Am I the only one who starts to lose interest in the garden by the end of the summer? It's too bad because the plants desperately need work. Many need to be relocated, others need to be cut down (hello, powdery mildew! What did you do to my asters?), and oh my goodness the weeds. There are still several plants that look great, including Rudbeckia triloba, brown-eyed Susan; Rudbeckia subtomentosa, sweet black-eyed Susan; volunteer Ageratina altissima, white snakeroot; and Helianthus mollis, downy sunflowers (plus a cool bee that has been terrorizing my bumblebees by smacking into them; it finally settled down in today's cool temps so I could get a picture).
brown-eyed Susan; downy sunflower avec bee
But now is when I need to turn my attention to the indoor plants and get them ready for winter. And what do I discover on my precious, lovely Stromanthe sanguinea 'Tricolor'? Mealybugs. ARGH. I relocated the plant and have treated with rubbing alcohol. Fingers crossed... I'd really hate to lose this one. The evil hell-spawn of a Walmart philodendron that is the likely source got a one-way ticket to the dumpster, do not pass Go, do not infest anyone else on your way out the door. Yet another reason not to shop at Walmart, as if I needed any more.
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3 comments:
My attention begins to turn to the houseplants around this time too. I think it's a natural defense mechanism to not be too sad about the outdoor garden! That's a bummer about the mealybugs. Argh...Walmart!
I'm normally still interested this time of year because I plant my tender & tropical bulbs late in the spring so I can have something to look at late summer.
But with Spring Fling and everything else I think I planted them too late and it has been too cold & wet for them and they're not doing anything. So I'm just about ready to give up on gardening this year.
I was hoping that fall season veggies would rescue my interest but I haven't done any of that.
There's always next year, right?
LOL, my interest remains high but my action wanes in about mid July! I push through mid August and then allow myself a break until mid September or so when I get a second wind and do a LOT of rearranging in the garden.
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