Porch Chaos and Hops Buds

Here's a window into my porch, my main center of potting and planting. I seem to have an ongoing fight with myself to eliminate small seedling pods. I keep planting things out and then acquiring new plants somehow.

The majority in this 1st image are Siam queen and lemon basil. I was at a nursery in Washington county that had some pots with 50+ seedlings crowded together which I couldn't resist buying and dividing. Most are planted out somewhere.

Next is the front wall. The salvia guaranitica keeps getting bigger so I keep moving the pots next to it further and further away. I think I have it settled now. This black and blue sage is a magnet for hummingbirds. I have seen 3 this past weekend make a beeline for it and spend considerable time feeding at more than a dozen blooms. The cypress vine is starting to climb so I poked bamboo into the planter for them to reach a good height. I hope that it makes a good screen.

Here's my secondary table with some now empty vases. Projects on this table include future bean seedlings. I decided to pod plant them 1st because the cats often disturb bare soil in bad ways(I mostly suspect SALLY). Better to let these get a little bit of growth before placing them in their final spot. There's also a couple black and blue stalks that broke when I poked the bamboo in that I am trying to root. I think I want a planting or 2 on my back porch to better see more hummingbirds.

And finally, the cascade hops are getting ready. It looks like we'll have a lot more than last year. Many of my wild hops are starting to show similar signs. I should be able to sex them soon.

Dawn

This morning I got up as the sun was rising. Unfortunately many photos I took were under exposed but it makes choosing easier.

Today I intend to dig up a large part of my berm. This part, and angle looks pretty nice. I have a few orphan plants that need a home, as well as a couple butterfly bush. I just need to make sure that people understand not to step on some of these plants.

Yarrow is fine with being walked on, as well as chamomile, if anything I should encourage people to walk on my chamomile to keep it in line. I will attempt as well to reduce the grass and various weeds, that is plants that I do not favor.

Maybe next year I will have less chamomile. I imagine that I will not need to propogate it any any manner anywhere next year. This spring, I actually transplanted a lot of seedlings all over. Behind the chamomile is one of my mint pots.

Here's Abe giving me a look. There's but a few sidewalk plants visible here. Honestly, I wish the crack were wider so I could plant something nice, like some thymes and other stepable groundcover plants.

I am very happy with how my porch is filling out. I don't think I need anymore plants up there, indeed, I have moved the pots surrounding my blue planter a couple inches away as the black and blue fills out.

So far, I have my vase offering, a lemongrass I rooted from an Asian grocery (Lotus, if anybody's wondering), a dracula dahlia, and my blue planter, at least that's all you can see. I think the black and blue will get at least twice as tall and much wider. I am waiting quite happily for that. There's also some cypress vine that is still quite small that should be pretty fun too. We'll see if it gets out of hand.

Rainy view from my porch

I love rain. This is a good thing because Pittsburgh gets a lot. Actually, this city is one of the most overcast cities ever, which I also like. Sunlovers can't stand it but I'm not one of them. I like overcast days because I can surf my computer on my porch. So here's a few things I idly photographed from my spacious dry porch.

This vase was an anonymous neighbor's offering. Last year this appeared on my front step one day with a few other ornamental containers. I think there was a geranium too. I fianlly planted it with some stuff more in the 'old lady' style of planting. There's asparagus fern, corkscrew grass and lobelia. These guys aren't perfect potmates but I think they'll get along. The vase does not have drainage but I got it set up with a sort of false bottom. I just have to be careful not to overwater it. It should fill out in a few weeks I guess, at least the lobelia might be blooming by then.

 

I don't know if you've noticed but I am rather fond of blue. This is my blue planting. Almost everything is blooming. The lantana is just opening up, but you can't see it in this photo.

 

Here's my birdfeeder sunflowers. They are directly below the blue planter.

 

This lemongrass I wintered from last year. It doesn't look as glorious as it did, but I think it will. I used some of its withered leave in the tea I am drinking right now. It's very refreshing. The vine is he shou wu.