A spring gardening post

I know, it just snowed at your house.  Sorry.

Or, it’s autumn at your house and everything is dying back.  Sorry.

Here, it’s glorious springtime…for about three weeks, and then it will be the 9th gate of hell again.  But, we’re gonna make the most of the three weeks. 

These are new plants in waiting.  They all came off the dollar rack.  Who can beat that.  They weren’t blooming.  While they’ve been waiting, they’ve set up blooms again, so by the time I get them planted, they’ll be blooming again…I hope.  Or, maybe that bloom cycle will be over, too. 

Not a very good picture.  We’re getting some unaccustomed rain.  This bed just hasn’t got it’s spring legs under it yet.  Even though the mock orange is in bloom.

But, just three feet away,

This bed is going nuts.  Inside the fence is my lettuce bed.  I was afraid the seeds in the center hadn’t germinated.  I looked in the other day and turns out they’re purple and I can’t see them against the dirt.  Surprise! 

Last weekend, I cleared out two more feet of flowerbed to add to my gardening.  I’ve been saving plants that I’ve lifted from all over the yard in a multi-phase garden redesign. 

I have clay soil, so I’ve learned to put in stepping stones as I build my beds because I like to walk in them in the morning and don’t want to get mud on my work shoes.

This is a bad angle, but there are two crabapple trees and I think I’m going to move my little patio with the glider on it between them to the shady spot and open up a sunny spot for more colorful plants.  The right balance of sun here is crucial; too little and nothing grows, too much and you can’t keep it watered.  We have huge trees to shade the house, but they also shade the yard, so optimizing where the sun shines and when is a task for an analyst.

The columbines are doing their best to get my attention.

And, this little gerber daisy that I thought I’d lost last year has really showed up this spring.

Spring is the season of yellow in my beds.  Later, we’ll go to gold, then orange, then pinks and purples and blues.  And, every once in a while, something white because white flowering plants are the hardest for me to grow.

Except those mock orange.  They just give and give and give.

This is the fourth baby I’ve gotten from my original plant.  And, I have six plumbago potted in the back yard, receiving a bit of TLC so I can give them away.  I must be doing something right, but I swear, it’s just sun and water and bullsh#@.

Be well.  Have a great Thursday.  I’m in a snit about a mystery quilt and cannot figure out what to do.  Maybe I’ll blog about it tomorrow and collect your opinions. 

Lane