haller plot 2010

More Raised Beds

Originally uploaded by mrwalker

to strive for

Note to lazy, future self: please buy 100 species bulbs and plant them this fall. l think it’s the biggest pay off chore you can commit to.

The bulbs in the shed beds need replacing. The heirloom bulbs Ben gave me when we first moved here have been a delight- the tall snowdrops opened this week, as did the one white daffodil under the witch hazel.

Today was the first day since last July that I felt complete joy in the garden. Small surprises today, the Epimedium is in bloom (I had to whack away weeds to find it), The solomon seal is coming up, the red tulips on the hill opened.

I spent the day pulling weeds and ripping out sod (…if there is a hell on earth…), mowed the back lawn and weed whacked.

It is good to know the plant fanaticism returns. There is some lingering sadness over my inability to mentally remain active last summer.

I am still avoiding the front yard.

The Rugosa Rose is the biggest pay off from last year, growing so strong. I love spring.

As always, there should be better planning next year, I’ll just have to remember to take advantage of the next three months when I actually feel like doing work.

I have a hell of a lot of seeds to plant tomorrow.

I finally planted the smoke bush, I hope it gets enough sun. The cute little pink flower bush I ignored and let rot in it’s pot all winter — bit it. I should not be allowed to buy anything in August or September.

The tree peony is emerging, which excited me greatly until I looked at notes from last year that said the same thing, and we know later in the summer, no dice.

More things to put into the hill:

Japanese Butterbur, Curry plant (I need sun).

Okay, and the dahlias need to go into pots. I will not be spending my Sunday digging up sod in the front.

Just can’t do it.

Also, don’t forget to feed everyone. Hello.

**Just a note on this spring- it was the first day one would actually feel like working in the yard this year.

Sunday is supposed to be nice, and then a good old dip back down into the cold.

Even with the promise of all the tulips in the world, I am having trouble being motivated.

Perhaps one could blame the rain for one more day.

And I had been thinking of taking a long weekend.

No.

Next fall please plant early blooming daffodils.

The landscape is so barren right now, I can’t stand it.

Also it’s cold, damp and uninviting.

March is the month for impatience.

I went outside to just do one dreaded task (the annual picking up of the dog poop) when suddenly I found myself full bore into garden chores. Just a clearing of leaves there yielded a crop of bulbs ready to pull from the earth, a trim of overrun grass there cheered up another corner and a wack of the leaves to the hellebores left them all looking rather smart. I would lock the shed and another task would catch my eye, and I would march back in, promising just five more minutes.

The neglect is guilt rendering, but I also find it remarkable, in this year three of gardening, that some of my work has managed to pass on long run results. Bulbs planted two years ago are appearing, buds are forming on shrubs, and other plants are setting their green nibs.

Clearing out the shed earlier, I found boxes of all the plant tags I had unceremoniously kept in case I needed information down the line (Ha! the first time I had ever looked at them). I stood there in awe over the amount of plants that have gone into the ground and unfortunately many have not returned. I had forgotten about so many. And some of the ones that have survived are looking a little sad.

That being said though, I did in the earlier part of last year get some things done. I attempted to finish planting the slope, which I can see after a nasty winter is going to be another full time chore.

I made a bed for my irises and very favorite plant- the Wild Spice rose (talk about bounty from neglect). There was much dirt digging, which unfortunately soured me on that particular task still, but once it is done, it is done.

Chore List:
I had so many thoughts about what I want to do when I was out there. There are roses and the smoke bush to plant. I think it is time to move the Hydrangea, and maybe put a shade lover there in it’s place.

I have seeds to start sowing indoors. And then there is hard scape. If I could manage to get some more privacy in the works I would be so much happier about being out there.

Also all those irises that Yvette gave me last fall that I planted in the raised beds out back, will need to be transplanted in the near future.

Next weekend I really need to put up the compost the straw and get some weed pulling in if the weather is nice. I was out there in a shirt and vest today, the first decent weather since I have been sick any way. And geez, a full day for sure, I need to cut down some trees. Or time them, what ever.

And I want documentation. Time to revisit flickr.

Here is a challenge: how can I become an engaged gardening 12 months of the year versus six. And maybe we are including February in that equation, and at this point the month is almost over.

PS- This seems an oddity- I almost got right in the way of a yellow jacket on my hellebore today. Isn’t it too cold for them?

A few kind words from Mr. Demetre:

Your hands hold roses in a way that says
They are not only yours; the beautiful changes
In such kind ways,
Wishing ever to sunder
Things and things’ selves for a second finding, to lose
For a moment all that it touches back to wonder.

from Richard Wilbur, “The Beautiful Changes”

Thank you!

*a tiny footnote, for various reasons I’ve taken the comments sections out, mainly to skirt that modern marvel of spam. Yet I had to share Jim’s lovely sentiments today.

Rallying myself to wade into the drifts to refill the bird feeders that were buried in snow last night.

Sunflowers, meet winter.

The pre-winter chores were done just in the nick of time, it has been nasty and not the sort of weather you just want to hang out in at all.

I completely forgot about the paperwhites I had potted up two weeks ago, and they sit nicely outside in the snow, probably not a ghost of a chance for them now.

On Gardening with Cisco this week offered up a remarkable tip, one I actually participated in today.
How to remember when to plant your bulbs? Do it at the same time you put your Christmas lights up.

Today Ben put up the Christmas lights and I finally put those incredible iris rhizomes that Yvette gave me into the ground. It has been a few weeks (since crush actually) and I am terrified that I might have killed them. Sigh. Actually I put them into the raised bed to winter over and hope to transplant them in the spring to a more permanent spot in the front yard. However, since the front yard is such an overwhelming task, I think I will now refuse to profess to those many projects that might never get done.

I have realized I am only one type of gardener, and that is a hapless gardener. Today in the shed, I looked down at the table and saw the bowl of paper whites I had been ignoring since last year had started to sprout. I put them in a couple of tiny pots….there is no such thing as planning ahead in my life.

Now remember how you wished you had planted more snowdrops all over the yard.

I also need to put some cute flowers in the box outside on the front side of the house. The cyclamen did not survive my neglect.

Some other year we’ll forgive ourselves for the complete and utter lack of attention to everything this year. I would also like to point out, it was right now, a year ago I completely lost interest in gardening. I am completely aware of that now this year and it is easy to see why. Things are dying. It is hot. The heat, while great for my precious day lilies, lilies and dahlias, is not great for much else. Once the heat comes on I am not in the yard (too uncomfortable). I am praying, praying for privacy- I can not even remotely tolerate working in the front year, so things do suffer, and it looks like hell.

So I hope I can keep it up for a bit this year. We need to put some hard scape in and time just marches on and it doesn’t get done. I am broke as hell this summer (and in denial of that as well) so not as much has happened. Pickles has also brought down some of my lovely plants, broken garden ornaments and generally caused havoc which is depressing some days. The heap is still there. There is not much to tell.

Actually I should do a post about June and the loveliness that it was. The poppies were magnificent and the Lupines were fantastic and out of control. The rain was still here, so everything was lush (literally in one week’s time the grass has died). The clematis was nice, but we seem to be having trouble with them.

Yes, and I should document more carefully what is going on right now. It would be good to figure out what to use to fill in things right now, it is bleak season. I still have not forgotten my promise to turn the whole yard over to bulbs this fall.

More soon, or in the near future I hope.

This weekend was chore riddled.
I spent most of the three day weekend just doing maintenance to the yard. Mowing both front and back, weed wacking and my new favorite, cutting grass by hand between all the plants I put into both slopes and there is not enough room to weed wack but too much room where that nasty grass with seeds at the end completely took over the yard and obscured everything.

Ben started taking over the deck which is lovely, there is so much else to do.
The best things in bloom this week are the alliums , which are glorious and the Russell Lupines are out of control. Kind of a let down in this interim between tulips and the next round, I am not sure what I could plant to be in bloom the last two weeks of May.

I finally got some of the dahlias into the ground that I bought from tuber this last February. I wish I had been savvy enough to have started the whole lot in pots six or eight weeks ago. Next year I hope I have soil dug out and pots started for many things at this point in the year.

Having a potting shelf on the side of the house to stack soil and empty pots would be really handy. There is much trash to be hauled away.
Also having a nice gravel path back there would be nice too.

At the end of the day I sat in the secret garden and felt satisfied, it’s just hard at this time of year to be able to really relax and enjoy all the fruits of your labor.

Next year I hope not so much f-ing sod digging.

The first of the spiderwort blooms appeared today. Also, the clematis in the secret garden bloomed- a beautiful pink flower.