Sunday, March 28, 2010

Sloppy Sunday

After such a busy couple of weeks I must say I was delighted by having another day of rain. It has rained most of the day today.  I had to stay inside except for walking Luna of course.  I had time to think about all the work we have done these first spring days.  As you enter our garden from the back I put an arbor with a gate on it to welcome the neighbors and anyone else that enters.  At some time in the future there will be a sitting area right inside here.  It is just to the left of the Casa. 
When you look out from the sitting area you will see lots of things growing and blooming here. I will show it again when things are filled in more.
The bushes on either side of it were taken from the Holly bed.  This will give the holly and all the flowers around it more room to spread. 

As you can see most places have their blanket of mulch.  The mulching is almost finished. It feels so good to be this far along already. According to my garden journal we are ahead of schedule. Yay... Considering that we didn't mulch last year this feels like quite an accomplishment.
I am still waiting for the  Saucer Magnolia to pop. I can't wait to see it. We are to have beautiful weather the rest  of the week. It should be a good show. All of this rain has played havoc with the daffodils. I had to cut a bouquet of them to bring in because the poor dears were lying face down in the mud.  I had forgotten how fragrant they are.
I have some seeds I will have to get into the ground this week.  These are the seeds that Cyndy at Riverrim shared with me. They are a purple-flowering Dutch pea called "Norli". I can't wait to see them bloom.  Look Cyndy they are going to grow for me. I have never started seeds in paper towels this way. It is very easy I must say. Thank you so much for the opportunity Cyndy.
Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings was asking what everyone was doing for Easter.  Well, here we will have a big eat-a-thon. I am busy preparing for the hungry hordes.  Actually we don't have that many coming but it will be fun. I hope you all have a great week leading up to and including Easter. I am curious too. What are you doing for Easter?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Wonderful Wednesday

You probably think that I have fallen off the planet.  No, the opposite is true. I have been out in the garden working like a Trojan.  My Dearly Beloved has been driven by this warmer than usual March weather and we have been doing our weeding/mulching. Yes, 6 truck loads of mulch have been applied so far. That means that all beds that have been mulched have also been weeded.  Bushes moved and trimmed.  Even Luna thinks there has been just too much outside activity. It is difficult to keep up.
I am so pleased with everything so far.  I mean how can you even be angry with the henbit and dandelions that are popping up everywhere when you know that it means warm weather is on its way.
The later hellebores are now blooming. Red Lady is blooming for the first time.  I think she is going to be great in a few years when she fills out more.
The freckled helleores are one of my favorites though.
Another favorite of spring is the wild flower Spring Beauty. Of course it lives up to its name especially when they are well established in a lawn or flower bed and they look like a pink carpet. Gail wrote a beautiful post about these Spring Beauties as her Wildflower Wednesday post. I think you would enjoy reading it if you pop over here.
It is just marvelous to have so many colors in the garden now.
The daffodils cover most hues of yellow.
Then of course the crocus want to get into the act.
And what would spring be without a few tulips.  We are talking few here too. I must put them on my list for next fall. These little beauties used to be about a foot tall.  Now they barely peek over the grass.
I hope you all have been able to be out in the garden some this spring. I can say it is a delightful antedote to a long hard winter. I hope there are lots of promise in your garden now that spring has arrived.
What is showing promise in your garden now?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - March 2010

I didn't think I had any new blooms today to show for GBBD however this evening when I did my final walk about I found the first Daffodil in bloom. I didn't see it today because it is in a hidden spot. It is at the base of a tree where a few years ago after dividing many daffs I was tired of planting them so I threw the remaining bulbs in a pile under a bush.  Well, they showed me.  They are my first to bloom this year.   The only way you can tell they have been mistreated is that they are a little smaller than they should be. Other than that they are pretty as any yellow daffodil.
I also found another hellebore blooming. Not a whole lot of blooms on this plant but they are just beginning to bloom.
For more blooms go to Carol's May Dreams Garden.  You will see wonderous blooms from all over the world. Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day to you.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Another Beautiful

Spring Day in the garden.  Amazing what a little warm weather and sunshine will encourage one to accomplish.  I got out there and mulched the leaves in the flower beds with the mower. I have always wanted to try that but I usually wait until things are too high to pass over them with the mower. I will see how this works. It seems to be ok now.  I did nip a few things so we will see.

I also got some sweet pea seeds planted. I didn't plant them in place but I am trying the toilet roll potting up technique. I got the empty toilet rolls corralled in a box. I took them to the compost pile. I got a piece of wire fence and sifted some compost into the rolls.
Then I placed the seeds I had soaked overnight into the individual rolls and sifted more compost over the seeds.  One big lesson I learned is that I need a compost sifter.  It is a pain to sift compost this way. The seeds are happily ensconsed in their growing medium and all I can do is wait now.  They got a good drink of rain last night.
My Dearly Beloved got out and did a job that wasn't at all easy. He busted out a concrete pad that the former air conditioner sat on for years. It was buried under about 4 inches of soil. After he got that little project accomplished I dug out all the ferns and weeds that grew here.  I amended the soil with two wheelbarrow loads of compost.
I have had this start of a Fragrant Viburnum for some time. I had separated it from its parent plant last summer but didn't see a place to plant it until now.  I decided to plant it here so it will grow up and hide the hideous siding on the house plus it will afford us some more privacy from the road while we sit on the patio.   I need to get a load of mulch, one of many needed around here.
As you can see I set a two-rock stack in the corner of the bed.  I will move my minature hostas into this bed so I can see them more frequently.  This soil wasn't too bad here because I have over the years tossed my veggie scraps out the kitchen door.  They composted well here. I know most people actually bury their scraps but I only buried them with mulch.  Hey, it worked.  I hope all of your spring experiments will work out too.  What all have you been doing in your garden?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Happiness is

being able to get into the dirt.  What a delightful afternoon I had in the garden.  I don't feel like I accomplished much more than making my muscles sore but there is a nice pile of sticks and Helebore trimmings to show. 
The poor helebores had a harrowing winter to endure this year.  They had some gnarly looking leaves. Here is a before picture.
Here is an after.  This helebore was given to me and I can't remember the name of it but it is my best bloomer this year.  It has such beautiful white blooms.
Here is an up close photo.
The helebores in my garden that used to be my best bloomers were overtaken by ferns last year. So I spent some time digging out ferns.  I wish I had a place for them but unfortunately I don't.  I guess I could put them in the side lot and let them go rampant.  There are a few wet places they would probably adore.
As you can see the hellebores don't look very happy.  After I dug out the ferns I put some nice compost around them.
The only other thing blooming in my garden now are the yellow crocus. They had their sweet little faces wide open to catch the few sun rays that graced our area today.
I still haven't seen a bee or a butterfly. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. I am ever hopeful. Have you had any insects in your garden yet this year?

New Blogger, Old Blogger

     All I can say it is difficult to deal with change. This new Blogger format is not as user friendly in my opinion. I guess I will get us...