Sunday, June 28, 2009

Peony update

Once again, a complete row of peonies was successfully removed by one driven turtle over a period of a couple days. You can now start to see how the ground gets compacted where that one turtle (who is not Cathy Jean) stomps back and forth during the day until those peonies are gone and out of his way for another year. When it rains, water flows down the two little gullies created by the opposing pairs of turtle feet. It's frustrating...but it's also kind of funny, I guess you can look at things from two points of view at the same time. Errrgh. Turtles. Actually, just one turtle (who would never be Cathy Jean).

The backyard is really looking awful because I haven't spent much time in it this year and besides, it's been so darn hot. It's almost July and I am still potting up bulbs which should have been potted up in....oh.......April at the latest. Oh well. Things will grow if they want to grow.

I never have much luck with petunias but I'm trying to grow them again this year.  I do have a lot of luck with golden lysimachia however. I remember seeing this plant for the first time on a water garden tour covering an entire backyard slope to a pond. It was memorably lovely. Lime green is one of my favorite colors and I think any color that gets itself next to it is the better for it.

The pansies are still blooming but they're soooooo tiny.

Another plant that is predictably pretty without much attention is Crossandra. It's sold as an annual but you can bring it indoors for the winter and it is a perfectly good non-complaining houseplant. This one is called "Orange Marmalade (the plant on the left is a caladium)."

This is a close-up of another variety of crossandra I bought last year. The flowers on this one have have more yellow in them.

Orange flowers are very pretty to me. The tawny daylilies are now winding down and even though they're the most ubiquitous daylily there is, I still really like them. 

This calla lily almost looks like it's got a lit cigarette in there. I guess that's appropriate because callas certainly have a garden porn aspect to them. :-)

Every year I try to get as much orange into the garden as I can, as well as lime green and purple. These three colors are the core colors for my garden every year.  I hope to really get started on that poor garden soon.... and also to keep four determined turtle feet off everything that gets planted. I'm thinking there are a lot of broken garden dreams ahead for me but for one turtle (who will never be Cathy Jean), this looks like this is setting up to be one fun summer.

10 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

Beautiful! ...At least what not-Cathy-Jean has left alone;)

Linda said...

Poor Michael Ray. You seem to be sending silent barbs his way. What's a guy to do? Like most men, he pays no attention to what surrounds him, just blundering along. That's okay Michael Ray, you're a good turtle and I enjoy seeing your pictures.

Maureen said...

Does he like stomping in that spot, ie, it's his territory, or would he do it to peonies if they were someplace else in the garden?

Maria said...

Mental-Oh that Michael. Luckily, Cathy is not so driven. She just goes to a spot that looks like it will be a good one and stays there the entire day. Michael likes to drive all over and explore everything before he settles down in his ONE favorite spot. I'm not fighting it this year.

Linda-Well, with a turtle there's nothing you can do. They don't have ears and even if they did, they can claim they're cold-blooded if you're looking for some sensitivity from them. He does have a good time clearing turtle-wide roadways in the backyard. And his busywork can be pretty funny sometimes....not often.....but sometimes. :-)

Maureen-I don't think it's so much territory as it being a prime roadway. Once a turtle learns to do something, he'll do it again and again. When the twins were little, when they used that route next to the fence, they were small enough that they fit between the peonies and the fence. Now that they're bigger, they feel compelled to make that area as wide as they are, if not more. I could move the peonies to another part of the yard but the same thing might happen again. They have their routes and if something is in their way, they tend to not walk around it. I remember having a potted plant in the middle of the yard for some reason and one time I looked over and Michael had managed to get stuck on top of it in his attempt to climb over (not around!) it.

Maureen said...

Just like a man.

Deedee said...

Wow. Those little plastron bellies can really lay waste to a garden. Amazing! I love what Linda said about Michael Ray and his peers "just blundering along"...LOL.!

b&g girl said...

those turtles...funny i don't have luck with petunias either when i see those containers exploding with them i think how in the world? love the tawny lilies...need them for my garden.

Unknown said...

its quite interesting to know that turtles also like to stay in the garden
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Bumpkin on a Swing said...

Beautiful pictures..........Hello fellow gardener and turtle lover!
Glad I found you...........
Hello, from the Gulf of Mexico!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Country Girl said...

Your flowers are beautiful, Maria! And beautifully photographed. I love lime green too. You are so right with that purple next to them. Darn turtle, though!