Happy Fall 2020

 Autumn is finally here, after a scorcher of a Summer. It's still very dry though, and hasn't rained in easily over 3 weeks. I used to never really notice the rain much before, inasmuch as it helped cool the air, but now with a garden I really notice the rain. A few weeks ago we got our lawn aerated and reseeded by a landscaping company, and right before they left, Rob, the manager, told me that I had to now water the lawn every 3 hours or else the grass would not grow. For the next few days before we installed a makeshift sprinkler system, I ended up wasting almost 45 mins every day just watering the lawn and feeling like a fool. Anyway now we have a very nice and lush green lawn, and probably a higher water bill to go along with it. 

Today, with E of course, I went to Michael's, Maypop and Menards, all in the Brentwood/Webster Groves area. At Michaels I picked up some random Halloween decor and miscellaneous items, and at Maypop (my second visit within a week!) I finally picked up the Chocolate Aglaonema that I had been eyeing, but passed on because it was $5 over budget. Thanks to a generous surprise venmo of $5 from Shirin, I got the plant. I also ended up buying a young Philodendron Hope, an Aeonium Kiwi succulent and a random squashy cactus that E had actually grabbed and knocked over when we were there earlier this week.

L - Philodendron Hope; R - Chocolate Aglaonema 

L - Aeonium Kiwi; R - Unknown squashy Cactus

I realise I haven't written up much on my vegetable growing in a while. Well, as a beginner gardener I mistakenly thought that all pesticides were the same, until my poor broccoli got eaten so thoroughly by cabbage worms that they were irredeemable (and I kept wondering why the insecticide wasn't working). Finally Jon pulled the broccoli out a few weeks ago because I couldn't bear to even look or touch them as they looked so horrible, and I replaced them with what looks like bok choy. The bok choy is still being nibbled on by cabbage worms, but I have now learned to use both Dipel Dust and to knock off the cabbage worms with a wood shim that I keep handy (because I still don't want to touch or get near any bugs). I laugh/cringe when I think of how naive I was when I saw the white butterflies around my plants and thought: Oh butterflies! How nice! But of course they were laying cabbage worms URGH. 

Anyway after I stopped overwatering my beans plants, they are now doing a little better and have started to grow actual beans. Again I think of how ridiculous my reaction was when I saw the plants growing small white flowers and wondering what the point was (It's a vegetable, so why does it bother growing flowers?). It's almost as if I forgot all about my Biology lessons, and the whole part about flowers preceding seeds (ergo, beans) was wiped from my memory. I felt quite daft when I realised that. 

So here are my beans, and you can see the bok choy trying to grow in the back a little. Also picture is the cover that I purchased, to cover the vegetables over night and to try and prevent the pests from getting to them. Next year I might try setting up a proper hoop thing as a cover.

At Menards I ended up purchasing some pumpkins for decor. Because our porch area is covered up by a bunch of Boxwoods (thankfully, as the front facing windows are very big), I decided to leave them under a tree closer to the road, so other people can see the nice pumpkins too. I hope this doesn't mean they will rot or get eaten by something though. I'm so new to all of this that I don't know if I have valid concerns or am being silly. Anyway lest disaster befall them soon, I took a picture for posterity.

Also pictured is the mulch I random threw under that tree when I was trying to get rid of some of it, when I was trying to tackle a garden bed closer to the front of the house. I have really been enjoying gardening, but I really have no idea what I am doing. I also managed to hurt my arms/wrists a few weeks ago, and keep telling myself to take it easy, but I also just planted some pansies and violas yesterday, and wrangled a 2 cu foot of Schultz Garden Soil today.

House Plants

 

My latest obsession seems to be house plants, mainly because I am running out of space for regular plants. I currently have 3 Blueberry shrubs that I am still figuring out where to place, almost 2 weeks after purchasing them from Lowes. I need to deal with them first, before purchasing any other outdoor plants, though I have a pretty good idea what my next purchase will be - some Hydrangea shrubs - though I am undecided with what sorts of hydrangea it will be.

Today was another plant nursery day for E and me, with a quick stop at Kangaroo Kids along the way (though we ended up not purchasing anything). We went to Sugar Creek Gardens, Rolling Ridge Nursery, followed by Maypop Coffee and Garden Shop. At Sugar Creek Gardens, our first stop, a nice middle aged lady offered me some milk weed, as they were going to toss it away and she didn't need so many milk weed plants, so I ended up with 2 pots of Butterfly Weed. This worked out really nicely as I wanted another Butterfly Weed plant one to accompany the other one I had planted last Saturday (which then wiped me out for the rest of the day, lol). Inside, on the grounds of Sugar Creek Gardens, I also found a Calathea White Fusion (the plant right at the back), which has been on my wish list for $20. I figured since I had effectively gotten 2 Butterfly Weed plants for free from Sugar Creek (approx. $16 at regular retail for that size), I could get the Calathea even though I should have been following a rough budget of $15 per plant. 

At our next stop, Rolling Ridge, I acquired the Peperomia Ginny front right) and the Philodendron Lemon Lime (front middle), and also bought the Insecticidal Soap for my poor vegetable plants after talking to some of the workers there. I also learned that they had a very poor opinion of Miracle Gro, which I have to say I 100% understand after seeing how poorly my broccoli plants have been doing in them. The guy there also told me to get some bricks to prop under my planters to improve drainage, which I guess I will do tomorrow.

Our last plant stop (last stop was actually Balkan Treat Box, where I picked up a seasonal Peach Pide for lunch/dinner) was Maypop. I ended up getting an African Violet (front left) there, though reading up on it now it seems like I might have signed up for trouble as they seem to be finicky plants. We'll see how things go.

After acquiring the Calathea White Fusion, my current house plant wish list is: 1) Triostar Stromathe 2) Ficus Tineke 3) Watermelon Peperomia. I really want to see a Persian Shield, though I'm not sure if I want one as a plant yet.