Zapped

I think these morning glories got zapped during our low temps last night. They were pretty while they lasted but I never got a ton of blooms at once. Late bloomers.

I can only hope these nasty Japanese beetles got zapped too. Japanese beetles in Colorado? A first for me. Good thing I retired in time to drown them in soapy water twice a day. Actually they're quite pretty, but not when they're devouring Graham Thomas.

 

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Untwining the vine

 

Have you ever untwined a Morning Glory vine? I just did. It had wound its way up to the top of that black iron railing and was then waving in the air going 'where to now?' Meanwhile I went to an outdoor flea market and found this tuteur thingy. It's so tall I couldn't get it all in the photo. It has a fleur-de-lis at the top but you'll have to take my word on that. I thought it would be perfect for the morning glory but of course never considered how I would actually get it in there. There was only one answer: untwine the vine. That was no fun. But I did get it in the tuteur. Where it immediately started pouting. There's a lot of that going on in my garden. 

The good thing is I got one blue bloom before the untwining began. I'll hope for more.

Things I ignore....

There are parts of my garden I never pay any attention to. I might give them a glance now and then and think, "I ought to do something about that" but I never actually do. This first tangled mess is off to the side of my front porch. The ground slopes away here and nothing I like ever grows successfully in this spot. So the volunteer morning glories have taken over, backed by the obnoxious 4 o'clocks. The morning glories are not Heavenly Blue so I despise them. I'm not sure what those tall spikes are in back but I do remember planting a Mock Orange here once. Surely that's not it, my nose would know.

Then there's a bed of Snow in Summer, or is it Snow on the Mountain? I'm never sure till I look it up, but I don't really care either. It's also called Bishop's Weed. Which fits in perfectly with the theme, since that's Yellow Archangel in the back. One of those plants you wish you'd never laid eyes on one time and thought it might be a good idea. It's not. At least both these culprits are confined in this bed and any seedlings that escape promptly get mowed. In keeping with the religious theme this is also the final resting place for a succession of gerbils, pet rabbits, and cats over the years. I guess this is actually the burial bed - no wonder I ignore it.

Okay, this is a little embarrassing and I swear I'm going to cut this volunteer hollyhock down soon. It's starting to swat at my car as I drive into the garage.

I could pretend this corner looks pretty good at times, but that wouldn't be true. There seem to be volunteer bushes growing here, though the huge pussywillow in the back was planned. I have to admit I never thought that stick of a plant would get so big. I used to plant tomatoes in a couple of wooden barrels that you can barely see but I kept forgetting to water them so I quit.

Here's my biggest disappointment of the year and much as I'd like to ignore them they're front and center and I see them every day. My gauras - Whirling Butterfly. Remember how pretty they were a couple of years ago? Age hasn't improved them and nary a bloom in sight this summer or last. They'll be history in the fall.

In the back yard I have this 12 foot square that used to be a sandbox for Dear Son. He's 30 years old now. Nature has taken over. She apparently thought that Russian Olives would look nice here and also a huge weed that gets about 6 feet tall and has sticky burrs and woe to anyone who brushes up against them. I felt really bad for this phone company guy who had to get his ladder in there the other day. Well, I didn't know he was coming, did I? Hope he didn't trip over a rotted wooden post with a martin house on top that I know fell over in there a couple of years ago.

One day last spring The Dubious Gardener sent over a tree man to trim some limbs and while he was at it "tear that ivy off the house". I might have been more upset about that except I accidentally tore part of it down last year and then the rest of it started falling down. I hardly ever walk around to this side of the house and when I did the other day I was surprised to see Virginia Creeper taking over. It's not ivy and I'll soon be yanking it off the overhead phone lines but I might ignore that too. Wonder if the phone company man can?

Swinging

That was a big, heavy box the swing came in. Two guys from Lowe's put it in my car but I couldn't get it out. It was jammed in tight against the back of the hatch and I couldn't lift it over the bumper to drag it out. Without the services of an undergardener, I have to be inventive. So I opened the box in the car and hauled it out piece by piece.

Once I threw out all the foreign-language instructions, all I had to do was figure out which part went where. Since I only needed the swing parts and not the free-standing frame or canopy, the assembly went smoothly. Then I got out my trusty drill, the only power tool I own that I'm not afraid of.

Since there were two existing hooks in the ceiling, I figured I had it made. Just add one more hook to compensate for the longer length of this swing and I'm home free. Add one rickety ladder to reach the ceiling and drill a hole for the hook. Luckily for me my sister happened to stop by and held the ladder.

Oops, design flaw. I neglected to visualize that the porch post would be in the way. Darn! My sister says good luck and beats a hasty exit.
By now I'm hot and sweaty so I take a break and walk around the yard before I continue my efforts. Down on the lower patio, I check out the Sweet Autumn clematis to see if it's tumbling nicely over the retaining wall. It is.

Buddha is calmly overseeing things as usual. Am I going to try to winter over that bamboo? Probably.
What's this? An interloper! Well, he can carry on with whatever he's doing, I have to finish re-positioning that hook.

My neighbor checks in to see what I'm doing and insists that she can do a better job of fixing the hook than I can. I let her. Finally! It swings and it doesn't hit the post. My neighbor goes home triumphant.

The swing will also lie flat like a bed. And this is fairly simple to do except for the finger-pinching part.

This is where I was going to take a picture of myself relaxing in the swing. But that would have meant bringing out the tripod and figuring out how to set the camera to self-timer. That wasn't going to happen so this is the best I could do.

A swing with a view. Treetops and lanterns and lots of birds flying overhead. This is while I'm swaying lazily back and forth.

What a heavenly feeling! Almost like the Heavenly Blues that I can gaze upon while I swing the rest of the summer away.

Heavenly Blue

Summer is complete - the Heavenly Blue morning glory is starting to bloom. This is the first one. It's so high up on the trellis that I had to stand on my tiptoes to get this picture. I think this is the quintessential morning glory. I know there's purple, pink, white, red, bi-colored, and even chocolate, but to me this China blue color is the essence of morning glories, much as fire-engine red is to geraniums. I'm a happy gardener.
At work today, the Neophyte Gardener mentioned that Lowe's has all their garden furniture at 75% off (she's no neophyte at finding bargains). That makes this $99.00, 3-person cushioned swing/lounge just $25.00. But I don't want it for three people, no sirree. This baby converts to a flat bed. I can just imagine lying on this comfy cushion idly swinging back and forth while I contemplate weeding or perhaps mowing.
I don't want the cover, or the frame. I just need the swing part to hang from the hooks already installed at the end of my patio. That means I need some chain, and maybe another hook since I think this swing is wider than the old wooden one. Which fell apart after I neglected to put it away for the winter (20 years in a row). And just how do I install a new hook into that beam in the roof? And I'm going to have to find a new spot for the gas barbecue. This is beginning to sound like a lot of work. But wait! It's Labor Day weekend so this is the perfect activity. Happy Labor Day chores to all of you!