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Tell The Truth Tuesday March 19, 2019
Tell The Truth Tuesday, the brainchild of Bonney Lassie, is about examining the parts of the bloggers garden that are not 100% perfection. The above planter basket qualifies. Cringe.
Quelle mess!
I've had a winning streak when it comes to shoving a random bunch of badly neglected, dried up succulent plant bits all together and seeing them grow themselves back to health thanks to good soil, some moisture and an ideal climate.
Such as here:
And here:
The magic didn't happen with that hanging basket. This is likely because it was a container and not the more reliable ground. A rework is in progress. All the dried out miserable bits from the hanging basket have been put into the ground, where they will thrive. Why do I keep trying to do containers? That is the uhh...root problem, isn't it?
Further progress on a previous TtTT, a salute to patience, and another reminder Mulch Can Make Any Garden Look Better. Like rain, mulch is magic.
The previous TtTT jumble-bed
Currently, with mulch:
The Iris should will be moved in August, which the correct time for moving TB Iris in SoCal. I left the long-blooming purple Hemerocallis, for now. Last year, in June, it felt like a purple Hem was needed in that spot. A visitor walking down this path would see clumps of the Hem, here and there on either side of the path, all the way along. If that proves to work, then...it works. If not, the Hem can go elsewhere.
The Aloe 'Congolensis' got moved to the other side of the driveway. It is doing well.
Now, to be patient, to wait for the plants to grow, wait for the right time to move the Iris, to wait for the time at which the Hems flower all along the path.
Patience is the art of doing nothing for the correct amount of time.
What happened to the little clump of aloe in the bed prior to mulch? It is really nice.
ReplyDeleteI moved it intact over on the other side of the driveway. I added a photo of it in its new spot to the post. :)
DeleteI keep trying to grow things in hanging baskets too. Not only do I generally fail to water them on a regular basis, the birds inevitably pull apart the coco-mat liner for use as nest materials - somehow I still manage to avert my eyes and ignore the mess for prolonged periods. The edited jumble bed is looking good.
ReplyDeleteThat eye-averting thing! Has to be something in human DNA.
DeleteI'm happy the white dwarf gaura is finally going to flower. Bought them in 4" pots last spring and got maybe one spike of flowers total.
Here the birds go for white dog hair, which is plentiful and makes for a very sturdy nest--I find them frequently.
I have no luck with hanging baskets either. I always forget to water them. Your basket did have some nice Aloes in it, I bet they'll do well in the ground. Your jumbled-up bed looks much better now. I would have a hard time waiting to move that iris, patience is not my strong suit. Mainly because I know that if I try and wait till the right time, the time will pass by quickly because I'm distracted by something else, and then I'll lose my chance anyway. So I usually just move it when I think of it.
ReplyDeleteThose Aloes are in the ground. They will be beautiful by the end of April.
DeleteI never get the Iris moved in August when they are fully dormant here, because it is always so (many bad cuss words here) hot in August. I'm determined it will happen this year.
I'm finding that TtTT meme so very helpful! Thanks for coming up with it.
Containers try my patience too. I have these great visions of what they should be, and then they mostly just seem to fizzle out. Gardening in general (in my end of the world anyway) is an endless stream of testing of ideas, putting them together, and taking them apart again, depending on how well they work. That's what makes it fun for me, but then again - the process is often wrought with frustrations of one sort or other. Succulents are usually a big fail for me - I just don't have enough sun. I keep trying though - they are so darn cool! Testing them on an elevated table garden next. Hopefully that works better. And, I really need to join in with this excellent meme. Heaven knows there are plenty of unflattering angles...
ReplyDeleteIt's been the most helpful meme for me. Really enjoying it!
DeleteI stick closely to the climate-appropriate stuff, and even then mess up! I admire gardeners who can push their zones a bit. It takes skill, knowledge, talent...the good things.
I have a very few successful containers. And gazillion pots of bulbs which should be planted.
ReplyDeleteMy iris have sat there, quietly refusing, to bloom. at all. Sob.
I did not know this: TB Iris want fertilizer. That was preventing flowers--here, anyway.
Delete