Getting Ready For Fall

I ordered my bulbs for spring to be planted in the fall.  I found the King Alford  bulbs at Parks Seed.  I ordered twenty five.  The King Alford bulbs  had a disease and you could not buy them for awhile, however Parks have them now.  I also  ordered twenty seven Purple Hyacinths to go in the little bed  behind the bench.  I will have nothing in this bed but purple also the two feet bed around the walk. I made a mistake when I bought Purple Smoke Baptisia austalis,  however we live and learn.  I am thinking about the Angelonie  The three I bought to fill in a place where something went to flower heaven.  The Angelonie bloomed all summer, it is not tall but the blooms are very pretty.  Most perennials bloom for a time and then quite. I have the Stokes Aster in the back of this bed, they bloomed a long time then bloomed again.  The Purple Smoke grew too high and laid down and did not bloom.  I know sometimes perennials may not bloom the first year I did not mind that, but I do not like the growth pattern.  It is suppose to bloom in the fall if they are cut back, I must have cut them back fore of five times.   Another mistake I made was thinking the Lamb's Ear  would shade my Clematis it did not.   Lamb's Ear does not need as much water as the rest of the flowers so it is now gone.  I decided to put newspaper and pine straw over the roots of the Clematis, it is looking great now and blooming again.  The Clematis was almost dead and was not over one foot high now it is about three feet and very green.  So if you want a Clematis but do not have a plant to shade it cover the top of the roots with  folded newspaper and pine straw.  This Clematis is a double one, each day another layer opens on this one.

I bought twenty seven " Red" Hyacinths  however these are not really red they are a very hot pink.  I will buy some more lilies, next month.  Another blunder, Park's Seed had pictures of  some fine looking red plants with humming birds eating from the flowers, so naturally I bought enough to fill my bed in front of my house under my feeders.  I do not understand how they took such a great picture, mine look nothing like theirs.  Mine are red like theirs but how a humming bird could even find them, as small as they are, is beyond me.  Another do not buy again!  So to make a long story short,  I bought very few flowers that I will keep for next spring.  The sad thing is I spent about one hundred dollars to pull up and throw away.   Last night when Carrel came to bed he told me my motto must be the one on the calender for the month of August,  "Housework never killed anyone, but why take a Chance?"   Well maybe not but Wives do.  Smart me I told him to sleep in the other room.  Then I remembered there was too much material, that I had bought some time back, on the bed and my suit case full of clothes from a trip we took last fall.  Anyway I told him I like September's motto best "This is an Equal Opportunity Kitchen."  He said he agreed and he would let me wash dishes some, well on the other hand maybe not.  I hope you have enjoyed this page on my blog.  We thank you for watching our garden grow and bloom and hope you will grow one of your own,  Happy gardening to you from  Carrel and I, Juanita.