One Warm Day

That's all we had, just Saturday was very warm. But all it took to really hurry the garden along was that one warm day.

Blood root - I planted some 20 years ago,
and the ants spread the seeds around.
I've seen them in the wild within a couple hundred yards
of my garden, but I'm pretty sure mine are descended
from my plantings because how far do ants travel?

The National Arboretum had their native plant sale on Saturday and I hustled down. I gave myself a $200 budget but only spent half of it. I didn't go with a specific list, only a general one. They only had two vendors, but each had a very big spread.

So I bought eight plants for my $100. I got one each of blue indigo and carolina lupine. They are both pea family, and the flowers are similar in shape though different in color. I planted them along the fence at the south end, where they may be too shaded by the pine and the fringe tree. The indigo, at least, will not be able to be transplanted so let's hope it gets enough sun.

I'm afraid "hope it gets enough sun" will be a recurring theme. I realized as I tried to site the plants around the garden inside the fence that I don't have a clear picture in my mind of the sun and shade patterns currently in the yard. The Big Spruce fell March 2 last year, but last summer I didn't get a good idea of how the light has changed, other than in general there is more. It'll keep changing, but losing such a big tree is a step change, not gradual as from yearly new growth.

I also bought three yellow wood poppies and three "blue ice" blue stars. I am on a quest for the threadleaf bluestars (Amsonia ciliata) of which I have one beautiful, distinctive, clump I'd like to replicate. It's at the point of my corner, hard on the street. It has nice enough light blue flowers in spring, but becomes an amazing yellow-orange cloud of foliage in the fall. But this one, Amsonia taebermontanae, has more vivid blue flowers, and may also have orange foliage, though not a cloud due to the larger leaves. I scattered the poppies around, and the ants should also seed them about over time. I put the three bluestars together in a clump, along the street fence, near the southern red oak.

I have a history of over-buying plants, and then not planting them right away, and some die. My new plan is to try to buy in small enough chunks I can plant them right away, which worked this weekend.  That actually will not be totally possible, as there is benefit in ordering volumes from the mail order places to save on shipping. And the next plant sale on my calendar will be a huge one.

I may also decide not to buy very much this spring, and study the garden instead. Last year was very hard on it, with first the Big Spruce falling on it, and the workmen removing it tramping everywhere. Then the fence construction and the workmen tramping everywhere, and dumping subsoil on top of good soil, helpfully disposing of excess soil to even out low spots I had created for plants that like damp places, putting raw woodchip mulch over everything even though I asked for well-rotted leaf humus, and on top of all, unrelenting rain in the wettest year on record.  Something to recommend this plan: I can sit in the garden unmoving, and yet I'll be studying it ("see how the shadow has moved in the last hour!") and thus will be productive. Something else to recommend this plan:  it's way more cost-effective. What's not to like?

Daffodil Season

Daffodils may be mundane, but they are one of the top choices I continually make- absolutely a great investment. I like the ones that actually look like daffs are supposed to look like, not exotic colors or shapes. They last and last, going on literally for decades. And deer and squirrels don't care for them. In one of my best inspirations ever, I gave 200 daffodil bulbs to some friends that got married and bought property in upstate NY. I made a trip to help plant them. I hear they are still going strong.

Other testaments to their longevity: there was some daff foliage in my back yard the year I got here (1997), in a shady, trampled spot. The yard changed - trees were removed, tramping patterns changed, and after about a decade they bloomed for the first time. That section of the yard had a very rough year last year, with home renovations and fence construction, so I see the foliage but I don't know if they will bloom.

Back in the utility section, these were here before I got here.

There are other daffs that predate my arrival, though, that are still going strong. And most (but not all) of the bulbs I've planted over the last 22 years are still going strong. Of the bulbs I planted last fall, most are not yet blooming, only just sticking their foliage up. (I read this is typical for the first year, and possibly not driven by the fact I only planted them very late, the week before my knee surgery in December.)

Not robust, but still going.

Curb appeal? I planted lots, and not all survive.
A new wall, a new curb, repairs to the wall,
and trampling all big stressors

Front walk

By the front door

Spring is slowly springing..

The crocuses popped open yesterday, all over the yard.

Minor steps forward

Just a couple of hours spent outside. I spread some beautiful LeafGro on the emerging daylilies along the street, just one bag. I need many more bags, but they are heavy and I was not able to lift a whole bag that was wet inside. So I wrassled one into a shopping cart, then the trunk of the car, then flipped it out into the street, all without it ever being held completely aloft. I'm hoping both that dryer bags will be lighter, and that I will continue to get stronger.

I did some pruning:  the pagoda dogwood by the front window, the fringe tree, the white pine over the fringe tree, and lastly I cut the big, horizontal, branches of the butterfly bush by the back door.

The big job I did was trash the old deer cage around the back bed. I ordered, and received, a pre-made cage from Gardener's Supply. It only took about 20 minutes to trash it - most of the wood I was able to snap into manageable sized pieces, and the plastic netting tore easily. I haven't deployed the new one yet - I figure I'll wait until it's dry enough to turn the bed over, fortify it, and then put in the new cage. Not sure what I'll grow - I was thinking melons and squash this year. Maybe just a cherry tomato?

Meanwhile, most of what was blooming last week is still going, and in fact is looking better. Only the early crocus, which I forgot about until I saw last week's post. I went out to look, and they are still there, but closed up tight because of the gloomy weather.

Some of the hellebore lift their heads up, but most are pointed down.

This keeps looking better and better.

Still sparse blooms

Look close - closed up tight.

Pulling out the Calycanthus

I spent a couple of hours today digging up and disposing of suckers from the Carolina Sweetshrub, Calycanthus.  It is something I planted a long, long, time ago, I think from Behnkes, and it has suckered prolifically. With the extra sunshine and lack of competition after the spruce fell last year, it has really taken over. As it's been raining a lot the past few days, the ground is wet and muddy. It was a bit too wet to be ideal for digging, but roots came out relatively easily. I should have space for new and sunny plants going forward. I think, with repeated sessions, I'm going to get it down to almost nothing there. I was thinking more indigo there, in the pure sun but exposed to the deer.

It was really good to spend a couple of hours outdoors. It really restores my soul to breathe the air and feel I'm making a difference. The plan had been to clean up the corner - and I did a bit of that - but I was taken with the bug for the more difficult digging task and I felt so good I was up to it. It didn't seem to bother the knee to drive the fork in (though the ground was so soft hard to tell). I need more time in the garden! Hard freeze is coming on again mid-week.

I planted the remaining crocuses. I had taken them off the porch a while back and tossed them in the fridge vegetable compartment. They all went together into a big bowl, which I am hoping Rocky will not be too interested in. I really need to put it elsewhere, but on the table in his room is the best spot.

On impulse, I bought a suet package at the hardware store and put it out in the feeder. I didn't check too often to see if it was being accessed. I recall reading that this time of year, this is very helpful to breeding birds. They need fat.

I ordered a cage for the 4x8 bed, and a kneeling bench. I did have a hard time getting down to the soil on the corner, where going down on one knee would have been good.

Signs of Spring

What's blooming today

Winter jasmine, just about to get going.

Hellebore, safely sequestered in an isolated corner

Many crocii have foliage out, but these are the first blooms I've seen. I swear they weren't open earlier today, but the weather warmed so rapidly in the afternoon, here they are, just before sunset.

The witchhazel is still going

What's Blooming Today

Just the witchhazel, but it's cheerful.