The News from South Philly

Yesterday and today have been days of hippeastrum maintenance. After a winter and early spring of low light, my species hippeastrum were flopping all over the place, their foliage lanky and weak. H. 'mandoni' has especially flopsy leaves -- a yard long and ribbon-like. My 'mandoni' were also purchased as juveniles and put into 16 oz solo cups, which they'd outgrown a few months ago. So -- a fine big new pot for both 'mandoni' and some serious staking. I also staked up the class of 2011 ('papilio' x emerald'). Downstairs, where the Class of 2011 is in repose by the living room window, I cut stakes but haven't made the cat's cradle of twine to hold them together. Later today. Today I also staked up my two 'papilio.'

All this is in preparation for moving everybody outdoors, probably next week.

The class of 2006 has short, stubby, sturdy foliage. It will eventually need staking but not yet. The class of 2009 has stakes in place but needs new twine.

Speaking of the class of 2009, here's the delightful out-of-season bloomer, snapped this morning:



Class of 2009, Hippeastrum 'supermarket' (Trader Joe x PathMark or
ProbablyFairyTale x ProbablyAppleBlossom, depending on how you'd like to think of them)

Today's weather is threatening, followed by rain, a good time to set out some transplants, so I set out several rooted coleus cuttings. I paused to admire my fat peony buds. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they don't rot from damp weather again this year, the way they did last year. That was very disappointing.

The wisteria seedling crumpled and turned pale brown yesterday. I threw it away. The Franklinia looks exactly as it has for three days.

Roy and I started this lovely day by replacing the whiskey barrel planter out front. We had had the current one for a decade...the bottom had rotted out, as had a couple of the staves, and the metal bands were falling to the ground.

So I pulled up all the iris (ick! aphids in the interstices! there will be no mailing of plants to anyone), and then we removed the soil, installed a new barrel (this time with plastic liner), replaced some of the soil and mixed in new soil, watered and let it sit. I planted one big pansy in the center as a signal that this is a work in progress.

I need to get some chemical warfare stuff to go after any aphids that are living in the soil. I pulled off dead leaves and triple-washed the iris, and will put some back in.

We had the front door propped open as we worked, and the Scamp alternately prowled around the steps and skittered back into the depths of the house. He does not love the internal combustion engine.

The peonies are about done, so last night I snipped one off and floated it in a glass bowl, set it on the piano, and played a couple of Chopin preludes. For years, that had been my definition of being a lady of leisure: "I will play Chopin and arrange peonies in a glass bowl." When the outside petals open up completely the bloom is a good 9" across.

The first oenothera opened today. I think I see obvious buds on the rose campion.

The front pansies were definitely past their prime, so I cut them back. I don't know whether they will come back, but they're masked by volunteer feverfew right now, so it doesn't matter.

Yesterday I set out the parsley seedlings in a big planter and today I planted a variegated basil in the center of them. I also made up a hanging planter with the prostrate rosemary I bought at the Flower Show as well as seedlings of parsley, thyme, and marjoram. I tucked some thyme seedlings here and there in the flowerbeds. I also re-potted my new oak seedlings so it has a little more room for the taproot to go down, and surrounded it with parsley and thyme.

Now I am drinking coffee but not succeeding in staying awake. There may be a nap in my future.

Two peony blossoms are history, another is past its sell-by date, and the third is in full bloom. They didn't last particularly long this year.

( and more notes to myself -- read them if you like )

Two peonies are blooming (one is approaching its sell-by date) and a third is looking ready to pop. Memorial Day weekend starts in a couple of hours, so I guess I'm going to have peonies on Memorial Day, whee!

There were a few crisped up and dead leaves on the small maple. I have no idea why. They were all in one spot so perhaps there was some reason -- bird with particularly corrosive droppings, perhaps? I may repot it this weekend just in case the pot-to-root ratio is off again.

It has occurred to me today that now that I have some, you know, actual soil that's not being peed on in the backyard, I could plant some daylilies amid the hostas. Also rose campion and oenothera and feverfew. I think I have about 10 rose campion volunteers. They won't bloom till next year, being biennials, but their fuzzy silvery foliage is decorative. And I have tons of feverfew. Oh, and I still have blue flag iris in my front bucket. I didn't send it all to pameladean and clindau.

Now that it's blooming abundantly, the wisteria is a little disappointing. The flowers at one end of the cluster are fading before the ones at the other end have come into being. Not festive like kightp's at all. But it's the wisteria I've got. I must take its picture this weekend.

I look at the hippeastrum seeds a couple times a day, even though they aren't likely to start sprouting until Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest.

The first of four Festiva Maxima buds has opened today. I think that's earlier than previous years. The plant also has one fewer buds this year than last year.

It definitely needs a bigger pot.

Two warm days and the red maple's leaves are unfurling.

I can see and count three buds on the peony so far -- I think the biggest shoot has shot up six inches in the past two days. There are eight shoots this year, one more than last year.

The hostas are unfurling. The perennial sunflowers are poking up. I think I see a second columbine.

I set my tomato seedlings outside.

Settling back into a routine, sort of.

There's some definite swelling on the pollinated hippeastrum. (For comparison, see entry from a week ago.) Looks like I can expect some seeds. Wonder if they'll germinate as exuberantly as the last batch.

There's another Nopalxochia flower at the peak of its bloom, and the last one is starting to color up.

Three peony shoots have poked through so far. I hope to see at least two more.

I did three loads of wash.

Roy came home from walking the dog all excited because there was a bluegrass jam taking place on our block and he got us invited. I went to observe, then sent him home for my guitar and played till my thumb blistered (forgot to ask for a pick).

It was sunny and warm, and then we had a thunderstorm with hail the size of peas.


ETA: Forgot to mention that the microwave had an epic fail (including bolt-like flashes of light, loud noises, and bad smells) yesterday. We've had it since 2000. So we lugged it out back and reinstalled the Amana Touchmatic Radarange that Roy got in 1978. We retired it because we wanted a smaller model in our kitchen but we kept it, and a good thing it is, too. It looks as though we have the dashboard of a 1978 Buick Skylark on the kitchen counter, but it works.