The ping-pong table (oh, excuse me, "table tennis" table (g)) is out there, now, and we've played a few times already. What a relief to have it out of the house! Of course it's hotter (and more humid) out in the garage than in the house, but on the other hand, the table is no longer taking up precious space in our main room, blocking the view (and natural light), and being an eyesore. I think we'll actually be more likely to play now, despite the lack of A/C.
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The new daylily seeds arrived sooner than expected. These had instructions to wrap them in a damp paper towel, put them in a Ziploc bag, and keep them warm and moist until germination, which could take up to a month. ...Yeah, it took about a day. I got a bunch of pots ready, and Donald helped me plant all but ten of the seeds, which we held back because they looked like they could use a little more time. The pots are on trays on the covered patio, out of Luna's reach. I'm going to do my very best to see that these turn into real plants that will grace us with flowers in a year or two. That means watering (from the bottom) once or twice a day (for a while, at least) and possibly moving them around to avoid violent downpours. I hope that we'll have a higher success rate, this time around... I think we should, but let's not jinx it by being too optimistic. ;o)
Oh, and there were 83 seeds. (The listing was for "60+" seeds, so at least they were generous!) That means 73 seeds planted, so far... Plus the dozen teensy daylily plants that made it from the last batch (assuming that they're all really daylilies... and I'm not sure about two or three of them).
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The Spanish lavender's still hanging in there, despite its reputation of disliking the combination of heat and humidity. (Who does like that combo?)
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The ivy (on the trellis by the kitchen door) is slowly growing. Emphasis on "slowly". I've read that ivy likes a mulch of coffee grounds. I'm going to have to start drinking coffee. Donald doesn't like the taste, so he won't be any help in this area. I'm ambivalent about the flavor, myself, but since I'm too shy to beg Starbucks for coffee grounds, I'll just have to make some of my own. (g)
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The passionflower vine, on the other hand, is growing very nicely. I think it's bigger than the photo I posted last week, even!
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Our morning glory vines are slowly growing. This variety (Grandpa Ott) is blooming much, much earlier than the Heavenly Blue did, last year, but the vines haven't really taken off like those did. There's still plenty of time, of course. Next year, it might be nice to try both varieties at the same time. (I'd also like to try moonflowers, if I can remember to look for seeds next year. Now is a good time to start a spring-planting wishlist.)
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The new Knock Out Roses are all doing pretty well, I think-- including the small one Mom gave us. I need to fertilize them (and a lot of other things, too).
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Though most of the hummingbirds that were visiting earlier in the year seem to have moved elsewhere, I saw one this afternoon. It was visiting our newly-blooming white-flowered rose of sharon (small tree-form hibiscus). The other rose of sharon, which has lavender blooms, hasn't started flowering just yet.
We have a third rose of sharon that I thought had died. Just a bad location for it, I guess. Well, this spring I noticed short sprigs with the characteristic leaves coming up again, so I moved it to a new spot. Long story short, it got mowed down not once, but twice. Incredibly, it's still trying to survive, and I think everyone knows where it is, now, so it shouldn't be mowed down again. (g) If that plant makes it after all that, it will have truly earned its place in the garden, poor thing!
