Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary

6/4/99 Besides the regular chore of lawncutting (I use an electric mower for the large lawn areas and a "hand-powered" reel lawn mower for the smaller areas), this week has been devoted to transplanting my "volunteers."

When I am working on our flower beds, I use a portable "kneeler," which is a great help in getting up and down. I also try to do as many things as possible while I am on my knees: trim bed edges, cultivate (carefully so as not to uproot new seedlings), edge lightly with a trowel, and, in this case, plant the "volunteers" that I have uprooted and put into a water-filled pan. I also water the new plants and any annuals that I have previously planted with water into which I have put about half a tablespoon of chemical fertilizer per gallon.

This week I planted coleus, which, except for white ageratum that grows like a weed in our garden, is our most prolific "volunteer." To a gardener, the flower of the coleus is not very attractive, but to Mother Nature it is a winner--look at its offspring scattered everywhere. I prize the coleus for its attractive burgundy color (in the particular species that I have), which is a perfect background for almost all flowers.Coleus are strong little fellows. Simply pull them up carefully from places that you don't want them, put them in your pan of water, and plant them as a background for your other flowers.

The picture below is an early spring view of our back garden. The long bed to the left along the fence I call the "Sun" bed, the large circular bed is the "Birdbath" bed, on either side of it are the "Triangular" beds; behind the rear one is the "Sundial" bed and the "Rectangular" bed. This reference to the layout of our garden may be helpful in reading my "Weekly Diary" entries.

• 5/28/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary
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  6/11/99 - Gertrude's Flower Garden Weekly Diary

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