some stuff

I was going to call this post "all the squirmy wormies" but then started writing about more than just the worms, so. 

I realized that along with a bit of houseplant and fish tank neglect, I had been ignoring my worms lately, too. Had not fed them in a long while. Which actually made emptying the bin easier- they had been comsuming their bedding so really there was only a layer of carboard chips on the top to remove, the rest was mostly finished vermicompost. I didn't sort out the worms and unfinished bits by shaking through a handmade sifter like usual- the bottom two-thirds of the bin was too damp, and very compacted. 

Instead I loosened it up by hand and then picked out the bits of still-recognizable cardboard, and the individual worms that hadn't been in the first handfuls out of the feeding corner, or off the top layer. It was just a few hours, over two days, spent sitting by the bin carefully going through it. I didn't see any worm eggs. but there were plenty of tiny baby worms, so they've been breeding not so long ago. Worms in my hand.

Some are yellowish, but not too many. None of the worms felt tacky, they all had good moisture and most are healthy pink. I did notice lately it had been drier, so at that point I had sprinkled in some water, and started feeding them again hoping they'd all move to that corner. It never works completely, there's always more worms to pick out of the rest of the bin. I'm sure if I just kept the ones scooped out of the top layer and food area, that's plenty to keep the population going. But I still feel like "rescuing" as many as I can, knowing those that get thrown out with the vermicompost to fertilize the lawn and garden, will just die overwinter.

These tiny millipedes were in the bin. More than I've ever seen before, and I found a pile of dried-up ones off to one side behind the bin- has a spider been eating them there? They curl up in little silvery spirals. Picking worms individually out of the bin allowed me to leave behind most of the millipedes to get tossed out into the yard. I hope.

Then I started trying to get some plants in better shape. Groomed a bunch of houseplants, and those on the deck. Trimmed back some of the geraniums that had got leggy, and replanted the cut stems.

Sprayed with soapy water/oil the ones that seem to still have bug problems: chocolate mint, ginger mint, stevia, the cuban oregano- 

whose leaves are all so small right now I feel it must be suffering

I went to pick out this dead leaf that had drifted into my basil plant- and noticed somebody was on it

a little mantis!

This plant that's still new to me, the self-heal, is starting to bloom-

Another pic of my fish today- I think I should add to his name: Tucker Firetail

across the front

My front bed has needed a lot of cleaning up. So many weeds and young volunteer trees to pull, mulch to spread, things to trim back. My clumps of clary sage have lots of bug holes-

 But I was pleased to find, next to this baby cranesbill, a new clary sage as well! At least one of them self-seeded (even though I cut the flower stalks back to try and get a second bloom).

A few catmint have popped up here, too, next to the brunnera. Those traveled far!

Even though I only pinched back the mums once, they grew quite thick so I hope flower without flopping over too much this year.

In the other front corner by the driveway, I've weeded and mulched around the daylilies- and you can see that little pink lily is still here!

Some of the lyreleaf sage I planted under the lilac are finally looking okay.

And this one is grown really thick and lush. I think it might be one of those ajuga actually getting a foothold now- it looks very much like the lyreleaf, I won't really be sure until it blooms in spring. Feel silly not recognizing my own plant, but hey.

I'm dismayed my lilac is still apparently dying. The right half is still bare, in fact the barren branches seem to be spreading. And there's very little bug sign on the foliage this year. I'm stumped. Is it the encroachment of the black-and-blue salvia I put in the corner behind it? Did I really overdo it with leaf mulch those early winters, and it got rot down in the root crown? I just don't know.

Tucker

I wasn't mistaken. Tucker looks great. He practically danced across the front of the tank in eagerness for breakfast this morning. I got the impression he really enjoyed being able to leisurely pick bites from the surface, not having the minnows darting and dashed all around in front of him nabbing food. I really do think they had stressed him out.

What's really lovely to see, is when Tucker spreads all his fins their widest, and takes on a triangular profile that reminds me of the angelfishes . . but of course I can't catch that on camera yet. Once he sees me approach, he's moving all over the place, ha.

Even my kid noticed the difference. Went over and looked in the tank when I remarked, "say hi to Tucker" and exclaimed "Oh wow, he's so vibrant!" He really is.

It feels a bit sad though, that now I only have one fish, and two little shrimps in a separate jar. Already I keep mulling over if I could try some other species with Tucker- peppered cories, platies, swordtails, mollies, black skirt tetras . . . but I think they would all become an issue in one way or another, and he really does look so much happier alone.

smaller sideyard

I've been working over here, too. Clearing weeds again, spreading leaf mulch- mainly because I have leaves to rake up, and the compost bin is full- need to turn and empty that soon- not because the plants actually need protection against the cold yet. I mulched around and behind the joe pye weeds, the black-and-blue salvia, the gladiolas. Had to tie a rope horizontal between the wood against the bank to a metal pole I drove into the ground further downslope, to prop up the glads. Made it easier to reach in there and mulch. 

And found that my soft gentle lambs ears are looking grand! I really feel that the effort I took a while back to pull out all the blackened old foliage from underneath the plants, paid off. It looked to me like had aphid leavings. And now the plants seem healthier. Or maybe the weather just agrees with them more!

The black-and-blue salvia I cut back is flowering again- 

though who knows how long it will last until cold hits. I trimmed back the one on the upper side of the bank, too.

Funny thing, this row of sedums did so poorly in this narrow strip between my driveway and the neighbor's lawn- that in previous years I dug some up and moved to the opposite end of the main front bed. And planted coleus here in between the smaller sedums. But this year they're doing fine!

Losses

First I will say of a recovery. I thought my boston fern, which has been sitting ignored under the deck for months, had got fried in the heat. Walking past it the other day I just stopped and started pulling out dead fronds and stems, and then gave it a big drink of water. Now it's perking up again, but the center is all brown and the few fronds still green are pushing outside edge of the pot. I'm tempted to upend it, cut out and discard the dead center, repot the living sections. But all the times I've tried to divide a boston fern and repot in the past, I killed it. So I'm hesitant . . .

I had two parlor palms. One finally died, and I also gave up on the madagascar palm and tossed it out. So disappointing I couldn't keep that one happy.

But my other parlor palm is doing okay- though a bit dry and pale at close inspection.

And now the sad news. Which I'm feeling rather miserable about, as it must be my fault. I lost most of my fishes yesterday. I was doing a water change, larger than usual- thirty percent when usually I do fifteen to twenty percent. I think it had been two weeks, and I know that before that I had long neglected the tank, so I thought: more clean water is better! Except it wasn't. 

It started out fine- the fishes were acting perky, flitting around the siphon hose- one even got sucked into the bucket and bruised up, I put him back in the tank with regret, not sure if he'd survive that physical trauma. Last time I did a wc I had dosed some plant ferts, even though they're old and probably expired- and I was admiring how the plants look better- I hadn't noticed they were doing poorly, but now some of the crypts have redder stems, and stand up taller

-I tried to get a picture of a minnow by the crypt undulata-

Some anubias leaves had melted, and lots of vals, so I spent time cutting out the dead bits. But the green leaves still there on the vals looked healthier than before, so I think those plants were just ditching the old leaves and growing new in response to the changed conditions. Even my bolbitis fern looked greener and more upright.

Large anubias

Attempt at a quick full tank shot-

Then I noticed the water line wasn't quite up to the lower edge of the rim yet, so I went in the kitchen to fill another gallon. I poured it into the tank, and things went bad immediately. The minnows started looking super stressed, bending their heads and tails up, gaping at the surface, or crashed on the bottom not moving. Only one was swimming with normal posture. Their bellies bloated white (burst swim bladders?) and then some started spinning, randomly darting into corners and running their heads into the substrate. Disoriented? Starved of oxygen? I could only think that something was bad in the water, so my immediate reaction was to do another water change in hopes of diluting whatever it was. 

I changed another ten gallons. One fish died. Several of the others relaxed a bit, and the paradise fish- who'd been hiding under the bolbitis driftwood- came out to breathe at the surface. His fins clamped, but he wasn't writhing or swimming erratically like the others. I tried to figure out what went wrong. My first thought was the old ferts were gone toxic, but I'd put a bit in the shrimp bowl, and those guys were fine. And aren't shrimp more sensitive. Then I thought maybe something wrong with the tap water- the test showed very little nitrate (5ppm or less), zero nitrite but some ammonia (barely green in the tube). But again: the shrimps and snails in the bowls were fine.

Then I happened to smell my fingers. Strong sulfur odor. Realize if the prime had dripped on/from the cap, I got some on my hands. I thought I'd wiped or rinsed it off, but not good enough. And maybe I miscounted and that last gallon had an extra drop of prime in it, three instead of two. I didn't think one extra drop would matter in a thirty gallon tank. In fact I used to double dose prime in my first tank a long time ago- and while that wasn't the best thing to do, none of the fishes died suddenly like this. 

Because the minnows were dying, one after the other. While Tucker hid alternately in corners and under the driftwood. However much prime was on my skin could have been extra concentrated. (I know I didn't have any sunscreen, insect repellent or lotion on my hands). The other factor is that earlier in the week we had a power outage. It lasted hours. I was about to pull out the battery-operated air pump to run the filters overnight, when it kicked back on. So I thought the tank was fine. But maybe it was out long enough that some of the good bacteria colony died off, and it hadn't recovered all the way yet? Also, I hadn't vacuumed the substrate in a long time, and a few stems got disturbed, releasing some mulm into the water column. Any one of these factors don't seem like disaster on their own, but altogether I think it's what sent my little fishes into shock. Low bacteria strength, sudden release of ammonia from the substrate, accidental overdose of dechlor . . . 

The minnows all died by nightfall. 

Tucker was not looking good. Every time he went up to breathe, there was an odd raspy sound. Injury to his gills? I don't know. I thought this would be my last picture of him alive.

Surprised and relieved to find him still here in the morning. Even came to greet me at the glass, fins alert.

And his color looks good. 

And he's relaxed- more than I've seen in ages. I suddenly wonder if he found the minnows bothersome- all their quick activity. I'm inclined to think he's just happy to be alive, but it's probably that he finds the tank environment more calm now.

He even wanted to eat this morning. This past week I'd been giving him small crickets out of the garden- which I figured was safe- but he looked a bit overfull. So I gave him half a chopped up cooked pea. He snapped those bites up. I'm so glad.

the bigger sideyard

I still think of it as the 'sunny sideyard' and the narrower one with the steps as the 'shady sideyard' even though now they both get sun, what with trees removed years ago. So- it was all shabby and a mess over here. At least, the plants against the house. The huge hostas all eaten away, and edges dried out from the heat we had up until just recently, too. All the sensitive fern looking terrible- I ripped a lot of it out, that had spread too far.

There was sensitive fern encroaching on the pulmonaria- dug that all out, pulled mock strawberry, pulled out older dead leaves underneath that had aphid sign, and tidied it up. Mulched with leaf mould.

Sensitive fern had also grown in among the lily of the valley patch- cleaned that all up too. Lots of these crisped edges from the heat and dryness as well.

Here's a long shot of all that. It's so uneven. I really need to edge this bed with stones, too, and I want a path of big stepping stones or pavers all down the side, and then the main group of plants to the right (center of the hillside) just fill in so there will be no more mowing over here. That's my long-term plan.

Closer photo, though at an awkward angle- you can see from left to right (going uphill) the edge of beautyberry, spiderwort, lily of the valley, lungwort, sensitive fern and then ostrich ferns mixed in with the remnants of the hostas, euonymus and yellow salvia at the top corner. Really the ostrich ferns are doing the best here right now! 

I threw down dried seedheads cut off the spent joe pye weed on the other sideyard, into the bare gap against the wall here. Hoping they grow nice and tall. Don't know if they'd get enough sun, though.

Bright spot here, top of the middle flower bed, is the red-hot poker my friend gave me. I did water it extra during that super hot week we had- and cut off the flower stalks when they faded, and it surprised me by sprouting two more! So I think this one's going to do great here.

And when I was pulling up crabgrass and digging in the catmints, I found a little bit of hyssop in the other corner, still alive. I thought that plant had all died out in this area. It's nice to know there's still a bit here, because the one down in the planter by the rear deck, isn't looking great right now. (I've trimmed it and doused with soap against the bugs, and given it new mulch, so we'll see).

the edge

I'm working on two main things in the yard right now. One is to re-straighten all bricks that edge my garden beds, which have started leaning. I did one side of bed 1, and it looks so much better! and then to press stones with flat edges into the soil between them, to start 'paving' the paths (tired of trimming grass and pulling weeds there). This is a long-term project because I'm stubborn with my repurposing- it was costly enough just to buy those bricks and prep them for the beds edging, I'm fine to wait until I get hold of pavers and bricks that are leftovers of others' projects, or rock castoffs from my husband's collecting forays, to make the paths. It will be all mismatched but I don't care. More pics on that later. 

The other, is to clean up and tidy the outline of the perennial bed that is main side of the back lawn. There's still large bumpy roots that come out from the old tree stump, that I have to maneuver the lawn mower over/around, which is a pain. Grass and weeds creep in, and bugleweed (ajuga) creeps out, so the edge gets indistinct. So I've been painstakingly pulling out grass from between the bugleweed, and pulling some bugleweed out of the lawn to replant into the bed. And breaking up/removing the roots which are exposed, to make it flat lawn area, and edging the whole thing with irregular rocks. Not done- I'm going to realign that edge so it's got a nicer even curve, or is straight, undecided still. But this is about halfway there.

I can't quite remember the name of this little shrub. I think it's a dwarf cypress? I planted it at the request of my older kid- who's gone off to college now. I wasn't too fond of it when we first got it- but now it's kind of growing on me.

Yesterday I did a bit more transplanting- dug all the catmint out of bed 8. Put the smallest ones in pots, and replanted the larger ones around the yard. Three went to the left of that yellowish dwarf shrub, in a row in front of the pannicle hydrangea that's gotten so eaten back by the deer this year. I'm not sure if the scent of the catmint will keep the deer from approaching- but it's worth a try!

The others went onto the larger sunny sideyard, in a row on the outside edge at the top of the bed, and then curving around behind the patch of gladiolas. Which look nice and straight, btw- even though the ones on the smaller sideyard are flopping all over (I tied a ropeline to prop them up a bit). I don't have any pictures because my camera battery died at that point.

greenhouse rewrap

I re-skinned part of my little greenhouse. Some of those plexiglass or acrylic panels I put on two years ago, were finally starting to crack and yellow. You can see how bad here on the back side- the upper panel there is still quite yellowed, and the whole roof pane broke apart in a wind. I covered the top with an old shower liner, and it was so serviceable I've just left it there.

This whole short side got replaced- panel just under the roof was cracked in half, lower ones were yellowed, pieces folded around the back corner were all coming loose. I know I was so pleased with putting solid acrylic panels on before, but now I'm happier with this again! I used another old shower liner- when they get gunky enough I can't scrub soap scum off anymore, I buy a new one- but half the liner is still fairly clear, so that's what I cut up to use here. It was big enough to cover the entire short side, wrap around the back where there's that uneven corner, and around the front right side to the door post. So all that area has no gaps, no overlapping bits where wind might get in. Pulled out all the old nails and screw, just used staples again. (Sure will be easier to remove in future, too).

Here's the front. The roof still has one acrylic panel with the shower plastic wrapped all the way over it (so the front side is double-layered, it was just eaiser to secure that way)- and there's a piece of wood in there to prop it up because the support piece I had going across under the peak, broke too. But you can see how the right of the door is a bit less clear than the left, as it's the liner plastic and not the clear acrylic. I don't mind though. 

The only panel on this greenhouse that hasn't needed replacing- plastic sheeting, glazing from a picture frame or otherwise- is the door. That is a piece of polycarbonate that someone bought my kid for a crafting project once, and he didn't end up using it. I should just pony up and get more of that.

The other short side has some of the older clear panels too, only one is starting to yellow and crack. I'm thinking now I might just go buy another shower liner for five bucks, and rewrap the rest of the house- but maybe I'll see how this leftover piece I put on holds up to the weather come winter, first.

My husband replaced a bunch of glass shelving recently, and we have a stack of glass from the old shelves sitting around. I've been thinking of getting more ambitious and learning how to windowframe them all and make a proper little greenhouse- but: I already know we don't have the right tools. It will be much heavier, not easy to shift around. I'm kind of fond of this little greenhouse, that I made myself out of repurposed materials! I don't mind having to reskin it every few years . . . 

so very busy

and glad to be, but man am I tired at the end of the day. So not always finding time to jot down what I did, and now I have a backlog of pictures already. Last night it was supposed to get just below fifty degrees, so I took precautions and mulched a bunch of plants in the yard (remembering how I almost lost a cranesbill to the cold before) and brought a few tender ones inside. Here's stevia next to the citrus geranium- grown all tall from the summer- it does have a bit of dried leaf tips curling, but I can't tell if that's from chill or insects

My lemon geranium had issues earlier. I'd slowly noticed that it was very sparse on foliage- usually there's always a few leaves turning brown that I trim off, but this end of summer it was so thin! I was out on the deck picking off dead leaves and suddenly noticed when the plant moved from my touch, tiny white bugs fell and flitted off. It was teensy pale aphids. I made a quick spray of dishsoap, water and a drop of oil. Sprayed that plant all over- and then for the next few days checked by shaking it gently- no more bugs disturbed. Now it's looking so much better!

I also took cuttings of the coleus to bring inside- not necessary yet as it turned out- none of the plants outside died from cold! but well, I have some now as 'insurance'. I skipped the orange-and-lime one, it's just not sppealing to me anymore. Got the all the others- 

plus two more 'exhibition limelight' not pictured, and this group of 'kiwi fern' I actually clipped several days earlier, because I went outside and found an animal had bitten off the top of my plant! I think it was a rabbit.

While I was at it, took a few cuttings to restart of the witchy one that has always stayed indoors- just for the heck of it-

and because it was sitting nearby and looking particularly nice, here's the waxy begonia (I don't remember its real name). It was doing awful just a few weeks ago- I had forgotten to water some plants often enough- but I trimmed it, took a bunch of cuttings to restart, and watered it every other day for a while. Even gave away a second pot of it. Now doing great!