Tag: Hostas

Cross those scope creep items off that list

I remember the “mostly rock in the gardens” years – in the distant past, but nevertheless, they were exciting. Two times we had the gardens updated at the townhouse, back in the years when the lawn maintenance people were chewing up the bases of our very young deciduous trees while weed whipping, and we were coming up with “save the trees” solutions. Those were the blank slate days – trying out different things to see what worked – with partial/full sun/shade, with grow patterns, with what the birds and bees and butterflies liked. We built out a pretty robust garden, and then shared the template. Hint – templates for rolling out lush gardens to all in a townhome community do not work. It’s kind of like me at 11 years old watching competition ice skaters and thinking “how hard can it be?” Yah. Not so simple. Anyway, I digress. We continued our journey as the property matured. We adjusted to arriving squirrels and bunnies and the effect sprinklers have on growing plants. And then went whoa! Time to divide! And then whoa! This is fun to propagate and share! And then whoa! An abundance beyond what we can find homes for (where I was last weekend).
And then the “deep thinking” (more like maneuvering) starts. Maybe those daylilies SHOULD be moved farther into the sun, so maybe I COULD squeeze those last two spare hosta divisions in under the increasing shade the linden is providing …

And then the tree trimmers come, a bit of a surprise because they were already here this year, in late winter, but alright …. And suddenly, sun back into what was becoming a more shaded area.

Cross those daylily moves off the scope creep list.

I see a pattern here. The historic cemetery garden renovation has rounded the corner to maintenance, the townhome gardens are full and the sun/shade patterns are not requiring transplanting after all. We live in a townhome community where we pay for services and they get automagically scheduled and completed. Not really, but we have already done our board time served so yah, it kinda does 😂

I do kinda remember that thing called relaxation. I suppose I could see how that works out again. As husband laughs and says, “Yah, never in a million years.”

See those beautiful, newly planted Blue Mouse Ears divisions 🥰 And the shamrock that needs dividing this fall 😘

Fall planting SPRINT

Saturday morning dawned unseasonably cool, a bit of a treat, as, had it been warmer, the pleasantness factor for the weekend’s activities would have been greatly diminished. The daylily order arrived on Friday, and the instructions reinforced what I knew well – the plants needed to get in the ground right away. Not right right away but definitely within a few days. But rewind, on Friday, or even Wednesday, when I got notification the order was on the way, my great big appetite back a few months ago started to get real. As I reminded myself of what I had bought, not even having opened the box yet, I had this nagging feeling – “this is going to be way more than you thought”.
And, as all good iterative things do, the plan for the historic cemetery plantings had also been refined a bit since I placed the order. So, as I sat with my hot coffee Saturday morning, I purposefully, thankful for the extra time to think, to calm and organize my final thoughts before starting the physical work, enjoyed the cool morning, the hummingbird parade, the squirrel antics, multiple chickadees and finches on the hanging bird bath, hopping down the chain, sitting on the edge, taking sips of the water, making song, the crisp air and the dramatically different light filtering patterns added to the experience. Finally I was ready, plan on phone, hoping on hope that it would be easier than I thought.

It wasn’t. I overbought, again. As the reality dawned, and the clock ticked against the instructions that reminded me to get the order planted right away, I chided myself. What was I thinking? I am not 40 years old anymore! But, that’s ok. Fast forward to Sunday night, it all worked out, it was still an awesome weekend, and now the order is planted. I bumped right up against sunset last night, but the feeling of being done was pretty awesome.

Some of the daylilies ended up in the townhouse gardens, and that meant some overgrown things had to be pulled out of the townhouse gardens. But save a few small daylily pieces, three kitchen garbage bags full of Blue Mouse Ears hostas, and some daffodil bulbs that can go in with the few dailylily pieces over at the historic cemetery, the shovels can rest. Soon.

I will say that, for sure, nothing more can fit in the townhouse gardens. NOTHING. There are roots galore from the surrounding trees and besides that challenge, things are FULL. It will be hard for weeds to find space! And at the the historic cemetery that is exactly the plan! It is set up to be nice and full a few years from now as it matures, keeping the weeds down with plenty of plants and that beautiful bed of mulch. That means any buying, for either place, going forward, has to be a one in, one out. Seedling additions need to be well planned, and seedlings that don’t bloom need to go up north. The deer will not protest. I, on the other hand, may need some reminding from hubs and some very dear friends. After the aching muscles and rock bruised knees subside and the emails with “potential additions” start to look more enticing, I will need to remember – “Nothing. Nooooo thinnngggg!” 🥰

Oh yah, I still have to get two pots of unknown daylily seedlings planted this week. And a clematis volunteer transplanted, but after that, nooothing!

The Semi-Finals

All the daylilies are done blooming here, and we are going into the Semi-Finals for seed production. In first place by a long shot is Pink Tirza X red daylily with 8 healthy pods. Woohoo! Now I have to go back into my records to figure out that red daylily type. Or not. If the seeds pods are viable to seed, and the seeds are viable to seedling and they bloom (2-3 years out) they will still just be an “enjoy” scenario. A whole lotta “enjoy” scenario. Maybe a go to the historic cemetery “enjoy” scenario. If all of that happens, I will probably just give them a fun name for our use and conversations 😊 Just like Hello Yellow.

So Pink Tirza is the new Purple D’Oro here. And that is a good thing because the “deer” we were guessing was eating her pods turns out, we are pretty sure, to be due to a sprinkler haha! Either way, even if it was something else, good experience and knowledge gained this year. In addition to her coming in first place for bloom start, she blooms a LONG time, and is gorgeous. Her new working role is to be a pollen producer.

In second place, yep, you guessed it Coral Majority. It would have taken 1st place but I only crossed it a bit, with Cedar Waxwing, with excellent success. And Coral Majority is a self seeder too, although I expected that. The bees love that area and Coral Majority tends to have a lot of pollen and the pistil, or stigma, I guess, is often uncrossable. I seriously don’t know what to do with Coral Majority. It is a wild child. Of one of my faves, South Seas, no less. I hope its children are pretty, and well behaved lol. Because there will be A LOT of them if the pods are all viable. They are all still green and it will be a while that they still need to stay on the scape to mature the seeds. Hopefully the bunnies, squirrels and sprinklers let that happen. I have had pods come off too early in the past and tried to save them to seed but to no avail.

Marque Moon X South Seas was in 3rd place with two green pods and a third that was starting to dry but the bunnies and/or squirrels got those. The squirrels and bunnies have had a lot of fun with South Seas. And also with Naomi Ruth. I think I also over-taxed them. Pods were failing. Next year they get a rest.
Only one Pink Tirza pod survived. “Sprinkler deer” got her pods lol. And Mystery Yellow Freebie has a drying pod but it looks not too viable. I will be surprised if it has seeds.
And that’s it. Crazy good results from one diploid and one tetraploid this year. But we have a very long way to go. We shall see.


The transplants from two weekends ago are doing phenomenally.

No losses. I did make one mistake, I realized, and I put a daffodil bulb UNDER a Blue Mouse Ears division transplant. So I will have a daffo-mouse. Should be interesting, but fine. If the daffodil does bloom it will be done when the Blue Mouse Ears (hosta) starts to come up. Still … silly of me. Keep daffodils to the daylilies. Oh well.
And last of all, sadly, I have a sedum and a hosta that I think need to come out. They just look like they are struggling. The hosta is quite old and never been divided. The sedum is a cutting. Stuff happens. I’d rather be safe. I can put Blue Mouse Ears divisions over there, and maybe a daylily.




Did it – with big help from hubs

Weekend four on the ten week countdown dawned rainy, but the forecast correctly predicted clear up by mid morning. Good thing, because the week four list was the heftiest list by far. Some coffee, the word from hubs that he was ready, and we were off and running.

First up was a dig out. This is an at least 7 year old Purple D’Oro daylily clump that has been languishing in the increasing shade of hostas under the linden. The hosta garden is a look I love, but that daylily definitely needed new digs. The past 2 years it did not bloom at all and the few years before that its bloom was sparse. It deserves more love – a bit of dividing (into three clumps) and full sun. It may miss its sibs but it is just moving across town to hang out with some Stellas in the historic cemetery garden. Maybe make some new little D’Oros. And be amongst other sun lovers like daffodils and sedum.

So – daffodils … I know I said probably no more daffodils at the historic cemetery, and no more buying for the townhouse gardens. But, well …. You see …. We have Sir Bunimous Rex (a gigantic bunny) who roams the neighborhood at all hours of the night, and baby squirrels with voracious appetites and zero manners, and maybe a deer, although we haven’t seen it yet (but what else eats seed pods without even slightly bending the scape?) Anyway, the assumed trifecta that we actually do enjoy are having a field day with my seed pods, which, ok, is fine. They have mostly eaten failing pods. And the process this year has been beyond fun, I am building quite a knowledge base just from trial and error, plus it is free. Additionally, I actually would like to see a deer roam through here. I miss them from our little house up north, and their nighly parades. My husband probably is relieved, near term, that the assumed trifecta probably has eaten enough seed pods now that I probably don’t need to add on to the inn (the daylily seedling box) next year. If I ever got super serious about this hobby, we could get a well up north. But, here and now, given we know the munching issue, we need a bit ‘o prevention, and protection, for new plantings. So daffodils and coffee grounds go around all new plantings here and at the historic cemetery (where there are moles), and then ongoing peppermint oil is also being used as a deterrent at the townhouse. I HAVE found infrared deterrents, but, sigh, they also deter dogs, and sigh, I need my dog to go outside …

So back to the Purple D’Oro – my husband dug it out, I divided it, and it went in a bag to the historic cemetery, along with the 2024 Purple D’Oro self seed seedlings (from 2023 harvested seed), where I planted them, and some languishing Asian lilies, along with daffodils, today.

And with that, the left side of the historic cemetery garden is a wrap. That just makes my heart so happy – even though there is no rain in the forecast for the next week, and that means daily trips to water them. The next 90 degree day in the forecast looks like a week out. A daily trip over there will be fine, short term.

What’s left at the historic cemetery garden? Waiting for the (right side) daylily order to arrive in September. And weed and trim each side alternately. Have I mentioned how AWESOME the mulch is? Sooooo easy to weed. Not necessarily so fun in heat and humidity, but way easier than the rock and heaving plastic that was there before. And people absolutely love it! A couple stopped to talk again today when I was there. They said they can really see the passion for gardening that we all are putting in there. Wowee Wow! Very humbling, and rewarding.

You may also notice I am not saying “fence garden” anymore. The large overgrown garden has been donated to the rain gardens at the historic mansion in town. They needed things that were budget friendly and would come back every year. Yes, and yes. So the only garden at the historic cemetery will be the formerly known as “fence” garden. Woo Hoo! Now if this “crazy lady” can stop coming up with new projects! Hahaha! I think I’d better. The current state is “just right”.

But wait! Why was weekend four so hard? Dig out a daylily at the townhouse and go dig and plant four holes at the historic cemetery? Big honking deal! Oh no, no, no, no! That was just the cemetery part.
Back to yesterday, I had other daylilies and seedlings, and fairy ringed hostas to dig and divide and find new locations for. Swapping locations for sun scorched Blue Mouse Ears and sun starved Purple D’Oros. And moving a failing set of Asian Lilies (they went in with the daylily divisions and the daffodils-layering-to the cemetery). And then last was moving a regularly stepped on Praying Hands hosta. I’m thinking the stepper-oner is four pawed and goes by the name of Bunimous Rex. That Bun does not eat it, I am amazed.

So today wraps up weekend four of the townhome side of the 10 week countdown. We did it! Hallelujah!!! So glad that is now done! And so thankful for ibuprofen and a nap!

I leave you with some end state pics at the townhome.

More to come, and yes that is chicken wire around Tender Love. Bun broke off and ate the scape with the cross from Pink Tirza. No more for you, Bun!

What is the data telling me?

I am a (relevant) data junkie. And I admit, yes, I am one of those people that have to bite my tongue when I need answers and I am being fed baloney sausage. Thankfully, there is no baloney sausage in the garden. Oh I love it so 😊

The data from 2024 is telling me the hostas under the linden are healthier than ever. They are giving me that woodland garden backdrop I so love, with mostly shade and dappled sun.

They are a bit affected by the Japanese beetle bugs about this time of year, but I can’t do anything about that.

The data is telling me the Purple D’Oro daylilies under the linden don’t have enough sun any more. The ones that can be dug out are on the 10 week countdown.

The data is telling me the Blue Mouse Ears hostas need dividing, and they would probably be happier with more shade. They will start to do a swap-a-roo with the daylilies under the linden and are on the 10 week countdown.

The data is telling me that, although some daylily crosses were initially looking successful, some daylily type’s pods consistently failed. I soooo feel a delightful spreadsheet coming on to identify all the patterns. Notes and verbiage are great, but this girlfriend likes to plan intelligently too. All those crosses deserve analysis. For sure, I know I can can cross Marque Moon X South Seas and Marque Moon X Just Plum Happy off the list. The pods get to a point, and then start to deteriorate, and it is like a beacon to whatever is eating the pods to pull the whole scape down. But the healthy pods seem more chomp safe. Go figure. Still, the data says so.

The data says I need to put chicken wire around shorter, late season bloomers. Because the data says the baby squirrels seem to think they are gourmet.
And the data says Pink Tirza and Coral Majority (yes, intense Coral Majority) have crazy good pollen.
And the data says, even though I thought I had successfully typed Hello Yellow, it started to look a bit like it was dying off after a couple weeks, and then something got the pod. I tell you, failing pods are like a munchie beacon.

So, the data also says I need to buy myself some reference info that gives me a deeper dive, and maybe join an organization to knowledge share. Nothing too intense. But better than unfruitful internet searches.

It’s all good. Next July will bring another level. Who knows what crazy crosses I might try in 2025. Hello Yellow x Coral Majority? Egads!!!

In the moment

I just love Saturday mornings in the garden, a slow start, just relaxing and taking it all in, getting up to take a pic, making a daylily cross, letting the dog back in the house, or back out again lol, watching the birds, the squirrels, thinking about fun stuff. It’s the best!

Last Saturday morning I got to do that. No deadlines, no strict agenda. Just enjoying what is happening in the garden. There were 2 Pink Tirza blooms, the second to last Marque Moon bud bloomed, a couple Naomi Ruth blooms, a few red daylily blooms, the last mystery yellow freebie bloom of the season, and two glorious Tender Love blooms. And the beautiful hostas are continuing to bloom.
Some daylily crosses were done, some trimming and cleaning up was done, of course a whole lot of pics were taken, and a whole lot of sharing and catching up and rejuvenating.
Sunday was an historic cemetery garden morning. I love early mornings in that garden too. They are very different though. When I go over there, I have planned, I know what I want to accomplish. I don’t sit and relax and daydream. I “do”. Last Sunday I brought the 5 sedum rootings and got those planted. I watered them as I went, I discovered as I dug – where rock was still a bit under the landscape fabric, and plastic under that lol. I discovered ant colonies too, oh yeah. That was definitely “in the moment”. No snakes this time though haha!
The end product for the morning didn’t look like much, baby sedum rootings amid a sea of beautiful mulch, but this morning as I looked at my 2014 – 2023 “this day in years past” photos, it reinforced to me exactly how fast things grow. My 2014 gardens at the townhouse barely resemble my gardens there today.
So on Sunday they looked like this

but they grow fast. Next year at this time, conditions permitting, they will look much fuller and taller.
Next up for planting at the historic cemetery is the daylily seedlings. Then the one side will be done for the year, with space to grow for quite a few years. Don’t forget space to grow 😊
The other side cannot be planted until this year’s daylily order arrives, should be in September.

After I wrapped up the planting at the historic cemetery last Sunday morning, I did take time to wander, the full length of the fence garden, a few times, and when I went to empty the rock I dug out, I also took a look at the large overgrown garden that will be (hopefully) removed this September. That moment will also be very special, a transition to just the fence garden go forward. A good moment. A long planned and awaited moment.

Over the past week, the daylilies in the townhome garden areas have really wound down.

The diploids are getting some crosses with Tender Love.

But the best surprise of all in the past couple days, so far, fingers crossed, is that mystery yellow freebie might actually be a diploid. The start of a seed pod from a tetraploid cross very quickly failed, overnight literally, so the next morning I decided to cross her with Pink Tirza. That now has a seed pod that doesn’t look like it is failing, yet, fingers crossed. Lots to go but that would be very exciting.

There are so many seed pods and so many crosses and so many notes and hundreds of pictures, but the daylily season is winding down now and will soon be a wrap.
So far I am seeing a few seed pods from Purple D’Oro and some Marque Moon crosses fail, but Pink Tirza, Naomi Ruth, Just Plum Happy, Cedar Waxwing, Coral Majority, Tender Love, and the red daylilies have all been very successful. And the self seeders are Coral Majority, Just Plum Happy, a bit of the red daylilies, and one Pink China Doll. What I will do with those seeds is tbd. The historic cemetery will be full, the garden areas at the townhome are full. I think the self seeds will have to go up north.

This morning, as the dawn arrived and I took a look at what the new day had brought, I am very thankful for so many things. For the gardens here, today, in the moment, I am thankful the last Pink Tirzah bud of the 2024 season is starting her one day bloom on the same day as the last two Naomi Ruth buds of the 2024 season are beginning to bloom and a Tender Love bud has already also started to bloom. If I want to try another cross with the red daylilies, they are still blooming too. I have many choices this day, of many types of diploids.
Only one tetraploid is still blooming – Coral Majority. South Seas bloomed her last bud of the 2024 season yesterday, no crosses.

Turnabout and rest time

I have gone gonzo with the daylily crosses this year. I seriously had all good intentions to keep things minimal but I definitely failed at that. It was just so fun to see the early successes.
The daylily I probably taxed the most is Naomi Ruth. She will definitely need daylily food. And next year she needs to be only a pollen provider, like Pink China Doll got to rest this year. South Seas and Cedar Waxwing also have a lot of seed pods from crosses. All of this has made me realize, I am reaching the end of my free knowledge gathering era and I need to start investing for deeper dive info. Things like I know the good pollen providers in the gardens here, but from my reading online it looks like not all daylilies are good pollen providers. And things like exactly how much does seed production tax the energy of a daylily? A recommended number of crosses per scape? A percentage related to the bloom count? And what truly is the longest time worth waiting for a seedling to bloom?

Today I only did crosses with Naomi Ruth (pollen). The Pink Tirza out front has three successful crosses from Purple D’Oro but there are so few buds left that I can now easily keep track of the two from Naomi Ruth, and that will be that for crosses to Pink Tirza. Same with two red daylilies, both on one scape and no buds left and no self seeding on that scape. And I have LOTS of notes and pics this year.

Tender Love has two scapes. One scape has already been earmarked for crosses with Pink Tirza. The other Tender Love scape will be earmarked for crosses with Naomi Ruth (Naomi Ruth providing the pollen). And did I mention a sister Tender Love is on the way this fall? Need … To … Stop (maybe next year)

Cedar Waxwing also got a rest yesterday and today while she wrapped up. Today she bloomed her last bud of 2024. Rest well dear Cedar Waxwing. You shall get some daylily food for sure too.

The cross with Just Plum Happy and mystery yellow freebie looks like it is forming a seed pod, so it looks like she is a tetraploid, which I suspected. Dang! A cross with Pink Tirza was SO in my mind! Mystery yellow freebie will bloom her last bud tomorrow (I know her very unusual pattern now), so unless the previous cross clearly fails overnight I will assume it is a tetraploid and hope Marque Moon blooms tomorrow. I want to see about taming some of the curl and ruffles, and South Seas probably wouldn’t do that … although it would be a pretty combo.

mystery yellow freebie (below)

Marque Moon (above)

South Seas (below)

Oh, did I mention, a free Marque Moon is on the way this fall? I know, I know. I said I wasn’t going to buy more Marque Moons, and I didn’t. I seriously didn’t. OK, maybe I did see I could get a free one and tailored my order to match that level. But I was already getting more than enough (for the historic cemetery garden) to qualify. It actually ended up being a “take things out of my cart” situation to get the Marque Moon. So that’s good, right?

Meanwhile, back to seeds, either Bunimous Rex (very large bunny) or a very naughty squirrel saw to making my decision for me as to whether or not to harvest the Purple D’Oro self seed pods. Clearly the answer was yes I was going to harvest them or I would have trimmed them off lol. Anyway, all 3 seed pods are gone. Little evidence remains except below. I suppose it is their fair share. I suppose I should consider it my easy out.

Tomorrow is going to be warm and so it will be a work in the townhome gardens morning. I can do some pulling of forget-me-nots and I have the 10 week countdown (now nine weeks left).
Fingers crossed, early Sunday is a planting morning at the historic cemetery. Cooler weather and some rain is forecasted the early part of next week, so far, so I’m hoping that holds. If not, I can just weed.

Final daylily blooms of the season, testing ploidy, long awaited latest bloom

The long awaited Tender Love bloom has started.

Fortunately, very fortunately, Pink Tirza is also blooming. It may be my only chance this season to do a cross, so cross it was.

It looks like our first daylily seedling to bloom in the townhouse gardens is a tetraploid. I crossed her with Just Plum Happy and it looks like it was successful, so far. Many more mile markers to go but she has a seed pod.

Monday morning we said Sweet Dreams to Pink China Doll. She bloomed four buds on Sunday and now she is done blooming for the year. Well deserved wind down for her.

Monday the large Just Plum Happy bloomed profusely and yesterday the sole remaining bud bloomed. The same on the medium Just Plum Happy – the last bud bloomed yesterday. So yesterday was the last day of bloom in the 2024 garden here for Just Plum Happy. She truly has been a joy again this year. We are leaving all three in place, no dividing, for next year.
And the last bloom of the medium Just Plum Happy was crossed with the mystery yellow freebie, to see if the mystery yellow freebie might be a tetraploid. I suspect so, but I am wishing for a diploid. But doubtful.

If the Just Plum Happy cross fails, there is one more mystery yellow freebie bud, and I will cross that with whatever diploid blooms on that day. If the cross with Just Plum Happy succeeds, I will have much less choice for another tetraploid cross for the last mystery yellow freebie cross – maybe Cedar Waxwing, maybe South Seas. Or maybe Coral Majority lol! Could be nothing.

The diploid cross between Pink Tirza and the red daylily succeeded, so I did two more yesterday, same scape.

And at the historic cemetery we have a wrap up plan for the excess irises and daylilies from the large overgrown garden. They will be going to the historic mansion in town. There are two rain gardens there that have room. September should be a good month for that activity.

So now we begin August. The beginning of August always feels to me like a mini version of the first week of January, when the holidays have wrapped up and we throttle back to a more “normal” routine. But there is so much more of gardening season left. 3 months 🥰 Still lots of daylilies to bloom, but not July’s intensity, all of the remaining transplanting and then new planting work, the 2024 seedlings need to be planted, the remaining hostas will go to bloom, the sedum, the seed pod work … plenty still to come. Just a bit of a slower pace again now.

Bold

Today has been a bold day.

In addition to normal maintenance – trimming, weeding – I am now working on my 10 week countdown checklist. That is my planned garden adjustments, broken down into bite sized pieces. That list is bold. Digging things out, moving them around, even some disposing. Some annual adjustments are easier than others, for a number of reasons.
So week(end) 1 was to dig out three self seed daylily seedlings from 2022 and plant them at the historic cemetery fence garden. I put this as week 1 because they are getting bigger and are now in my husband’s direct path to the hummingbird feeder.

Oops! And oops again. Too hot to move seedlings this weekend. That clover companion would never survive. (Just kidding! About the clover 😉) I was optimistic with some nice weather we had been having, but carting water to the cemetery at least once per day so I could check that item off the list? Heat wimp here. Aina-gonna happen. And then I will feel bad they didn’t do well or even died (like up north with only rain). Nope. They can stay in the ground with their clover buddies while I keep an eye on them here. Move that to week 6 and move week 2 up.

Week 2 was pulling out stuff. This was another wimp week because I knew I would hem and haw and feel bad tossing them out. The items were a failing hosta and a failing clematis. I was going to “feel better” by transplanting a clematis without a trellis into that spot. Here’s how that went. My husband had a theory that the issue causing the failure was lack of rain getting in that spot due to the roof and gutter overhang. I doubted that because I had a huge (5’) Aureomarginata (hosta) in that spot years ago and it had gotten that big from a very small plant bought at the garden store. Apples and Apples, right? Those Aeromarginatas moved out of my gardens as a donation to some other gardens in the association. I have gone through a variety of plants in that spot since then. Some were mildly successful. But in thinking about it, the Aureomarginata was more forward, and the sprinkler range at that time was hitting the windows (since then adjusted). So, back to the list. Pulling out the failing part of the current hosta was not bad, and pulling out the failing clematis was not bad, but the clematis I was going to transplant into that spot – not so much. Dead-a-ronio. I know how that happened too. But we shall not rehash that trauma. Cross that transplant off the list.

Told you today was a bold day lol

So week 2 is now done and I get a free week because it looks like we are in for heat for another week at least. Transplanting other things will resume after this hot spell subsides.

On to another bold thing. Hello Yello, the year 2, first year to bloom, yellow self seed seedling bloomed its last bud for this season. Right next to it, the smallest Just Plum Happy, the one I used for the Marque Moon x Just Plum Happy crosses that were so successful (100% so far), was just smiling away, sporting its last bloom of the season, happy as could be. They looked so cute together. I am assuming Hello Yellow (her name so far) is a tetraploid, but I need to test that. So – Just Plum Happy x Hello Yellow today.

Both are their last blooms of the season, no crosses with Hello Yellow so far, super easy to track. I hope it is as successful as my other crossing whims. Still laughing about Coral Majority x Cedar Waxwing. Just watch! That will surpass expectations, be way nicer than the other planned crosses …. Hahaha!

No Marque Moon blooms today. But Pink Tirzah keeps blooming away and today there were two Naomi Ruth blooms so I made those crosses. At this point Naomi Ruth has so many seed pods – x Purple d’Oro on one scape and x Pink Tirza on the other. Hopefully the seed is good. So many points still to pass.

And for a final boldness. Pink China Doll is blooming her last four blooms of this season today. No self seeding on either plant, with multiple scapes and a plethora of blooms. I deadheaded her spent blooms this morning, and one was particularly strong. I cringed. “Maybe it was going to self seed”, I thought. But last year I had 38 seeds from various seed pods after Marque Moon x Pink China Doll crosses, and 11 of those made it to seedling. I am hoping to see the results in 2025 or 2026. All that to say, I probably don’t need Pink China Doll self seeds. I can probably let that idea go. And then, having done my week (2) project, in addition to trimming, weeding, and cleaning up, as I was sitting sipping my tea in the shade, I saw I missed deadheading a Pink China Doll bloom. I did not get up off the reclined chair. “That one gets a chance to survive in case it happened to self seed”, I thought. You never know. Here is that view I was enjoying, minus the spent bloom that has since fallen off 😂

See, sometimes it works out to just sit and wait!