Shock of spring and then cold...

We had a very hot beginning of spring this year, so the crocuses and the snowdrops were done by March 20th when they often are just emerging. Then the forsythia bloomed a month early, but thanks to a cold snap they are still blooming. I don't mind an early spring, but to have 6 weeks worth of spring bulbs bloom in one week is too much. We have the national garden club this year, and as such, we are expecting to provide most of the horticulture for the flower show....I planted tulips for that purpose, but they are already up...so what will be blooming then? Who knows. My allium are coming up nicely, and I hope they are in bloom at the correct time. I am really looking forward to the weird A. schuberti heads. That should be pretty interesting.

Anyway, we have some heavy freezes because of this early spring that hurt the too-early emerging plants -- like peonies, hostas (what on earth are they doing up?), and the lilac, hydrageas, and currant bush. I found burlap and sheets is the best choice.
I'm thinking of planting the peas this weekend, since it is workable soil. Also getting some other things going.
Cool and uncool at the same time to have such an early spring. And then compare it to last year where everything seemed two week late!!!

This season's work so far in brief

Just dug up the old Rose Floribunda and planted the shrub my mother decided she didn't want -- Pieris Japanica. It's quite striking and not too bad next to the garage. The red currant bush is absolutely loaded with berries-to-be this year. Saturday I divided up the Japanese anemone which has really gotten big over the last 6 years. I dug up all the new clumps and gave some away and will deliver more for the plant sale. Also put two clumps else where on the property -- one in the mint bed and one behind the rose bush. I don't know if they will do as well, but we can always hope.
What do I need to do next?
*I need to dig up all the mugwort Lee gave me two years ago, as it suddenly really spread. I will try to keep it in a pot.
*I need to plant peas and fava bean seeds after I turn over the soil in the veggie garden. So far I have only raked up some of the hay. Need to weed it too.
* I need to finish weeding the back yard beds.
*I need to do something with that wild garden that is next to the garage. Also dig up lots of the oregano. I must find another place for some of it.
*I need to finish the schedule for the flower show too.

I'm the snowdrop fairy

Down the street there is a vacant property that used to be a magnificent garden....years ago I was told there were thousands of tulips and then it became a Japanese garden with the next owners. An owner later it was sold. The people behind bought it in order to ensure no one built a house on it. They took care to mow the lawn and keep it in general order. The first spring we lived there, I noticed a field's worth of snowdrops. I asked the owner for permission to take some, and she was more than happy to give her consent. I planted these along the garage and other places...that year I also got some from my godmother Betty, who is turning 90 years old on Saturday! These snowdrops are different from the ones in the field, but I can't find how they are different. Anyway, to make a long story short, the property was sold along with the house on next street to someone who did not care about the property at all. It has lots of lovely wild flowers, but they get out of hand and so once in a while they wholesale chop it down rather than maintain it. In the spring, the old faithful snowdrops come up, and they are multiplying. Every year I take a clump for someone. This year, I dug up more clumps and spent hours separating the bulbs and potting them up. Why? Because of all the weeds that might be in the soil. Sad, but I got bishop's weed that way a few years ago. Anyway, I now have about 10 small pots and 2 big ones...I gave some to my neighbor Kristin and she called me the "snowdrop fairy". So that's what I am.

I will plant the snowdrop later, after they have finished blooming, and I see where the other spring bulbs come up.
Now out to enjoy another beautiful day a bit. I may rake thatch since my cold is better.

Post summer and holiday time

Wow. It has been so long since I posted. I got caught in a busy semester and never got back to it. Admittedly I spent more time on face book than here, due to the more immediate interaction.

I DID finish the revamping of the back triangle and the middle circle. I pulled up the black eyed Susans, gave some to a neighbor and put some back where the lilies used to be next to the goldenrod. Next spring I will really have to pull up seedlings of goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace as they have spread too much. I transplanted the lilies to the circle along with some Japanese irises in two different colors that I got on a garden walk....I'm not sure they will come up though since they looked pretty dead. Time will tell. Also tried to dig up the small crocusmania and put in that bed with lilies. I think I saw one crocusmania in the old location with the valerian.

Other things I moved were Russian sage, but I don't think it likes its new location. It may not live. In which case, I will get a new one and add more compost to the hole. In the triangle, I also planted a deep red cardinal flower/perrenial lobelia in the back of the beard tongue and culvert root, as well as a tomato soup echinicea...they are both pretty. The yellow butterfly bush is at the very back between the lavendar plants. I moved the vervain, which may not come back being a tender perennial in this area, but it is also a kind of verbena. Jupiter's beard/valerian root I left in place.

In the triangle I also put the rue, since it isn't a very edible herb. I FORGOT to harvest the caraway in time...so I should have lots of baby caraway in the spring. I think I need to move the sorrel to the edible herb garden in the spring.

Finally, a few other things in the circle. I moved the globe thistle and the sea holly. I no longer expect any delphinium will come up, but I could be wrong. I would like to put some other lilies in that will bloom earlier than the oriental ones. There's also some agastache that Lee S. gave me that are on the north end of the circle.

My hydrangea did well this year thanks to protecting them not during the winter but in the early spring. I plan to wrap them in burlap after Xmas and do the same for the oak leaf one by the chimney so the rabbits don't eat it.
I need to look out for the spreading evening primrose in front of the hydrangeas -- see how they actually do or don't spread. I definitely want to try to grow more "dried" flowers this coming spring. I hope it will be warmer.

Plans for February, late. Start seedlings of stock flowers. After spring break in March, I want to start other seeds. I have many of them. Plant the shizo this year and the celosia. It should be a less rainy and warmer summer this year. Next spring, plant the lemon cucumbers and pickle cucumbers, bring the peas back into the vegetable garden. Pull up the broccoli plants. Grow beans in containers, try eggplant in containers too. Peppers definitely worked best in containers. I will try to direct sow lettuce and spinach in late March or early April this year in the veggie patch since I left the fence up. Peas in early April this year, I think. Florence fennel worked well in pots. Forget corn. Definitely do more interplanting like Sally Cunningham's book suggests. If I remember, cut back the invasive buckthorn when the weather is 40ish. Get garden boots.

Tomorrow I plan to make a flower arrangement for Xmas. Maybe I'll post a picture. I want to talk about my seven son flower bush tomorrow too.

A beautiful day for a harvest and a re-organization

I plan to harvest some veggies today. A few tomatoes, a few green beans, some side shoots of broccoli since all the main heads are gone, and maybe a cucumber and an eggplant. The okra doesn't seem to want to get higher despite the warmer days now. I guess I need to try some fertilizer. I am into organic, so I'll give them some fish fertilizer. The pumpkin vines are bearing lots of flowers, but only two pumpkin fruits are showing so far.

My lame perennial bed is going to get things dug up today even though it is "too early". I will also put other things in the ground. The strawberries have never done much, so I'm thinking of just removing them -- they don't bear much fruit.

The lavender at the back needs to be moved forward, and the chamomile with the metallic tasting flowers could be thinned, since it's only ornamental. I'll also greatly thin the fast spreading campanula that I planted a few years ago...it is too aggressive. I like the flowers but not at the sacrifice of everything else. Some of the pinks haven't bloomed in a few years either, so they might need more compost and maybe dividing. Not sure. Anyway, this is a multiple day project and I need compost to really fix the soil. One small compost pile with a pumpkin growing in it won't do the trick for me.

That's the plan at this point. I'll post what I actually do later.

Ken-Ton garden tour compared to my garden.

While the Buffalo Garden walk is the most amazing in terms of what people can do with small lots, and I saw some of the best flowers there, I did not see many vegetable gardens. The Ken-Ton walk had a number of modest victory gardens. One home had a row of raspberry bushes in raised beds and another row of currant bushes in raised beds -- not a bad idea. The rest of the gardens were similar to what I have seen before in other years. ONE garden though was particularly incredible -- on Delaware Road near where it meets Delaware Ave. The front and house are modest, but the back yard goes deeper, deeper, and deeper. They had lots of nice flower beds, corn patches, veggie patches, and several ponds/water features. The lady across the street had the biggest container garden I've seen to date -- but all were flowers.

It makes me happy about my front and side to see what others do, but not so thrilled with the perennial bed in the back, and the herb garden I have is a bit messy. My castor bean plants are still only 8 inches tall, but the ones on Delaware were over 5 feet tall and wide. No flowers though. I think they (Delaware gardens) have really rich soil, which I know I don't in our back. However, my veggie garden is satisfactory. There I think I am doing something right. The okra are the only things not growing, and I think it hasn't been hot enough in July. Now it is warmer. So we'll see if they grow.

I planted a button bush and a seven son flower tree yesterday. We'll see how they do in the exposed front. Looking forward to the flowers for the seven son tree in a few weeks.

Thoughts on what to put in a horticultural design in August

Today was the first really warm and sunny day. Plants were actually droopy. I haven't had to do much watering beyond the containers this year -- due to all the rain. I'm going through the garden trying to come up with the names of 15 genera Katherine and I can request for our horticultural mass design. Yeah, that's right....not even different cultivars or related species, but totally different genera.

Annuals -- (they need to really be able to stand being in oasis and bloom for at least 3-4 days before pooping out) marigolds, snapdragons, bells-of-Ireland, cosmos, celosia, amaranth, salvias, lantana, zinnia.
(not petunias, impatiences, or delicate hanging things) maybe nemesia, torentia, lycanthia.

Perrenials in bloom now -- echinicia, rubeckia, Queen Anne's Lace, Russian Sage, some mallow, late blooming astible, some early blooming chrysanthemum, perhaps some speedwell/veronicas. Add obedience plant, gaillarda/blanket flower, sea holly and globe thistle.
The catch for all of this is that they have to horticulturally perfect. So that rules out my zinnias. But maybe my hydrangeas. Otherwise, I don't know what can come from my garden. Gladiolas are too tall and you'd have to pick them before much of it was open.
Next week we collect what we can and put something together. Fun but challenging!!!