4/4/13

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. 

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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. 

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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.

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But, just three feet away,

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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! 

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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

6 comments:

Coloradolady said...

your yard is beautiful. I had a mock orange for all of three days. It died after a dog got a hold of it. I had ordered it from a mail order place as I have never seen one here locally. I think I will look.

I am in the process of thinning out my mexican petunias. If you would like some, let me know. I am sending my cousin some and can send you some too. They are super hardy in the heat and bloom one purple bloom a day. The multiply like crazy, and can be thick in a short while. Let me know if you are interested.

Have a great day!

lw said...

I love your garden-- what a lovely green spring!

We've got daffodils and buds are just beginning to break on the trees. I just noticed (yahoo!) that the raspberry plant that I thought the dogs had killed is sending up shoots and has lot of little leaves near the ground.

Elizabeth said...

Actually, it's horse or chicken $h#@, but whatever ;). We have a green waste yard here in town, so when I get compost from them I try really hard not to think about whose it is (the compost heap is right across from the water treatment plant).

Ah, you gardens are beautiful. I love the spot you've picked to move your patio & glider. What a lovely place to sit and think.

I only got my gardens about half cleaned out last year before it started snowing, and haven't had two minutes together to get out there and clear out the dead stuff, so the crocuses and daffodils and hyacinths are poking up through the remains of last year's plants. I hope to get out there soon, but I'm under a huge deadline at work, and I'm trying to get the zig-zag quilt finished by Saturday because we're having a family gathering and Miss Butterfly will be there. If I can get it done by then, I won't have to mail it. Postage has gone through the roof. It sucks all the joy out of sending (or receiving) a package.

Speaking of work and deadlines . . . better get back to it. Thanks for the garden tour. The Gerber Daisy was my favorite! Such pretty, cheerful, unassuming little flowers. I love daisies.

xo -E

Kath said...

still battling with bindweed, brambles, ivy and nettles here, Having been left to run riot for ten years, our garden was a jungle when we came.
Your garden looks very pretty.

Lakegaldonna said...

Your garden looks great! We still have a five foot pile of snow where our raised vegetable bed is so there is no temptation to futz around in the ground so to speak.

Can't wait to read about the mystery quilt snit is all about!

Vesuviusmama said...

I'm so envious! I love plants and gardens, but I have been an absolute failure when it comes to growing antything these last couple of years. This all looks wonderful!