caryopteris Archives - The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Quick one today.

I have a Caryopteris ‘Sunshine Blue’ that has literally been relocated five times over the past five years. First it outgrew its location, then it didn’t get enough sun, then I didn’t like that it was in too prominent of a location and sprung to life too late in spring … and I don’t remember the reasons for the other moves but I’m sure they were more than valid.

Now I’m ready for move number six. Here is how she looks today:

Overall size is super small as I know it can get close to three feet high and wide. We’re talking about a foot and a half current day. The blooms are also very weak as I’ve seen these blooms their butts off and it is oh so welcome this time of year.

So without a thought of where it was going to be situated next, I dug it up and immediately new what the problem was:

If you have read this blog before you aren’t surprised. Poor drainage … let me rephrase that “brutally bad drainage”. I can’t believe it performed even this well considering this deciduous shrub needs a well drained soil. How I ever moved it here is beyond my comprehension but the deer really did leave it alone. Must be that sweet lemony scent of the leaves.

So after some ~~willy nilly~~ careful planning, I found a new home for the drenched plant:

Six times is a charm, right?

It better be, those blooms are a sight for sore eyes and I need more of them:

Today’s entry is a big time first. The first post written while hung over. The 20th high school reunion was a smashing success but now I am paying the consequences for all the shenanigans. But more on that later.

Friday night – we had a kick butt seasonal, fresh, summer dinner prepared by Mrs. ONG:

Cedar plank salmon with a brown sugar rub
Corn on da cob (NJ corn is off the charts)
Watermelon margarita – refreshing and effective
Blueberry Mascarpone Ice Cream – the best ice cream EVER (from the Bent Spoon in Princeton)

Saturday – the HS reunion went down and it was a trip. I’ll spare you all the gory details and give you some of the highlights:

Many more of the former classmates read the blog than I expected. Actually got into some good gardening conversations. I even threw a “blossom end rot” out there.
I really wish I named my blog something simpler. Feels a bit silly spelling out the URL.
To some degree, the old high school cliques still exist. Very funny to observe.
People really don’t change – that is both good and bad

Sunday – up at 7:30 to bring my chum to Newark Airport. We maybe said three words to each other as we attempted to recover. Meanwhile, my family of hot air balloon hunters were up at the crack of dawn to see the taking off of a ton of balloons during the annual Central NJ balloon fest.

After a lazy, super hot and humid afternoon, we got hit with a mother of a storm and couldn’t have been happier to get the much needed rain. I actually heard the tomatoes sigh with relief.

After the rain, I headed out to take some photos. Never a better time than after a rain in the early evening. And I will go back a bit on what I said in a prior post (shocker, huh?). There are a few macro shots in there that I couldn’t resist. Enjoy: