As I said in the introduction, I'm not particularly good with annuals. The everyday demand of watering is, to my mind, a real pest. In spite of that I was doing very well with some hanging baskets, despite 2 spotted spider mites, and despite the constant watering, fertilizing, and deadheading. But just before I left for Gathering, I ran out of balanced fertilizer, and no-one seems to currently stock what I would've thought an ordinary thing. And when I got back, I was tired, with little energy. I barely watered the pots. They survived my absence, but not my lackadaisical return.
I kind of like this shot of with the side of one of my hanging baskets in the foreground. The pink monarda in the background was cut back just before Gathering, and is a 2nd flush of growth.
So the pots, excepting the over-fertilized pink petunias I'd bought later in the season for $3.49 at Home Depot, suffered. A couple of days ago, I tried sprinkling some dry fertilizer on them, and finally started grooming all the dead blooms and dried brown leaves (not to mention the yellowing spider-mited ones) off. It remains to be seen whether they'll completely recover; but even so, this is the most success I've ever had with annuals, and I was rewarded, if by no other experience, by a hummingbird that inspected me at close range early one morning, as I was getting ready to do my morning gardening chores. (In fact, I was inspired to buy the hanging baskets by my friend Margaret, who buys hers, of petunias, which she intersperses with hummingbird feeders, simply as draw for these small, fierce creatures.)
This purple morning glory is a heirloom variety, I understand.
The morning glories got off to a slow start, and I think I planted too many, and gave them too few trellises to climb. But I believe they're hardy, and known for coming back. Prolifically. We'll see...
Other 2007 garden posts:
I actually photographed these autumn chrysanthemums three days before fall officially started. 09jan2008
roundup of 2007 garden posts. Which, since I didn't even start writing 'em till mid-August, are likely to sparse this year. C'est la vie. Originally posted 18aug07. 18aug2007
End of summer summary. Originally posted 15aug07 15aug2007
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
