I may have a problem.

I've been wanting to do this for a while, form an inventory of all my plants in stock and I am realizing that NOT maybe I have too many plants, but I do have a lot...

I have been thinking as a good winter exercise to blog about all the plants in my inventory and talk about their aspects. I might need to select the best of the list but... hey winter is long.

NOTE: I did this pretty much entirely in my head and when I think I am done, I always think of more:
(n.b. this doesn't count the prior structure landscaping plants of oak tree, nandinas, hollies, azaleas, otto luykens and etc.)

FRONT GARDEN
-random rose
-spiderwort
-iris (swamp and bearded)
-bells of ireland
-ice plant
-day lily
-california poppy
-icelandic poppy
-red and yellow and bengal cannas
-cinnamon, painted, tokyo, beech ferns
-purple perilla
-solomon's seal
-red hellebore
-asian ginger
-nasturtiums: India Empress, Jewel, Fordhook, Alaska mix
-hollyhock
-columbine (little lanterns)
-autumn joy sedum
-vinca minor
-(maybe) anemones
-camellia sinensis (green tea plant)
-2 various Chinese herbs
-scented geraniums: citronella, ginger, rose and mint

BACK reg GARDEN:
-hostas
-chrysanthemums
-strawberry begonia
-golden turkey vine
-creeping jenny
-pennyroyal
-osmandus fern
-white calla lily
-shade sedum
-May night and Friesland Salvia

VEGETABLE GARDEN EDIBLES:
-All American pickling cucumber
-Clemson spineless okra
-burgundy okra
-everbearing strawberries
-blue lake and kentucky wonder pole beans
-Scarlet Runner Beans
-passionflower (passiflora incarnata)
-Red Stem Malabar Spinach
-Jersey Knight asparagus
-Baritone Bush Beans
-sweet bell peppers
-eggplant
-Tomatoes: Green stripe zebra, Nebraska Wedding, Brandywine
-Sweet potato
-Siberian blue Kale
-India Mustard
-English and sugar snap and snow peas
-Zucchini and waltham butternut and acorn squash
-carrots
-parsnips
-purple top turnips

-hot peppers: jalapeno, poblano, serrano, cubanelle, tricolore garda, calico

HERBS:
-common and golden oregano
-thyme
-dill
-cilantro
-sages: purple, variegated, regular culinary (but it died), pineapple
-bee balm (coral reef)
-rosemary
-lovage (may die)
-rue
-feverfew
-(maybe) black cumin/nigella
-mints: garden and chocolate
-culinary ginger
-stevia
-lemon balm
-lemon verbena
-Basils: purple ruffles, sweet, cinnamon, thai, lemon, spicy globe, (random hybrids from basils crossing, eg. lemon-cinnamon???)
-Egyptian Walking Onion
-softneck garlic

RANDOM FLOWERS:
-morning glories (heavenly blue and grandpa ott)
-cardinal vine
-hyacinth bean vine
-Hibiscus: Red river, white one, Haight Ashby

MORE RANDOM PLANTS:
-random palm
-escargot begonia
-random begonia
-kohleria (black velvet, I think?)
-avocado
-purple passion vine

HOUSEPLANTS:
-2 phalaenopsis orchids
-1 cymbidium orchid
-deersfoot fern?
-parlor palm
-snake plants
-umbrella plant
-wandering jew looking sedum

I did not even want to count all that. Granted this is nothing compared to Diane Meucci's garden Oy Vey (http://www.gardensoyvey.com/), but I am also not a nursery and live on 0.2 acres...

I am starting to understand my husband for thinking that maybe I have enough plants?

Randomness.... trying to keep up!

Alas! High winds have broken my handmade 2 year old trellis! The beans! The bean! They have all, fallen down.

:(

That was nice and Shakespearean dramatic eh?

But yes, to be specific, only a third of the trellis broke down. I still was able to harvest quite a few snap beans prior and even after the fall:
These are the same beans too that I brutally burned with baking soda, so little loss there. Good time to replant too anyways, the vines were getting ridiculous! The only issue now is finding the branch clippings from neighbors to create another trellis. Maybe I'll just knock some nails into the fence and string some twine this time around.

The area where the beans were planted was in a raise bed with okra and strawberry plants, so I like to believe that they were getting some legume lovin', nitrogen fixing goodness.

I wasn't entirely certain if it is best to dig under the bean plants back into the soil to keep the nutrients in, or just compost the vines/leaves, but from what I've been readin, it seems that you can just cut the vines at the base and let the nitrogen fixing nodule roots go back to whence they came and allow the next crop of whatever enjoy it.
So, that sounds like a good plan. I am trying to decide whether I want to grow pole beans there again because it was such a good place for them, at the the bed 5 to its left is still full of cucumber vines and I can't plant there. But I also know I need to take into account that crop rotation thing. I think as long as I plant something different in the spring I should be fine.

More things of interest! Snake!
(skin):


























Anyone able to recognize what kind it is? It's 32 inches long, though I am sure longer by now if it was shedding. I am hoping it's not one of the 4 major poisonous ones in the area, but if it is... well, we all leave well enough alone. Though if I recall, the poisonous ones have diamond shape heads and this one looks triangular.

It's sort of a love-hate relationship because I know it's taking care of all the bunnies and mice, but then again it probably eating all my beneficial toads/frogs...and I haven't seen many lately now that I think of it...

FINALLY,
remember that praying mantis I saw hiding out underneath the hummingbird feeder some days ago? Well it got BIG. Double the size from last time. I would have taken a pic of it but well, I noticed the hummingbirds were acting a little antsy by the feeder and then reason was, when they got near to drink the mantis was actually taking SWIPES at the birds! It was at least half their size by now and those arm/claw things seem to have some good reach. So......... I immediately went out and with a long stem of perilla because its so utterly disposable at my house, I relocated its happy green self to the cucumbers/okra bed where I then realized I had lots of cucumber/okra flowers with lots of pollinators buzzing about, so I hope it doesn't feast on so many beneficial things that fruit doesn't set....
That would be ironic.

Anyways, adieu and more later.