April 1, 2015
It is 59° outside and raining. We are always pleased to get rain in early spring; hopefully it means lots of grass for the cows and no more feeding hay. It also means lots of yard mowing. I began Tuesday. I do it in spurts these days. I kept seeing something near the mower that needed attention so the mowing became bed cleaning, picking up limbs and mowing combined.
I was very happy to clean off the bed outside the kitchen that I used to call the Hummingbird Bed but should be renamed, the Ash Tree bed that is now treeless (needs renaming), and the stump bed where we ground out the stump when the large bird feeding Elm tree had to be taken out. That makes three of several that are cleaned.........all in good time.
This is the old Ash Tree bed.
This bed has Black and Blue salvia and kerria japonica pleniflora on the edge next to the drive. I think the heat of the paved drive as kept the B&B salvia perennial for me. I have iris planted on the edge near the kitchen drive. There are several varieties and this is where I relocated (to save their lives from the ATV)my favorite cream colored iris. I will need to do something in the middle of this bed.....probably just annuals this year but thinking a shrub rose later or even a very small rose bed with some very fragrant hybrid teas.
The old Humming Bird Bed; now the Kitchen Bed
I found lilies up about 6 inches, anemone Robustissima, phlox, daylilies and the blooming daffodils all in the Kitchen bed.
I am showing this picture to give some perspective to where the stump bed is (to the right).
I notice in this shot that the lamiums are showing up better. One has a pink bloom. The tree is a seedling peach that has a few blooms this year. I think there are three more seedling peaches blooming this year.
I will fill in the bed with various annuals.
The Stump Bed
The stump bed is filled with seedlings of golden agastache (thank you Kris) this year, more than ever. You can barely see them now. I hope the rudbeckia returns. The tiny lilac (repeating) is still alive I think. Those are Tete -a -Tete daffs at the edge and I think alliums should be there later.
The other pics were taken with the zoom across the drive.
The front shrub-less border
This is next to the road where the shrub border used to be: The lilacs are coming back thickly, daffs are blooming. I will try to keep saplings cut out and thin the lilacs. The rugosa roses to the left aren't leafed out yet.
This is the little planter box (with slave-made bricks) right next to the porch door. Jack Frost brunnera is beginning but I think the yellow tulips have left me. The variegated Soloman's Seal is taking over. I can't identify the hellebore yet.
The rhubarb in front of the boxwood next to the back porch is liking the manure I spread over it before the rains.
I hope this is the spring I can divide and move some plants:
Annabelle hydrangea
Walkers Low Catmint
Kerria
One sad note: I got so tired of trying to mow down the blasted Cheatgrass (bromus tectorum) that is up about l0 inches that I know I mowed some blackberries and a clematis that was buried. I did get most of the garden area mowed. I hope the cheatgrass doesn't regrow; it normally dies in hot weather. It is everywhere this year. No doubt coming from the wide open spaces after the workers cleared so much brush and saplings. No good deed goes unpunished.
It is 59° outside and raining. We are always pleased to get rain in early spring; hopefully it means lots of grass for the cows and no more feeding hay. It also means lots of yard mowing. I began Tuesday. I do it in spurts these days. I kept seeing something near the mower that needed attention so the mowing became bed cleaning, picking up limbs and mowing combined.
I was very happy to clean off the bed outside the kitchen that I used to call the Hummingbird Bed but should be renamed, the Ash Tree bed that is now treeless (needs renaming), and the stump bed where we ground out the stump when the large bird feeding Elm tree had to be taken out. That makes three of several that are cleaned.........all in good time.
This is the old Ash Tree bed.
This bed has Black and Blue salvia and kerria japonica pleniflora on the edge next to the drive. I think the heat of the paved drive as kept the B&B salvia perennial for me. I have iris planted on the edge near the kitchen drive. There are several varieties and this is where I relocated (to save their lives from the ATV)my favorite cream colored iris. I will need to do something in the middle of this bed.....probably just annuals this year but thinking a shrub rose later or even a very small rose bed with some very fragrant hybrid teas.The old Humming Bird Bed; now the Kitchen Bed
I found lilies up about 6 inches, anemone Robustissima, phlox, daylilies and the blooming daffodils all in the Kitchen bed.
I am showing this picture to give some perspective to where the stump bed is (to the right).
I notice in this shot that the lamiums are showing up better. One has a pink bloom. The tree is a seedling peach that has a few blooms this year. I think there are three more seedling peaches blooming this year.I will fill in the bed with various annuals.
The Stump Bed
The stump bed is filled with seedlings of golden agastache (thank you Kris) this year, more than ever. You can barely see them now. I hope the rudbeckia returns. The tiny lilac (repeating) is still alive I think. Those are Tete -a -Tete daffs at the edge and I think alliums should be there later.
The other pics were taken with the zoom across the drive.
The front shrub-less border
This is next to the road where the shrub border used to be: The lilacs are coming back thickly, daffs are blooming. I will try to keep saplings cut out and thin the lilacs. The rugosa roses to the left aren't leafed out yet.
This is the little planter box (with slave-made bricks) right next to the porch door. Jack Frost brunnera is beginning but I think the yellow tulips have left me. The variegated Soloman's Seal is taking over. I can't identify the hellebore yet.
The rhubarb in front of the boxwood next to the back porch is liking the manure I spread over it before the rains.
I hope this is the spring I can divide and move some plants:
Annabelle hydrangea
Walkers Low Catmint
Kerria
One sad note: I got so tired of trying to mow down the blasted Cheatgrass (bromus tectorum) that is up about l0 inches that I know I mowed some blackberries and a clematis that was buried. I did get most of the garden area mowed. I hope the cheatgrass doesn't regrow; it normally dies in hot weather. It is everywhere this year. No doubt coming from the wide open spaces after the workers cleared so much brush and saplings. No good deed goes unpunished.
