After the Rains

Well, after 9 straight days of heavy rain, I have spent two mornings, pulling away the rotting bits from all my new plantings. Proud to say I only lost 2 plants so far. The others see like they will recover.  Thanks to Jimmy drilling extra drainage holes in all my planters. Some things that were newly planted actually seem to have benefited from the cool weather and saturation of water.  The sweet bud? trees we found road side on a steep mountain edge, had completely died off, and I was afraid I would be sorry for bringing it home. But, after all that rain there are definite signs that it is once again green into the very extreme ends of the stems. No signs of leafing as of yet, but it will be one thing that the dense rain would benefit from. Jimmy says his wee little wild rose is much taller as well. So that is at least 2 reasons to be proud of the floods.  My oak leaf hydrangea, is looking like it died back as well, but I continue to hope it will be another recipient of the blessings.

I took pics of everything around the house, just because I like to see its progress from newest planting to taking hold to full blown hardy. I will need to fertilize before Saturday when it is supposed to rain a some again. I am afraid the amount of rain may have washed the nutrients from the soil.  Of course, everything that had flowers, no longer has flowers, or they are brown or spotted or something indicitive of too much water. But the buds that are appearing on almost everything, gives me hope they will recover. The violets we rescued on the clearance table for $2, which I pinched and allowed to dry from overwatering, are also recovering nicely inside on my morning sun window seal. The 2 orchids we bought to make corsages from actually are putting on new orchids and new shoots.  So proud they will continue to be a joy on the ledge above my sink under constant flourescent light.

As I type this, sitting at the table on my deck, I can hear so many birds, but occasionally am treated to a Great Crested Flycatcher and his mate.  They seem to be staying around, perhaps to nest...I hope. A baby house finch, which is unable to fly very high at this point, landed on Jimmy's shirt. It might be wise that I watch carefully for the neighborhood cats till his little family is stronger. Something happened to the baby Carolina Wrens, but the Chickadee nest that is in the hole in the tree just above eye level from the deck, see to be faring well. I expect to see them fledged any day.  I have vines that are almost consuming some of my trees, and although they aren't good for the trees, they make excelent cover for the fledging birds.

We moved the container gardens around a bit to better suit the rising and setting of the sun and how the leaves have filled in on the trees. Most of my plants will accept shade, but those that need some sun must be placed where they will get the most. One tag said, "Morning sun only." So upon checking some of the others I discovered at least 3 that prefered morning sun. So they went to the morning sun end of the bed. Those requiring more sun to the afternoon end of the bed. Already, I can see a difference in their brightness.  The columbine, some of which I bought near the end of it's bloom, has seed pods galore. I hope that doesn't mean they are difficult to get to come up. But this morning I discovered a handful of dry pods, with rattling pods.  I picked them with delight to put in envelopes with my collection of other seeds.  It is definitely time to get some of them into the tented potting bed, and see if I can come up with some plants. I especially want gourds, and the two tomatos Jimmy had me keep from last year.  My little pie pumpkins whose flesh was as good as pudding, never mind the pies, would be wonderful to have succeed.

My last thought is to say how much I have fallen in love with Verbena. A variety called Superverbena by Proven Winners has me wanting to collect every color.  My purple from last year, wintered through ice and snow, and 20 degree temps, up on my deck in a raised container! Given it was near the house, I suppose it was protected a bit, but even the ends of the vines that were completely covered in ice are in full bloom now. What is great, it didn't die back, but instead bloomed directly from the long lush vines. I have a peach one growing in one of my deck rail planters in hopes that it will become as lush and full to be showy next year from the road. Every time I see a different color I want it, but alas I only have two. A day may come however, that all my deck rail planters have nothing other than showy colors of verbena. It doesn't seem to root from the vines however, so I will have to determine how to divide it, or multiply the colors for more plantings. If all else fails, I will buy the plants! Eventually. LOL

April Flowers

I don't come to this page as often as I should, but it is my favorite page to post the updates on gardens in the spring. This year my husband is retired. I have discovered that he really does like gardening, or at least how it looks when I do it. We had a surprise check come, and since I was disappointed that getting poison ivy rash cost us the whole of my flower budget, which we saved for, my husband wanted to spend the surprise ck instead. Last year I bought containers on sale, deciding, it had to be easier to maintain the flowers with less weeding in decent sized containers. I really didn't think I had so many, but by the time I cleaned out the old hanging baskets from last years annuals, and replanted the bannister baskets that showed signs that some things from last year survived, I almost had as much as last year, before I started on the new planters.

We bought 6's on sale; ie. 6 starter plants to a container for about a dollar or so each. That goes a long way if you buy just 30 dollars worth.  Then we bought certain 3' perinials so I don't have to buy it all again next year.  Then we found select plants to fill certain containers, all perinials, and all shade lovers except the Iris, and the foxglove. I planted like planters in similar colors or all alike.  4 new deck rail planters, deep and long. 6 new long planters to set around the large bed out back, and 6 large pedastal planters with unique shade lovers.  I put the pedastal ones inside the border and the long low ones outside the border. It was just enough. I moved two from last year, the lenten rose and a swamp lily to on either side of the long bed with the bench we restored last year between them.  I reoganized the children's area, where we feed birds, and added 2 small and 4 large long low planters, in terra cotta color, because I already had one huge long planter out there on the corner. I replanted the wire hanging baskets out there, and put dug up the clematis from the bed and put it in a concrete planter which has a tower on which it may climb.

We hung 3 new hanging baskets and the 3 old ones in the dogwoods on either end of the house, and finally found two large ferns to go with them. We really enjoyed having hanging baskets in the trees last year.  I plowed a matching bed on the opposite side of the driveway, down by the road on the mailbox side. Last year I transplanted lavendar shamrocks from the mailbox side into the peony bed on the opposite side. This year I will transplant peonies to the mailbox side so next year they will match. My precious grandson helped me dig away the grass, and plant the bear grass border, and I found Red peony roots to plant at the very back to begin a contrasting color in the backof the bed to provide a foil for the pink and lavender there. The shamrocks have done so well out there over the years. They fill in so thick and are full and beautiful in the sun. I planted a new perenial that really liked the sun into small pedastal planters, and as soon as they recover from replanting, I will place them out there in the border. I had planted dahliahs last year into planters that were too small, so I replanted them into large square planters that I will place at each level of the steps from the front yard onto the driveway level.  This step cut through goes under one of the dogwoods and save valuable steps when we are tired. The dahliahs are growing ever so slowly, I hope they will bloom this year after replanting.

Ajuga from a friend over 20 years ago has made itself known this year.

One day we happened upon a pulloff on a regular road, not private nor park grounds, and there were wild flowers galore springing up where as the ground hardened for summer, the cars would run over them. I am not ususally a person who removes wildflowers from their spots, but I couldn't see letting them just be destroyed, and I had a place at the back of the lot whose soil and leaf mulch/pine content was so similar to this spot. It also stays moist back there, too much to plant other things. So I rescued several wonderful little jewels. We brought them home and planted this garden immediately, and to our great joy, it seems to be surviving for now. Then one day in a cemetery we found 3 items we never saw before, and taking careful consideration not to take them from grave areas, but rather from roadside mowing areas, we added those jewels to proper habitats out back. As I cleaned away weeds and violets, I discovered items I had tried to propogate many years ago had finally taken hold, and a couple of things that I had brought from Moms before she died, now in their 3rd year, were blooming and had spread beyond my expectations. So we went on a transplanting spree. I took a few pots I had about and planted them with the various ajugas and some tiny blue ground covers. So far they are making wonderful plantings.

 We found male and female of a unique, heavily berried China holly with tiny leaves and placed it near the holly I had babied and saved from the mower more than once.  It is finally 2 feet tall and very full and tree shaped. Perhaps I can coax into a Christmas tree shape. We rescued some tiny 1 foot hollies from the house next door which has been abandoned and burned out for almost 2 1/2 years. I use the hollies at Christmas in arrangements and have needed my own bushes for years. I now have hopes of a constant supply.

 We transplanted an 6-8' mondo grass I planted years ago about a tree, that had been uprooted when we had septic work done. I hadn't noticed that it was springing up all over the back of the lot, I suppose because my husband always mows it down. But it appeared in places before he mowed that I was able to rescue it from, and re-established it near where it was, but used it to make borders for places I no longer want him to mow. The hostas from last year are humongous from the amount of rain we have gotten this spring, and they will need to be spread out. One more wonderful item to border the beds or provide a backdrop for lowgrowing ground covers.

 For the first time, I mixed mother's lily of the valley, a few plants Mrs Love gave me, and a few that continued to be trampled at the back of the lot (where everyone seemed to want to climb down into the creek, and never cared that I planted my little plants there for "safety.") But they seem to love it in this little corner up front, where they get glints of sun morning and evening, and the rain from the gutter that spills into their bed. For the first time in all the years I have tried to get them growing, I have blooms! Lily of the Valley ! A gift from God.

 A tiny blue ground cover is doing exactly that, and the only thing I am leary of is that it will cover ajugas and lily of the valley too. So I will need to bring its agressive little self into ck. The lavendar lilacs bloomed more this year than last. So we bought two lovely white Kimberlys.  Tiny blooms but already quite a few on a very small plant. Hope it continues to bloom so much. We attempted to give it more sun, and it was on a clearance rack.

Speaking of, about time I thought I had everything in the ground on in beds, we found this clearance. Several things I had already passed by because they were expensive were there for from 1 to 4 dollars.  I bought the 2 lilacs, 3 Rhodedendron, 2 mountain fire,  and a bright red blooming bronze leafed sedum. We planted it along side mother's which hasn't bloomed yet, and my lovely purple one which matured to draw in the butterflies last year.

 We unearthed on more wildflower that is popping up profusedly everywhere this year, and started it along side the ajuga that I have babied for 17 years out back. We discovered an old fern had come back from under the ivy and cleared a space for it in amazement, because we haven't seen it in several years. It is a very unique broad leafed, shiny fern. I thought I had lost it, and can not replace it. The Rex begonia with huge curly leaves is finally putting up shoots.  So when we found two more unique shapes and colors, we got one of each for the last of my planters to sit in empty stands already on the deck. We bought a mosquito plant to see if it works. and placed it on the floor of the deck.

 The swamp lilies we rescued from the burn property have multiplied profusely, I have several planters coming up full of them this year, and have given them to my neighbor and to my daughter, have prepared a pot for my son, and all the ones we threw away are standing a foot tall in the leaf mulch piled high into the limbs we piled to make and artificial bank between us and the creek.  They like sun or shade and last year they bloomed so profusely, that I fully intend to cut some this year.

The moss path that I started years ago is looking like a moss pass this year. I want to add more varieties of mosses to the yard, purhaps even making a couple of moss gardens, on damp, on dry.

So today we got every last thing planted, and established where the borders will be for me to transplant hostas, or mondo grass to stop Jimmy from cutting into the flowers. I sharpley trimmed the rose of Sharon, and cut one out completely recently, and was glad to see them rejuvenating really well.  I pruned the little bush of bells from Moms into a fountain shape and ripped out the honeysuckle that was strangling it. It is filling in well. I must find a trellis for the honeysuckle when it comes back out, because it surely will. The fig tree has spread. Hope it doesn't drop fruit like last year.  And we discovered a wild rose. It is tiny now. Will have to wait to see how it does.
So, it is now time to begin civilizing the growth along the creek bank, which has grown willy-nilly. We must get the pond in order again, and relevel the stones. And I want to do a couple of raised beds with food, herbs. Gourds, pumpkins squash perhaps. And somehow we must get the house painted.

We began a compost heap. It is breaking down nicely, and I hope to make my own dirt from one someday. But with some of that earth, I want to begin using all the pots I have saved from the plants I bought, and I want to propogate plants to share, or use in gardens to sell? Maybe. But most of all,  I want to make use of the enormous amount of ivy I have running up my trees to start making topiary shaped plantings. Something artistic that I have always wanted to do.  Well I will have to upload pictures later. But I love having this space to keep a record of this months work.

Late March and all of April, and these 6 days into May. And what a lot we have accomplished. May God bless it especially since he provided it as a surprise check.  How nice it has been to shop and work, and be free to enjoy the work and the results. And the company, which I never had before. And every lovely day, or slightly rainy day, that we could possibly get out and do this!