Monday, August 7, 2023

Hibiscus Therapy And the End Of Pumpkinzini

Unfortunately, I learned first hand about the Woolly Adelgid this year. It is a tiny aphid-like insect that clings to the underside of pine needles and suck out all of the sap. It killed 5 of my Eastern Hemlock trees which were probably 60 years old. So I cut them all down and started to create a new outdoor space. I ground the stumps, planted some new shrubs and put down some mulch.

It needed a little color so I tried a perennial hibiscus. I decided to try to do this blog post from a backyard gazebo and was pleased to find out that I'm able to pick up my internet signal from here. Bluebirds are singing and I'm able to get a little hibiscus therapy while I'm typing away. It has come to my attention that you can also make tea from the dried flowers so that's an added bonus!

An update on my pumpkin? Zucchini? patch. These have to be just plain old pumpkins. They must have just mislabeled the plant. I've never grown pumpkins before. Hopefully, they will turn orange at some point.   I noticed some are dark green now while others are light green like this one. I'll be curious as to how they turn out in the end!

I can already feel fall just around the corner. I'll soon be chasing sparrows and searching the skies for migrating hawks.

1 comment:

Val Ewing said...

Hah! So interesting! I'm sorry you lost your Hemlocks, however it looks like your new space is wonderful.

I hope the hibiscus winters well too, what a bright color!

I had save some seeds and planted them. My surprise was a white pumpkin!

The Orioles, Swallows, Blackbirds, Bluebirds, and even the Wren have moved on. It feels too quiet in our forest right now.