Hot summer slows garden work

I haven't written anything new here for a while because there wasn't much to tell over the summer.  My garden efforts were primarily keeping plants fertilized and gardens weeded.  I had to do the work very early in the morning before the heat overwhelmed me -- usually only about an hour's worth.  Because of those conditions, I wasn't very inspired to think of future projects.

But, YEA!, fall is here and the mornings are cooler.  I spent an hour and a half today weeding and fertilizing, plus pruning the juniper and podocarpus on the north side of the house. 

One of the sad results of the very hot summer was the decline of the transplanted magnolia in the back yard.  You may remember that I had moved it from the shaded corner to a sunnier spot on the south side.  Its reluctance to revive and show new growth convinced me to pull it out last month.  So now I am on the search for something else to fill the spot. 

I am also waiting to find a new Mr. Lincoln rose bush to replace one in the front yard.  The tree trimmer (man) took down a large branch that unfortunately hit the old bush straight on and broke the trunk at or below the ground level.  There was no salvaging that plant.  The bush next to it onlly suffered one broken branch which I considered part of my fall pruning.

With the advent of October, I pruned all my rose bushes for their semi-annual trim.  There is new growth on all of them now so I anticipate another flowering winter season. 

The cooler fall weather has apparently made all the plants happy as they are filling out and blooming more now.  Even my magnolia has one ready to burst open and another soon behind it (see below).

The biggest success has been the large ixora under the maple tree.  It has succumbed to the freezes the last 2 winters but recovered and filled with flowers (also below). If we don't have another freeze, it will continue to bloom all winter.

That's all for this update.  I should have more as the fall progresses and I plan more projects.