Miscellaneous projects...in no particular order, since that's the way my season has been going this year. Funny how I can make all the plans I want during the winter, but it all seems to "shake out" much differently. Oh well, since my primary mission is to keep my gardening hobby a "no stress zone", I'll just do what I can and the rest will slide til' whenever. (What do the Aussie's say..."She'll be jake, mate"? Yea, it'll be jake for sure! ;-) So first, we have my sort-of bonsai lilac, and it needs a trim! (See the suckers at the base?) 
Yea, kinda bushy (and spindly), but I'll prune down the branches more next year....
.....there! I cut all the leaves down to be smaller as well, which will "trick" the tree into making smaller leaves for the rest of the season. It would have been good to do this earlier, but oh well.
Gotta loosen the wires as well, before they cut into the trunk. This bush was already leaning like this, so I decided to go for a windswept style. I know that lilac isn't necessarily the best cultivar for bonsai, but it sort of "chose itself" by looking funny to begin with, so what the hey. 
See these roses in the parking island at work? They're some sort of rugosa, and I want one!
The flowers are beautiful and very fragrant, the bushes sucker all over the place...
...and it sets lots of large hips! (Sometimes large hips are the best! ;-) So aside from getting caught digging one up, how am I going to get myself a rosebush?
Like this! Awhile back, I was reading one of those ads for a "garden secrets" type book, and it had this blip about "a rose is a rose-even when it's a potato". Supposedly you can root rose cuttings in a potato, then plant the whole thing. This is a big potato, so I got a few cuttings...
....plus a couple to try in water, just in case. (I prefer a "multi-disciplinary" approach to these things.) One of these cuttings looks like it has it's own potato, some sort of "nodes" off the underground runner from the mother plant I guess.
Since the potato was big, I cut apart the chunks with cuttings in them. Two go into pots...
...and two into the ground where I want them to grow....
....marked with these cages so I don't forget where they are. This will be cool if it works! Update: I tried this about three weeks ago, and as of today the only ones that look alive are the ones in water. *sigh* Maybe I shouldn't have cut the potato? Oh well.)
Okay, now the water garden isn't looking nearly as cool as it did last year, mostly because I am stubborn. I figured that since ponds become clearer after winter with the same water in them, then I should be able to pull it off leaving the water in my tubs. Uh, maybe not...
...okay fine, let's remove last year's plants since they froze out and died anyway...
...the water started to improve, more in one tub than the other. So how about some new plants...
....like this houseplant. I saw pieces cut and floating like this in the aquariums at the pet store, so I cut a couple off mine to improvise...
...while we're at it, how about some fish! (See the orange blurs?) "Feeder goldfish" were cheap enough to sacrifice in case they don't make it (or a kingfisher spots them).
So a couple underwater plants, a couple "floaters" (heh, plants, not fish), 3 goldfish in each, and two snails. Get to work and clean this mess up guys!
Cactus pad that was "pruned" from an undisclosed public location (from a huge plant, outdoors, nobody cares or will miss it, yes I kinda feel bad but they say stolen plants grow best so don't judge me!) Ahem...anyway....I forgot to let the cut "callous over" (dry for a few days), but I did dip it in this rooting powder...
....now outside in this sandy pot, grow please! Or my "crime" will be for nothing!
This area needs help! The small cedar is dying, there are weeds all over...
....can you even see this moonseed vine I'm trying to grow? Yikes!
Um yea, I'd say the bark is a good indicator that the cedar is toast...
....so off with your head! Pull some weeds, then put a proper trellis around the stump so my vine has somewhere to go...
...and hopefully get larger! Poor thing.
Yea, kinda bushy (and spindly), but I'll prune down the branches more next year....
.....there! I cut all the leaves down to be smaller as well, which will "trick" the tree into making smaller leaves for the rest of the season. It would have been good to do this earlier, but oh well.
Gotta loosen the wires as well, before they cut into the trunk. This bush was already leaning like this, so I decided to go for a windswept style. I know that lilac isn't necessarily the best cultivar for bonsai, but it sort of "chose itself" by looking funny to begin with, so what the hey. See these roses in the parking island at work? They're some sort of rugosa, and I want one!
The flowers are beautiful and very fragrant, the bushes sucker all over the place...
...and it sets lots of large hips! (Sometimes large hips are the best! ;-) So aside from getting caught digging one up, how am I going to get myself a rosebush?
Like this! Awhile back, I was reading one of those ads for a "garden secrets" type book, and it had this blip about "a rose is a rose-even when it's a potato". Supposedly you can root rose cuttings in a potato, then plant the whole thing. This is a big potato, so I got a few cuttings.......plus a couple to try in water, just in case. (I prefer a "multi-disciplinary" approach to these things.) One of these cuttings looks like it has it's own potato, some sort of "nodes" off the underground runner from the mother plant I guess. Since the potato was big, I cut apart the chunks with cuttings in them. Two go into pots......and two into the ground where I want them to grow........marked with these cages so I don't forget where they are. This will be cool if it works! Update: I tried this about three weeks ago, and as of today the only ones that look alive are the ones in water. *sigh* Maybe I shouldn't have cut the potato? Oh well.)Okay, now the water garden isn't looking nearly as cool as it did last year, mostly because I am stubborn. I figured that since ponds become clearer after winter with the same water in them, then I should be able to pull it off leaving the water in my tubs. Uh, maybe not...
...okay fine, let's remove last year's plants since they froze out and died anyway... ...the water started to improve, more in one tub than the other. So how about some new plants...
....like this houseplant. I saw pieces cut and floating like this in the aquariums at the pet store, so I cut a couple off mine to improvise...
...while we're at it, how about some fish! (See the orange blurs?) "Feeder goldfish" were cheap enough to sacrifice in case they don't make it (or a kingfisher spots them).
So a couple underwater plants, a couple "floaters" (heh, plants, not fish), 3 goldfish in each, and two snails. Get to work and clean this mess up guys! Cactus pad that was "pruned" from an undisclosed public location (from a huge plant, outdoors, nobody cares or will miss it, yes I kinda feel bad but they say stolen plants grow best so don't judge me!) Ahem...anyway....I forgot to let the cut "callous over" (dry for a few days), but I did dip it in this rooting powder.......now outside in this sandy pot, grow please! Or my "crime" will be for nothing!This area needs help! The small cedar is dying, there are weeds all over...
....can you even see this moonseed vine I'm trying to grow? Yikes!
Um yea, I'd say the bark is a good indicator that the cedar is toast...
....so off with your head! Pull some weeds, then put a proper trellis around the stump so my vine has somewhere to go...
...and hopefully get larger! Poor thing.
This area needs work, too...
...look at my poor azalia! Scrawny with very few leaves...
....and this fungus growing on the branches. It's kinda pretty, and I don't know if it causes harm, but the bush needs something!
Just this one pitiful bud! (It never did bloom.) After some weeding, I sprayed the trunk with "Phish Pharm" that helps with powdery mildew, mites, etc., so what the heck. A few weeks later...
...oh yea, that's what I'm looking for! Now all I need is some horse manure to "mulch" with, and he'll be all set! 
This area is very shady, and leaves blow under the fence here. First to re-arrange these boards...
....well looky here! A salamander between the rotting boards! Pardon me...
...but you're awfully cute! Okay, let's gently put the board back over him like it was before he gets upset...
...there! Now the leaves will stay raked up like I want them to instead of blowing back...
...and I can plant my cute little shade-loving 'Blue Satin' sedge, (carex platyphylla) in this spot! I put the climbing fern (lygodium palmatum) nearby too, but it died back pretty quickly. The nursery said it was hard to grow, but I'll try again next year. (It sounds too cool to give up that easily, I need to kill it at least 3 times before I'll say "uncle"! ;-)
And finally this spot, caged up to protect this tiny clematis 'Multi Blue'. This area behind the downspout is a freeway for chipmunks, and the vine doesn't enjoy the traffic!
There! Both sides secured so growth can giddyap! (Update: since I did this about 6 weeks ago, the vine isn't that much bigger, but it looks happier.)
So these are some of the things I've been up to so far...there's more, of course. But in the interest of my quest for more, I'm making a point of doing first and talking about it later. I just can't seem to keep up! :)
...look at my poor azalia! Scrawny with very few leaves...
....and this fungus growing on the branches. It's kinda pretty, and I don't know if it causes harm, but the bush needs something!
Just this one pitiful bud! (It never did bloom.) After some weeding, I sprayed the trunk with "Phish Pharm" that helps with powdery mildew, mites, etc., so what the heck. A few weeks later...
...oh yea, that's what I'm looking for! Now all I need is some horse manure to "mulch" with, and he'll be all set! This area is very shady, and leaves blow under the fence here. First to re-arrange these boards...
....well looky here! A salamander between the rotting boards! Pardon me...
...but you're awfully cute! Okay, let's gently put the board back over him like it was before he gets upset...
...there! Now the leaves will stay raked up like I want them to instead of blowing back...
...and I can plant my cute little shade-loving 'Blue Satin' sedge, (carex platyphylla) in this spot! I put the climbing fern (lygodium palmatum) nearby too, but it died back pretty quickly. The nursery said it was hard to grow, but I'll try again next year. (It sounds too cool to give up that easily, I need to kill it at least 3 times before I'll say "uncle"! ;-)
And finally this spot, caged up to protect this tiny clematis 'Multi Blue'. This area behind the downspout is a freeway for chipmunks, and the vine doesn't enjoy the traffic!
There! Both sides secured so growth can giddyap! (Update: since I did this about 6 weeks ago, the vine isn't that much bigger, but it looks happier.)So these are some of the things I've been up to so far...there's more, of course. But in the interest of my quest for more, I'm making a point of doing first and talking about it later. I just can't seem to keep up! :)
....opening to the pretty pink slipper...
Now this tiny plant to the left is also a ladyslipper, the all-white showy ladyslipper. It was purchased just 
The damage is definately noticeable...
...making the river current wicked fast!
