The Garden Today

Now that we finally have some warm, sunny weather, I have done a bit of work in the garden, other than weeding, that is. I decided this year to spread a (supposed) perennial mix of seeds and see what comes up and what I might want to keep.

There are also some sunflower and zinnia seeds I'd like to plant but will save that for another day.

My new hibiscus plant is doing very well on the deck in a sunny spot. I water it daily. The blooms are spectacular but  only last about a day. Hopefully it'll bloom non-stop for a while.

With the threat of frost behind us, I've put the geraniums out on the deck to harden off before I plant them. These plants are at least 10 years old. Every fall I dig them up, shake off most of the soil, and plant them in pots with fresh potting soil. Then I put them under the growlights on the stand in the kitchen for the winter. I usually cut off all the foliage a couple of times during this over-wintering process. This spring, I was lazy so will be planting them in full leaf with some of them in bloom. They should do OK.

I cleaned up these 4 beds yesterday and spread the perennial seed mix. Then the area got a good watering. I'll water every day that it isn't raining to provide for optimum germination. It will be interesting to see what comes up. It will also be challenging to figure out what is a legit perennial flower and what is a weed. I do pull weeds almost every time I go outside - especially forget-me-nots.

One 'volunteer' species I decided to allow to grow is wild strawberry. I don't recall having it in the garden in previous years but will see if it actually bears fruit at some point. I must do some research about this...

One of the many things that attracted us to the houses in this area were the wide lots - about 60' - now a premium feature in our rapidly expanding town. Skip really developed the garden. When we moved in, in 1996, there was grass to the fence and only a bit of a garden around the deck. He grew tomatoes just to the left of the pictured birdbath and lots of peppers, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc.. I've left the bed to the right of it pretty much as it has been the past few years.

Several years ago Lorna gave us a surplus, dark red peony which is always the first peony to bloom. We have split it and now have two lovely, red, peony bushes starting to bloom right now.

Here's one of them (the transplant).

This one is beside the east fence on our property.

On the bottom left is the Joe Pye weed which the insects including butterfiles LOVE. On the right, under the sunflower lawn ornament, the chocolate Joe Pye weed will grow. It starts later but grows taller (about 7')  than the stuff on the left. Between the Joe Pye weeds is Solomon seal which was given to us the first spring we were in the house by former band mate, Steve. I trimmed back the front-most Solomon seal to give the gigantic hosta a chance. It was originally from Skip's mother's garden.

I think Steve also gave us this cranesbill which is just starting to come into flower. It's a relative in the geranium family. It has to be trimmed back after a while to make room for the primroses and bellflowers that bloom next. 

There are a few rogue hosta plants which I need to dig up and relocate. Skip and I were married in this back yard in late June of 1998. There are a couple of echinacea plants in this bed and three beside the deck. They'll start to flower by the end of this month. I remember how tall they were the day we got married - at least up to the top of the deck railing - probably 5'. They've never grown that tall again but do flower non-stop into the fall which the butterflies LOVE.

Lots more Siberian iris are blooming. The geraniums that are hardening off will be planted in front of them in a few days.  Preferably a day that it's not raining.

I planted this blanket flower - some type of galliardia - last year. I'm thrilled it is even more vigorous and showing lots of buds.

I planted a butterfly bush last year but it didn't make it through the winter. Will try again and put it in the south-facing bed under the dining room window.

My goal is to fill the garden with perennials so I only have to fill in gaps with some annuals. Skip used to plant a lot of marigolds - some of which he'd grow from seed - to keep bugs away from his tomatoes. Once I see where the vacant spots in the garden will be, I'll fill in with some of those.

We are supposed to get rain starting tomorrow night. That should encourage everything to flourish.