Beeblossoms and Beards

I worked in my flower bed a little today, and realized I don't know anything about my $6 "Pink Fountain" gaura I bought at Lowe's this year.  So, off to the Internet!


It's a perennial that likes full sun (check!), and well-drained soil (oh well...).  I've been amending the soil in my clay bed with perlite and peat moss, so maybe it will make it.  Gaura is popularly known as "bee blossom" and it's drought-resistant.  It's supposed to grow to a height of 2' to 3'.  Gaura has tap roots, so may not spread the way I'd like!  According to one article I read, I should prune off dead or ugly stems and leaves in very early spring, retaining the lower-stem stubs at a length of 2 to 6 inches.  If it gets long and leggy, it can be cut back by 6" to 20", as long as not more than HALF the stem length is removed.  To propagate, dig up plants and divide the stems and roots in spring before plants display too many new sprouting leaves.  NOTE:  Summer 2014 - Unfortunately this one didn't make it!



Another plant nearby is called "Jupiter's Beard," - red valerian.  It hasn't bloomed yet, so I'm not sure what it's going to look like, but according to the Internet it's supposed to have red blooms.  It's a perennial that grows from 1-1/2' to 3' tall.  This one definitely needs to be dead-headed (if it ever blooms!) because the flowers turn to a dandelion-type head of seeds that blow all over.  As flowers begin to fade, plants should be pruned back to the main clump of foliage to promote continuous blooming and keep the plant compact.

Just a bit more information in my "plantopedia."

Bunches of Basil

Little did I know that EVERY tiny little seed I planted would come up and flourish!  I love basil and zucchini, so I planted quite a bit of both.  Now I'm faced with using it up or figuring out how to preserve it.  I'll be taking a big bag of basil to work tomorrow, but tonight I used up some of it in pesto and pizza.

First I made the pesto. We have almonds, but not pine nuts, so this was a basil-almond pesto. 

• 3 cups basil leaves, roughly chopped 
• 1/2 cup slivered, toasted almonds 
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese (I used 1/4 cup of the powdered stuff, and then threw in a handful of fresh grated.  Next time, I think it needs to be the fresh grated all the way.) 
• 1/2 cup of olive oil (I think this was too much.  Next time I'll start with 1/4 cup, then add just a little at a time until it seems saucy enough.)

Toast the almonds - watch out, 'cuz they burn quickly.
Put the garlic, the basil, and the almonds in the food processor and chop finely.  
Add the Parmesan cheese and mix in.
Slowly drizzle in the oil while the food processor is running, until it looks right.
Scrape the sides regularly.

I used refrigerated pizza dough.  It was OK, but didn't get quite as brown as I like.  First I sauted a chicken breast in garlic butter, then chopped it up.  Spread the dough with pesto, then sprinkled on the chopped chicken.  Added a bunch of shredded mozzarella and sprinkled with some shredded Parmesan.  Baked it at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes - I could probably left if in for 5 minutes more.

The pizza really needed some tomatoes, but we were out of them.  Also, next time I'll add some chopped basil leaves to the top to freshen it up.

Roses

I never really thought I'd like to grow roses.  After all, they have thorns, and little bugs, and the everyone talks, they like a lot of attention.  So I never bothered with them.  But last weekend my brother bought a house with a LOT of roses, and he doesn't want them.  I ended up with three rose bushes, and might have more before we're done.

So...how are you supposed to transplant a rose?  Knowing nothing, I just dug 'em up, stuck 'em in a bucket, added water, and hauled them home.  It was a pretty hot day, and we had other errands to run, so they sat in the back of the truck for several hours.  When we got home, we dug holes, added a bunch of water, threw in a handful of some kind of rose food we found in his new garage, and stuck the roses in.  Since then I've been watering them, but I really don't quite know what to do next.  I have already shocked them to death, and I'll see the results later.

But whether they live or die, I've decided I'd like to know how and when to transplant roses, and what to do with them afterwards.  (Just in case someday I end up with one that lives!!)  I started digging around the Internet, and this is what I found out.

Things I Did Wrong:
1. Roses are best transplanted in late winter or early spring.  (I transplanted them on a 100 degree July summer day.)
2. Prune the rose.  (I guess I'd better figure out how to do that correctly and give it a try.)
3. Spread out the roots over a mound of dirt in the new hole.  (I just plunked it in there!)

Things I Did Right:
1.  Flood the hole and give it lots of water when transplanting.
2.  Plant it about the same level as it was before.
3.  Water daily for a week.

One post I read said not to drown roses - that they thrive in dry heat.  It also said they're very tough, and it's very hard to kill them.  (Whew!  They might still have a chance to make it.)

So what about pruning?  I'm beginning to think it's a good thing to cut plants back.  I've seen some good results with a few other things.  The things I've read say to open up the center of the plant, to make 45 degree cuts with sharp by-pass pruners, remove all dead wood (cut to where the center of the stem is white).  Apparently I should prune in the spring, when the leaf buds on the roses begin to swell.  Well, I'll give that a try...if they live.

Sages and Cages

I don’t know much about plants or gardening, but I’ve become more interested since I’ve started TRYING to grow a few vegetables, flowers, and trees on our lot in southern Colorado.  I’ve been fighting clay soil, drought, rabbits, deer, and ignorance, but I’m starting to find a few plants that seem to do OK for me.  I want to use this blog to document what works and what doesn't, take note of things I need to remember, and keep track of plants I want to try (or try again).

One thing I've discovered is that plants in the sage family WORK for me.  I have a beautiful Mojave sage, several bunches of Russian sage, and a couple tri-color sage plants that are new this year but are doing quite well.  Rabbits don't bother them, and they're pretty!  

Speaking of rabbits - that's an ongoing battle!  But we may have a solution to that problem finally.  Bob created some neat little round fences out of rabbit wire that I put directly over each plant.  It's a much neater look and works better than the chicken wire fence around the whole flower bed.

I'm thinking about getting a few more tri-color sage plants for the north bed.  It's just an ornamental, but apparently you CAN use it for cooking if desired.  Interestingly enough, it can be used as organic ant-control.  I guess they don't like the smell!  One article I read said to divide the plants every three years or so "to keep them vigorous."  So that would be in 2015 for the first two I put in.