Out, Out Damned Spot!

Well, it has finally happened... after a full year of fooling around in the garden with little a care or bother in the world, never covering our mouths when we coughed, touching plants left and right without handwashing, leaving weeds all over the place and other general misbehavior.

Yes thats right, The Children of the Corm garden is... diseased.  Under quarantine.  Fungus coming out of our ears.

It all started on a brilliant warm muggy day last week when I went to my car like I do every day, and passed by the large jasmine vine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) I have growing over a 15 foot section of fencing.  Hmm, I said to self, why are those few leaves bright orange?  Eh, I'm in a hurry, I said to self.

The following day, also bloomed bright and humid and I looked at the ground outside the fence and noticed that the now pretty orange leaves were on the ground.   Hmmm, I said to self, must look into this when get chance.

Zoom by a week, because time flies, as they say, when you are not paying attention to your plants well-being, and there are now many many many orange leaves, even more on the ground, and every single other green leaf now has big spots.

The nursery confirmed that I had a major case of fungal leaf spot, and get this... the jasmine is going to lose ALL of its leaves.  Distressing under any circumstance, but considering this lovely (or formerly lovely) plant is supposed to be blooming in just over a month, this just sucks.

Decisive action has now been taken, (after a week of sloth, but lets not remind me).  The jasmine will undergo three separate 10 day apart drownings in fungicide... so will all plants near it.   So did the other jasmine on the other part of the fence just in case he even thinks about fraternizing.  I have bagged up the diseased leaves and will continue to do so.

Hopefully that will rid my garden of the pestilence.   Secondary action was also taken.  The nursery has instructed me to fertilize the plant like a maniac, every week until bloomtime in hopes of pushing up some new healthy greenery on what will shortly be a bunch of strappy twigs running all over the fence.

sniff.  He was sooo pretty last year, see?  now look.  I took a walk around town today noting that nobody else's jasmine seems to be a mess.   I passed dozens.  All of them green and leathery healthy as can be.  grrr.

Not only that but I'm back on the claritin.  The only thing I like about cold weather is it equals no claritin. Acho.  Meh.

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Results Of Being Lazy

This houseplant (Tradescantia Zabrina), underneath, is in an 8 inch pot.

This is a picture of laziness.   I meant to put up the hanger outside my door within the week of getting 10 or so sprigs and putting them in dirt.  I meant to do it the following week too, when I actually moved the plant outside and put it in a semi shady area which used to be my holding pen area. 

I grew up calling this plant "Wandering Jew" and I can see where the wandering tag might have come from.  Anyone around here want some?

This blushing bride hydrangea was in a gallon pot.  This is another picture of laziness.  I bought 3 hydrangeas on the same day.  Hydrangea #1 was planted within a few days.  Hydrangea #2 took me about 3 weeks to get in the ground.  This hydrangea, over to the right - nearly 2 months.   When he did get out of the pot, he had to have the majority of his roots shredded because he was so pot bound that unless he was sitting in water he would droop.  Now he has no rootsystem to speak of, and its the hottest part of the year.  Therefore he looks like crap every day for hours and he is tiny compared to everyone else.   He called social services on me twice, and has refused to bloom. 

A picture of gross negligent laziness. (really bad)  Too much sun.  I knew there was way too much sun... kept saying "must get ladder out and move that plant."  As you can see it is still there, having died of heatstroke.  No amount of watering can make a plant who hates sun tolerate a dozen 100 degree days in the sun.  I am taking his corpse down today. I promise.  As soon as I drag down that ladder.  Maybe tomorrow.

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Yarrow Flop House

About a week ago, without pausing to look at any note I might have made to myself on, lets say, plants that should not be fertilized, I went and fertilized the entire garden.    Even the roses got their own special fertilizer.  

Before, when I still looked good

Within 20 minutes, the 'Appleblossom' yarrow grew an additional six inches and promptly flopped all over the place, sprawled over every plant near and far.  

Still looking good....on May 5th

Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, when I planted this stuff, I knew that it liked lean soil.   But until the great flop this week, I had quickly failed to be bothered with remembering.   Now reading the likes and dislikes of this plant again, I am recalling all sorts of stuff.  Like it is going to be huge.   I am not joking here either.  I planted this mid to late March and it was a 5 inch round 1 inch tall mat of fernlike bristles.  I planted two of them because there is some gardening compulsion to never buy just one of anything.    Following the directions properly I did plant them about 2.5 feet apart, so I must have had some inkling at the time.   Today each of them are probably about 24 inches tall (ahem, long) and about a 20 inch round wild floppy mat.   And growing.   5 weeks old and they are monsters. 

Today...not so good :(

See how small I was in March?

I must stop and say I do love the look of the flowerheads.  They are exactly like the picture of them in the magazines.  The colors are great.  But this sprawl.  I am not liking this.  It isn't a pretty let me just intermingle with your flowers and leaves kind of messiness.  I love that look, but no,  it looks like a dog laid on it and had a full night of running dreams.

Okay, so what to do?  Can I stake it somehow?  It looked much better before the great fertilizing event, but its a little late now to reverse that.    

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