feeling twinges in my back that's for sure. I have suffered with back pain and sciatica since I was 15, I remember it well as I collapsed in a heap on the floor of the salon I was apprenticed to.
In fact I am attending an appointment in a week's time to investigate another more recent issue with my back.

I have had many, many physiotherapy sessions,heat and traction too in the past but osteoporosis has now created more caution to certain treatments. I have been on supportive medications now for the last 15 years and have regular scans.

I have a display sheet of bone strengthening exercises from my physiotherapist on my bedroom wall which has now been joined with post surgery knee ones as well..Getting old is such fun!!

I take my mobility very seriously and over 50+ years I have taken and followed all advice given to me, as watching my brother's fight against acute Rheumatoid Arthritis since his teenage years has been very upsetting to witness.

I do whatever I can but wear and tear creeps up unfortunately and healing takes longer.

Today is a rest and relax day after a steady walk ( just over a mile) we will travel into the city for lunch then head back to visit my lovely brother before the return walk home. This should result in about 3.5 miles of gentle steady walking.....I always find walking the best soothing medicine for a bad back......inactivity is it's worse enemy!

 

@Oreti i hope that you feel better soon.

Planted some more tulips in the border that i cleared yesterday and cleared another border with Cosmo and potted lilies, there was a self sown cosmos seedling that i left because it still looks good and it's not in the way.

 

Since I started putting different plants in plastic pots in a big Apta green glazed pot by the front door, the even bigger terracotta pot in which the two mayleen clematis have lived for about three decades looked out of place.



I bought a matching Apta pot earlier in the year and had always intended to swop it for the terracotta one. I decided today it was late enough in the year to change them over.
I knew there was no way of saving the unwanted pot without damaging the clematis.

So this afternoon I took a lump hammer to it. as expected there was a tight root ball which completely filled the pot. I took a serrated knife to it and trimmed it down a bit before putting it in the new pot on bed of soil and compost. More soil and compost pressed down around the sides, then a good watering.



Leaf collection has always been a pain. The Grizzley blow/vac I had packed up earlier in the year. So I bought a Flymo. this became an annoyance as you had to change bits over when you wanted to change functions. So I bought a "cheapo" which would do both but I just use it for vaccing. I've adapted the Flymo by removing the end of the bag which activates a switch in the machine and cut it down to form a short nozzle.
This has improved the power significantly and does a really good job.




With no wisteria leaves to fall at this end of the garden, since I pruned off the one on the fence between the shed and the tea-house and the little one in the bottom bed, after mowing I'm using it to blow fallen azalea leaves to the back of the main border to let them rot down.



There'll be fewer leaves in the drive to remove since I pruned off this wisteria a few days ago.

 

Just cleaning up from the heavy rain/wind storm. I am thankful that debris from the trees was all I had to manage from the horrific storm that caused damage in many areas of the state. The leaf blower and mulcher mower come in handy when storms hit our area.

 

I ordered seeds for next year.

This year my dwarf tomatoes did very poorly. The hybrid determinate sauce tomatoes were productive champions. Next year I will continue growing hybrid determinate sauce tomatoes, but also trial four varieties of hybrid determinate slicing tomatoes. It's OK if only one or two produce.

I'll buy chili pepper plants and eggplant plants, instead of starting from seeds. Also, lettuce plants. I will also buy onion sets or onion plants.

I ordered multiple varieties of bush beans. Some known performers, and some different ones, such as Italian varieties.

Also various squash varieties, the usual ones plus some I haven't tried before.

Dwarf marigolds, dwarf zinnias, dwarf cosmos, plus carnations and four o'clocks.

I like to order seeds during late fall or early winter. I don't know why. I just do.