More color creeping in.
I have an appointment to meet the county extension agent for Buncombe County on Wednesday. We’re going to figure out how to make use of my newly fledged Master Gardener training.
No comments on 8:23am, 10/5/26
Category: plants
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It always has.
This is the 4th time I have bought a place to live. I have never lived in a house that was brand new, although the house in Mebane had a yard that may as well have been. That was part of why I loved it. I didn’t have to wait to see what the previous owner had done before I could get my hands in the dirt.
Because I’m not sure what has already been planted here, I need to wait to see what comes up. There are clearly things that were put in intentionally. But, I have no idea what they actually are or when they will bloom or anything about them. I have planted a few bulbs I lifted from my former yard in places that I’m sure are unoccupied. And I stuck a rose campion between an azalea and the front walkway.
Waiting to see what can go where is an exercise in patience that I struggle with.
I have joined the Landscape Commitee for our HOA and the next meeting is in October. I can’t WAIT! The spaces underneath the balconies in my section are naked. Like, not even grass. I really want to talk them into seeding with native wildflowers.
Our neighbors 
Straight down from our deck In Spring, I intend to put some native bee balm in a little area in the strip in front of our parking spaces. I may put in some cardinal flowers, too. There’s a little patch between the burning bushes and a couple of azaleas to the left that already had a bitty rose and and an hydrangea blooming on the day we closed. I have already planted some callas there.
I’m not sure what I can do under the stairs in front. There are a couple of hostas there, already. They’re oddly spaced and kind of stunted. I have no idea if they were planted by the previous owners to add curb appeal or if they are actually established plants. I’d kind of like to recreate the shade garden I had started in Mebane. But, I need to see how much rain actually gets under there first. We do not have access to a garden hose for watering anything. Water goes out in a pitcher from the kitchen sink or in a bucket from the bathroom.
It is pretty dry under there. Adding before I post: We had a shower this afternoon. Made it easy to see where the rain hits and where watering may be necessary. Right under the decks doesn’t get enough to grow anything. But, half of those spaces could be seeded. And under the stairs is not really going to get much at all.
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The list of plants I intend to move gets smaller and smaller.
A lot of what I love is replaceable if I actually get busy in my sister’s yard. So, I don’t have to do that all at once, potting up pieces to move. I do have a canna I want to put beside her house. It was a gift from our mutual BIL and will be pretty as it spreads there. A piece if it is in a pot now.
I do intend to get a decent herb garden going and maintained over there next Spring. I’ve gotten spoiled by drying my own herbs over the years and won’t give that up if I can help it.
I intend to take a piece of the flame calla and the stunning blue Siberian iris that was a gift from a friend to put in the tiny area that I get to manage to the left of the front walk. I’ll put the ‘Frost Queen’ calla to the right of the front door under the upstairs naighbors’ steps.
Two bonsais are going with me, the Japanese maples and the swamp cypress. The cypress hasn’t actually been bonsaied yet. But, I’m not giving up that project. We have a tall, marbletopped, iron based, outside-only, very heavy table that I intend to put to the left of the front door. I’ll put the maples on that and set the cypress down into a non-draining pot beneath it. (I’m trying to force it to make knees before I actually bonsai it.) The quince continues to do poorly and the handthrown pot it’s in is crumbling. So, it’s not making the trip.
The long, glass IKEA table we’ve been using in the kitchen will go on the deck to hold the carnivores. I repotted the S. psittacina into a lower, plastic pot to decrease its weight. It was heavy and it doesn’t need to be that tall if it isn’t sitting in the water garden.
The Schlumbergeri all went to crap this year and I’ve been trying to reroot the peach and yellow ones. As much as I wanted the yellow one, it’s the one doing the worst. So, I may take the peach and give up on the other 2 pots. I recognize that that collection was a bit excessive.
I have a handthrown pot that was made for me by a friend of my Spawn. I commisioned it during the shutdown and I paid more for it than I ordinarily would because of that. I had it made for the batfaced flower that hated living here and never thrived. I’m going to transplant half of Chuck’s peace lily into it and find a home for the other half.
The rest of the houseplants will simply go as they are.
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This is my flame calla lily. I moved it from the back yard to next to the front stoop 2 years ago. I think it isn’t getting as much light and that’s affecting its color change. When it was in the back, the colors were a little more vibrant and the change was, in my opinion, more dramatic. It’s still gorgeous and probably my favorite of all the flowers in my yard.
Anyway, I decided to show you its progression this year.
Monday 5/25 
Tuesday 5/26 
Wednesday 5/27 
Thursday 5/28 
Friday 5/29 
Saturday 5/30 
Sunday 5/31 
Oops. Monday 6/1. 9:10pm 
Tuesday 6/2 
Wednesday 6/3 
Thursday 6/4 
Friday 6/5 
Saturday, 6/6 
Sunday 6/7 
Monday 6/8 
Tuesday 6/9 
Wednesday night, 6/10 
Thursday 6/11 
Saturday 6/13 
Sunday 6/14 
Monday 6/15 
Tuesday 6/16 
Wednesday 6/17 
Thursday 6/18 
Friday 6/19 
June 2022 You see how much more dramatic is was 4 years ago. I still think it’s delightful.
