Vintage Dibble

Margaret Roach at "A Way to Garden" has posted a fun drawing by Andre illustrating Dibber Envy. I may have quite a few hang-ups but Dibber Envy isn't one of them!




The Dibble, Dibbler, Dibber variations seem to be regional - mine has always been called a Dibble. I've owned this Dibble for decades and it was already old when I saw it lying on a table at a garage sale in the late 1970's. I picked it up and turned to Philo, saying with delight "Look! It's an old Dibble! For planting bulbs!" The seller was so happy to have a gardener call it by name that he practically gave it to me for free.


Although my Dibble was used in well-prepared beds in Illinois, it hasn't been much use in Texas so far. We've been in this house for four years - will our efforts at cultivation, our additions of many composts and granite, our layers of mulch ever make the soil good enough so that our Dibble comes out of retirement to plant bulbs once again?

GBBD List for October 2008

This list of what is currently blooming in my garden is reasonably accurate but as usual not guaranteed. I tried to keep the botanical names correct and included a few photos of plants that didn't make the October Garden Bloggers Bloom Day entry at my main blog, the Transplantable Rose.

Abelia chinensis , two white shrubs covered in flowers, two white shrubs blooming lightly, two pink shrubs blooming lightly;

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, Flame acanthus from Pam/Digging doing really well;

Antirrhinum majus, Two plants of these yellow snapdragons have bloomed since Christmas;

Asclepias curassavica, tropical milkweed, two plants in bud and bloom;

Aster frikartii 'Wonder of Staffa'. Four plants in four different areas - one in sunniest spot is in full bloom, others making buds.

Barleria cristata/Philippine cristata three blooming plants. The open flowers were a mess from the rain so I didn't photograph them.

Brugmansia - I don't know the rest of the name for this Yellow Angels trumpet but it steadily makes fragrant flowers

Bulbine frutescens 'Yellow', have increased and are reblooming;

Canna ‘Bengal Tiger’ several plants – a few flowers

Capsicum annuum – some of the garden peppers have buds & flowers, and several have small peppers-in-progress;

Clematis hybrid 'Ramona', in container, one flower plus buds;

Clematis unknown hybrid, handful of purple flowers left;


Clerodendrum ugandense – Blue butterfly flower. (Royal Horticultural Society says it's Clerodendrum myricoides 'Ugandense', nicknamed Blue Cat's Whiskers) One plant that is now like a shrub with flower heads in all stages of bud and bloom. It's nearly 5-feet tall!

Clitoria ternatea- the Blue Butterfly Pea, annual vine blooming non-stop for months;

Conoclinium greggii, Gregg’s Mistflower - closely related to C. coelestinium, the mistflower I grew in Illinois, but leaves are quite different. It's really happy in the new front bed, seen here decorated with three Queen butterflies;

Cuphea ignea, Cigar flower, covered in tiny orange flowers

Cuphea llavea – small pink & lavender form (two plants), covered in tiny flowers

Cuphea llavea –red & purple ‘Batfaced’, covered in flowers

Cuphea llavea 'Georgia Scarlet', covered in red-orange & purple flowers;

Delosperma cooperi ? Dark pink flowered hardy ice plant, spreading over gravel walk in Pink Garden;

Dendranthema x grandiflora?. - ordinary cushion mums in several places, blooming muddy pink, dirty white, and plain yellow

Dianthus – several colors of ‘Telstar’ hybrids in assorted containers responding to cooler temperatures by flowering;

Evolvulus glomeratus, Blue Daze, several plants, most with flowers;

Gaura lindheimerii ‘The Bride’ (two plants), some white flowers on long wands

Gaura lindheimerii, unknown tall rose-pink variety (‘Pink Cloud’?), many flowers

Impatiens walleriana, bedding impatiens. The surviving plants are all blooming strongly.

Ipomoea alba, Moon flower vine, one or two flowers a day

Ipomoea batatas, sweet potato vine - dark purple leaves, wishy-washy magenta flowers

Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress vine, covered in flowers, making it hard to get from back door to patio;

Jatropha integerrima 'Compacta' - one tiny budded bloom stalk

Lantana, unknown varieties both upright and trailing – pink & yellow, white and gold, all rebounding with weather and in bloom;

Lavandula intermedia 'Provence', at least a dozen wands of fragrant flowers
Lavandula multifida, many, many flower wands on this fernleafed lavender- too bad they don't smell like lavender;

Lobularia maritime, Sweet alyssum, a couple of old tired plants but blooming since late winter;

Lycopersicon lycopersicum, I pulled many of the tomatoes - ‘Juliet’ and 'Celebrity' have blossoms;

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii, many red flowers on two plants;

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii, white form in Secret Garden, two plants with lots of flowers;

Ocimum basilicum, Basil – keep trying and I keep clipping;

Osmanthus fragrans/Sweet olive two more established shrubs pouring our fragrance from tiny white blossoms. The one planted this spring not in bloom yet;

Oxalis crassipes 'Alba' (dotted around and in containers), several blooming

Oxalis regnellii 'Atropurpurea' (dotted around and in containers), a few flowers;

Pelargonium – various containers of bedding geraniums in white & coral, outdoors and indoors, red and coral doing well, whites not so good;
Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian Sage (two beds), lots of flowers, foliage looking tired;

Petunia multiflora? Some plants died on old-fashioned petunia, others blooming;

Piper auritum/Hoja Santa or Rootbeer Plant has made several odd wand-shaped white flowers

Platycodon 'Fugi White', a few flowers

Platycodon grandiflorus - only plants blooming are near veranda;

Platycodon 'Miss Tilly' (3 plants), still a couple of flowers;

Platycodon 'Sentimental Blue', has some flowers but should be cut back to encourage rebloom

Plumbago auriculata (two shrubs), growing and opening pale blue flowers for months;

Plumeria sp, only pale yellow has blooms - guess rose red is done for year;

Poliomintha longiflora, Mexican oregano (3 plants), all blooming;

Portulaca - about a dozen assorted Moss Roses and Flowering Purslanes with rain-beaten flowers;
Punica granatum 'Nana' - I think this is the right name for my new dwarf pomegranate. It's still in the pot from the Natural Gardener and the planting spot has been chosen;

Rivina humilis , Pigeon Berry, no flowers, just berries;

Rosa ‘Julia Child’, just finishing a big bloom - think some new buds are forming;

Rosa 'Mutabilis' , two shrubs that have grown a lot in past year and open new flowers every day;

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' - a flurry of tiny blue flowers;

Ruellia brittoniana 'Katy' a couple of flowers left;

Salvia coccinea, had to chop back both plants and red flowers - smothering neighbors!

Salvia coccinea, white, a couple of flowers left;

Salvia coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’ , most plants out of bloom but were recently cut back;

Salvia elegans, Pineapple sage - blooming but flowers soggy in rain;

Salvia farinacea, still making flowers but are crowded by Asclepias and Blue Pea vine;

Salvia greggii , blooming white, red and cherry;

Salvia guaranitica, a few flowers - were cut back a few weeks ago so should make new buds;

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue', several places - in front bed blooming like mad, just recovering from chopping in back fence bed;

Salvia leucantha, one large plant from Diva Karla in bloom;

Salvia leucantha hybrid - small, with a few flowers;

Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips', starting rebloom after weather change;

Salvia X 'Nuevo Leon', there were more plants but a few died -survivors in light bloom;

Salvia regla/Mountain sage has lovely red-orange tubular flowers. It's a small plant now but Bill at Prairie Point says it can be a very large shrub;

Scutellaria suffrutescens, pink skullcap (2 plants), lots of tiny blooms;

Scutellaria wrightii, there are 3 plants - only one plant has any flowers;

Tagetes lucida, Mexican Mint Marigold, one plant in full bloom; the other just starting;

Tradescantia geniculata, in front woodland border it never stops making tiny white flowers;

Tradescantia pallida, syn Setcresea pallida/ Purple Heart, many lavender flowers;

Tricyrtis, Toad Lily, the species in not known but there are buds!

Verbena bonariensis – some plants died, some chopped back, some going to seed, a few still blooming;

Zinnia –rose red hybrid, pulled up all but one with a couple of left;

Zinnia linearis/ syn Zinnia angustifolia, the plants I bought in spring have grown into mounds and are covered in white flowers. There are also a few small plants that seeded from last year's plants.