Thursday, April 23, 2009

Organized.

Late Wednesday evening, I finally got my plants organized. I dumped many containers with no germination or dead seedlings. I put everything at the end of the driveway. They'll get morning sun here, but be protected next week when the temperatures reach into the upper 80s. Welcome to summer, folks.

Wintersown pot ghetto


Picked over annuals


Organized and arranged


There are only 3-5 wintersown containers I plan to keep. There are dogwoods and cherry laurels growing on in individual cups. There are a few seedlings and cuttings I plan to put in the ground at some point. The rest just need to go.

In the garden, I planted the Kongmansia and 4 squash cups.





carrots, strawberries, peas, and borage


Cabbage and lettuce


I also planted out lots more annuals like zinnia and a few morning glories. I'm trying to get my purples in the bed by the front door. This summer, I'll take cuttings from my rose bushes and propagate some reds to mix into this bed. At some point, the Japanese Maple will need to find a new home as the area transitions into a rose garden mixed with purple salvias and lavender. Coreopsis "Moonbeam" will be added here along the edge in the fall when I divide the two I have growing in the perennial bed.

On one of my daily walks through the yard, I started pinching plants. The agastache, petunias, pineapple sage, butterfly bushes, and lots more got pinched. I'm hoping to inspire more growth and bushier plants. It may mean losing some early blooms, but it should be worth it in the end. Another week or so and I can pinch the zinnias and other tender annuals.

I spent some time sitting on the front steps trying to figure out what I want from the entry. I've decided that since I already have lots of broken concrete in the gully, I'll rip out my old walkway, break the pieces into irregular chunks and lay them in a curving pattern. The bricks of the steps will become my firepit in the backyard. I'll tackle the steps from the driveway to the front yard at some point this summer. They're in really bad shape and just need to be rebuilt from scratch.

Today is a work day. I'll be off again on Friday. Depending on circumstances, I might get another load of leaf mulch from the landfill. I want to extend the white bed in the rear corner along the wall marking the property line. I've got the stones already for the edge, I just need to work some organic stuff into the clay and rock back there. I'd like to plant castor beans along the wall and let the moonvines grow through them. We'll see how I feel on Friday.

5 comments:

Floral Still Life said...

It looks like you have everything under control! I like planting directly from seed so I can have plenty of blooms for my still life photos. I planted some zinnias yesterday - a pretty pink. I also planted a few sunflowers. Come by my blog and "smell the flowers." Today I posted an image of zinnias and old books. A few weeks ago I posted an image of some pretty blue morning glories in a clear dish. Visit me at http://photographyhints.blogspot.com

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

The wintersown pot ghetto cracked me up!
Looks like you are getting very organized. We won't have 80's here until July!

Jean Campbell said...

Funny, I plant dogwoods directly where they are to grow. The birds plant them where they think they would be convenient, and I dig those and transplant.

I always wanted to rip out the walkway, already cracked, and make a curving walk, but it is a bigger project than I can handle alone. The tractor will ruin my walkway garden. What to do, what to do?

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Wow, Tom, you sure are a busy guy! I'm sorry the winter sowing didn't work out so well. I hope everything else grows well.

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Floral, thanks for stopping by. I'll have to check out your blog photos.

Catherine, those were the leftovers. I've been pulling containers from that stash for a few months now. Lots of perennials were planted in the last 3 months.

Nell, I tried digging up dogwoods this winter. Apparently, I'm not as good at identifying them by their bark as I thought. I'll be transplanting these seedlings directly where I want them to grow in another month. Just waiting for them to get some more root mass. The walkway is a big project too. I'm nervous about starting it.

Sue, the wintersowing worked great. I have more plants than I know what to do with. :)