Month: June 2009

Lily withdrawals

To think I’ve gone a season without growing my own lilies! The arboretum visit was not enough! It makes me sad that I cannot enjoy the brilliant, oversized blooms any time soon. Ah…if only my cosmos seedlings will start giving me some blooms, I imagine I wouldn’t be so despondent from the lack of lilies.

I’m still scratching my head over the rosemary plant; it still has not stopped browning. I’m also fearful of losing my Coconut Ice lavender…I’ve been studiously ignoring the watering on both of these herb plants to make sure they aren’t suffering from root rot. But with the temperatures broiling outside, I’m not sure how often I should be attending to their water needs…I imagine it’s time to re-pot them and see if amending the soil will improve their chances.

I think the unkillable potato vine is killable. A purple potato vine that shared its new home with a caladium has dropped all its leaves. Not sure if it’s due to overwatering or lack of soil depth. This bears further investigation…

What’s wrong with my maple?

Is it leaf burn, too much water, or a lack of feeding? My Asahi zuru is displaying browning on its mottled leaves, which appears to radiate from the leaf center. I’m repositioning it into full shade to see if it will help banish what I suspect is leaf burn. Variegated japanese maples are supposedly sensitive to the heat than most cultivars, so I am hoping this is the case here. Pulling it into the patio shade will also distance itself from the water sprinkler, though I seriously doubt this is a case of overwatering. I haven’t yet fed this maple since it I got it…perhaps its time to research its diet. In any case, I’ve also had to prune a topmost branch since it looked and felt dried out. I hope this isn’t the beginning of the end…

6/21/2009 Japanese Maple Leaves (1) 6/21/2009 Japanese Maple Leaves (2) 6/21/2009 Japanese Maple Leaves (3) 6/21/2009 Japanese Maple Leaves (4)

Drying the Rosemary

6/16/2009 Rosemary drying outI’ve determined that the rosemary bush on my patio is getting way too much water, thus it has been slowly browning from bottom, working its way up. I’ve decided to hard prune the plant and remove it away from the sprinkler heads that water the rest of the patio garden. I’ve also removed the surviving lavender plants as well, to keep the rosemary company. They all still get morning sun, but hopefully they won’t have to suffer root rot due to over watering. I’m contemplating moving the rosemary to a larger pot and changing the soil medium into something that won’t retain moisture…perhaps some gravel and sand.

Not so merry, not so golden

Ah, my precious marigolds…they are a-browning in this heat. Some of the yellows are still pushing out some blooms, but the bicolored ones have failed to make a showing lately. I thought that the irregular watering provided by the sprinklers over the patio would be enough to sustain them, but it seems these petite little annuals need to have their feet constantly wet. I will need to be more industrious about keeping them watered on a daily basis. The temperatures are starting to rise to uncomfortable levels–I’ve noticed that we’ve already experienced a few ozone alerts in the area.