Another Chance for Rain - Crepe Myrtle Blooms Pruned. Sudden Sleep Suggests Tornado Near

I continue to spoil the big Crepe Myrtle, and it blooms gloriously as a result. The fertile base soil may be a major factor in its rapid transformation to seedheads. But do not fear - another bloom will take place this summer, when the other bushes have faded away.

 I planted the Cardinal Caladiums under the Crepe Myrtle.
I grew the white ones too. I plant the bulbs rather than the expensive plants from the store.

First, I trimmed the grassy weeds coming up through the mulch. I put down newspaper, then mulch on the newspaper for looks and keeping the news in place. Sassy guarded me from the front sidewalk. Her interest in gardening has grown, perhaps because she can find rabbits strolling through the garden at all hours.

I was going to cut the bottom row of blooms off, to use as additional mulch on the base. I found more seedheads, so I took off all blooms except the top row. The vivid pink top became the vivid pink base, especially since petals scattered all over.

These CM trimmings will dry up fast and highlight the Caladiums under the Crepe Myrtle - about 16 bright red and green leaves.

Accused of spoiling the big Crepe Myrtle, I confessed to spoiling the other nine, which I got on sale. I mulched them all with coffee diapers, the grounds and paper left from pour-over coffee. I use rose collars to protect them from rabbits and weed-eaters. I give them rainwater stored in the barrels. Even a slight rain will give me five-gallon paint buckets that are mostly full of water.

Borage, often called Bee Bread, is now blooming, a safe landing zone for beneficial insects.

Misunderstanding the Soil
Many people think they plant in the dirt, so they love to whip the dirt with tillers, which will

• tear up weeds, 
• destroy soil structure, and 
• disrupt the fungal networks that provide for all the plants.

They have little roto-tillers, which some would like to use instead of weeding. I enjoy pulling or trimming the weeds, then using the weeds as mulch. Ruth Stout considered that the last insult for weeds! But I think of weeds as feeding the soil unless they get in the way of flowers and useful plants.

Clethra is known for fragrance and butterflies,
starting to bud.

And It Rained with a Torcan of 3

We had tornado warnings, but the heat, humidity, and empty radar images left me doubting. I cannot stay awake when a tornado is near, so my dropping off to sleep concerned Mrs. Ichabod. Twice I stopped driving, extremely drowsy, unable to drive, only to learn a tornado was nearby. I could be a storm-chaser, fitted out in a comfortable van driven by someone else. "He's asleep and snoring. F5! Call the alert!"

The sky darkened and the solar lights went on outside. The system passed quickly and headed toward Perryville and St. Louis.

Chaste Tree is another southern favorite.

Sassy reluctantly came outside with me to view the gardens. Chaste Tree is in full bloom and attracting bees; some consider it the ultimate bee plant. It can be a shrub by itself, about six feet tall, a row of shrubs like the Crepe Myrtles. I learned with this one - I had it in partial shade and watered it. The tree needed plenty of sun and no water at all. In fact, organic mulch is discouraged. I have three, thanks to Almost Eden's nursery nearby, so I might move one or two up front in the fall.

Autumn may be my time of moving plants around, with an abundance needing more room, more variety desired in the rose garden.

The roses are getting their second wind, after being plundered of their flowers and suffering drought and heat. The rain will go a long way toward a lot of blooms for Sunday. I will prune with that in mind.

The divided Shasta Daisies have forgiven my haste and are already blooming. If someone had gardening anxiety, daisies would be a good starting point - rapidly clumping, easily divided, and good for beneficial insects. Besides that, they are great for filling out a bouquet of roses. I have roughly 12 Shasta Daisy clumps growing now.

 Joe Pye Weed can be found growing in the wild, but it remains one of the first sold out in the spring.

Our first Joe Pye Weed is now six feet tall and still reaching up with buds. Today I confided in Mrs. Ichabod, "I know why they sell Little Joe Pye bushes. Look at that monster." I am picturing a rose garden full of six-foot-tall Joe Pyes, which could be more leverage for our Laotian neighbors.

They snickered about the Buckwheat plants taking over the rose garde - twice - last year. This year I have a few Buckwheats six feet tall. What does that suggest? The soil is incredibly fertlie, and the cover crop contributed by growing abundantly there last year.

Joe Pye and roses have similar needs. Joe Pye harbors beneficial insects, so it is a great companion plant, easy to grow, happy to be watered. Our new plants are already budding, so we will have a fun display for butterfly experts aka lepidopterists.

 Hosta blooms make them the best hummingbird feeders.

 Blue Hawaii is an example of Hostas grown for color and variety. They tolerate shade better than most but enjoy sun as much as roses.

Hostas grow in two classes in the rose garden. The veterans came from Mr. Gardener, and they developed several years in the back. I moved them to the rose garden this spring. I also had a few new ones planted last fall. Every plant is doing well, some a bit insect-chewed. I plan to divide the veteran hostas this fall. They are easy care plants and usually do not grow to gargantuan size.

Hidden Lily

I got Hidden Lily Wild Ginger for almost nothing. The flowers stay colorful, pushing up out of the ground. The sunny butterfly garden made them bloom first there, but two are also working their way up along the driveway. The Elephant Ears, which never grew, are gone to compost every one.

Every Plant Has Its Own Nature - 
Another Blow To Evolution

The people who claim they cannot garden remind me of the ones who go nuts at the mention of spiders. Additional discussion is not possible.

But for those who do garden and might garden - knowing the nature of a plant is the Creation key. Those plants with similar likes grow well together as companions. They feed bees and beneficial insects at alternate times, keep concentrations of pests away, and look attractive. The aphid hunters enjoy food as adults, but they also like neonatal units nearby for their young. Therefore, roses provide the aphids for the young to eat as they hatch. Nearby aisies provide nectar and pollen for the adults.

We can push some plants to perform against their nature, such as having Hostas in the deep shade, but they flourish when allowed the warmth, water, or sunshine they need.

The Chaste Tree did not like the shade and excess water I gave it and almost died of my indulgence. The same plant flourished after being pruned and placed in a dry, sunny spot - no watering.

That is why I return to Biblical principles all the time and make fun of clergy/laity looking for results. In the garden, results follow respect for the engineering and management of the Creator:

1. Insecticides cause more pests in the garden, not fewer.
2. Man-made fertilizers hurt the soil.
3. Soil creatures and microbes do far more than a tiller, which hurts them, and cost nothing to deploy.

Honeysuckle and Caladiums

Honeysuckle is in Shakespeare, sometimes as woodbine.

Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.
So doth the Woodbine the sweet Honeysuckle
Gently entwist; the Female Ivy so
Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm.

--- Midsummer Night's Dream, act iv, sc. 1 (47).

There are two ways to garden vertically. One is to go down with root crops, like carrots. The other is to go up with vines.

Our fence on Mrs. Wright's side is booked for the summer, and the opposite side is reserved for roses. Therefore, the best supporters left are the trees.

I chose our dead tree for the honeysuckle. I have never grown it before, but various sources claim the vine is vigorous, butterfly, bee and hummingbird friendly.

The little pot of honeysuckle was growing green, but I still soaked it in rainwater for a time. Last fall we covered the base of the snag with newspapers and wood mulch. All winter the soil had a chance to convert the weed-choked base to compost.

The shovel went smoothly into the soil near the tree trunk, and the plant went in the hole. I poured more rainwater in to settle the soil and tucked the mulch around the plant.

The vine seems to need help in climbing, so I may need to provide some extra support. However, it is called twining, which may help. The abundant flowers attract all kinds of insect life and hummingbirds. Hummers do not hover for the nectar. They need insects too, so their tweezer beaks are ideal for grabbing them while sipping the sweetness of the vine.

Sweetheart Caladiums love shade.

I did not want to spend rose dollars on tender bulbs, for another reason besides the Scrooge Prime Directive. They are work - not at first - but later when they need to be recovered in the fall. Spring (tender) bulbs are spectacular in their beauty, but they do not tolerate frost.

Catalogs do not sell bulbs but flowers. The glossy close-ups send gardeners into reveries where labor cost and price fade away. I thought these might be colorful under the maple but we will soon prune the maple. When someone helps out, trampling the new flowers is a consideration.

The bulbs were ugly, like little lumps of mud. Directions told me to plant the bumpy side up, but the each cluster was bumpy all over. They should say "smoother bumps on the bottom." Ultimately it does not matter, so I troweled out mulch and soil to plant them. When I showed their picture to Mrs. Ichabod, she said, "Great. We always had them at home, every year."

Another win.