Muggy Sunday

It's 72 degrees and muggy. It looks like rain. Monday, they've promised us a whole day of rain. I'm going to have to spend some time today planting out a few things I picked up at basement prices thanks to my boss and Carla.

Orchid Primrose. Primula vialii



It looks best in mass plantings. I have a shady spot in front of the fence along the driveway that's perfect for it. I have 18 of them to plant. I spent less than the price of lunch at McDonald's.



I've also got Salvia leucantha. A customer promised me this last fall. She brought it in on Friday with a bunch of other things.



Daisy Gardenia is blooming. This one is on the rear corner of the house. I can smell it through the open windows of the back bedroom.



Wintersown impatiens. The first to bloom.



The crape myrtle bed is coming along. Pink, white, and purple.



Miniature roses from a Winterswap participant. I'll find somewhere to plant these over the next few weeks.



I'm supposed to help Carla with some wood from a tree taken down this winter that's still in her yard. It's her Birthday too.

1:55pm. Still no word back from Carla. I called her when I got home this morning.

All the plants are in place. Just as I finished, it's started raining. Passing showers should be common the next 4-5 days as we get back to normal weather. The soil is nice and wet. The transplants should get their roots down in no time at all. It's 81 degrees, humid, and raining. I love it.

Two Days Off.

It's good to have goals. Today, I will focus on getting the rest of these containers planted out. A couple are for people at work or customers that have asked for specific things. They'll be moved and one or two items need to be repotted before they split their containers. The rest will find homes in the beds around the backyard. I'm tired of looking at this mess.



I've already started this morning. About 7am, I made coffee and grabbed the shovel. The impatiens I sowed weeks ago were planted out. Hopefully, the squirrels won't dig all of these up. They've also eaten every nearly ripe strawberry.



I planted two rooted cuttings of Mystic Spires salvia in the perennial bed where I think I could use some purple. I can always use more purple.



If you've got purple, you've got to have orange.



The ditch lilies along the bottom of the retaining wall are about to explode.



The show is already starting near the mailbox where the concrete and asphalt create a warmer microclimate.



It's 59 degrees. The sun is out, but hazy clouds keep it from shining full force just yet. There's a chance of afternoon thunderstorms so I need to get a lot done this morning. Today is my day. I plan to spend it doing what I enjoy most, gardening. I'll also be doing some weeding in various parts of the yard as the mood strikes. I've already cleared about 8' of crabgrass from the edges of the driveway along the perennial bed. Feels good to have my hands in my dirt.

12:22pm - Done. The rest are just started seeds like coleus and some items for others. Only 23 more holes will be dug for those that are staying with me, assuming germination comes.



While planting out and watering, I noticed my first cosmos bloom. I like it.



And some pictures from around the perennial bed.







Can't forget the hot pink hybrid tea rose. It's so pink it's tacky.



It's 77 degrees. The hammock calls.

Hosta, impatiens, coleus

I finally planted them out late this morning too. I made a quick bed by the front sidewalk. Again, RoundUp was used a while ago to kill the creeping grasses and weeds. I used the pitchfork to turn the soil to a depth of 6". I added two bags of topsoil and watered well. Good drainage at least. After putting in the plants, I added two bags of mulch, one hardwood, one cypress. Broken bags are half price.



Hosta, impatiens, coleus.


Finally, I planted a pan of wintersown hosta in the empty spaces. They are still tiny, about the size of a silver dollar, maybe.





Though not happy with the front bed, this does continue the purple, foliage, shade theme I have going on opposite the sidewalk.



It's 82 and mostly sunny. Back to work.

The Perennial Bed

Ok, so I'm not really resting today like I said I would, but who can blame me? It's perfect gardening weather. 75 degrees, overcast, muggy, and a sprinkle of rain comes through every hour or so. I'm taking advantage of this day off. It'll be the last one for a while.

Real quick, what I've gotten done today. I use this as a way to record my garden's growth.

Created a new bed for my daylilies.








18 cubic feet of composting leaves later, I planted geraniums, petunias, and daylily seedlings that were wintersown. I expect this bed to look "weedy" for a while. I may throw some other annuals in there as they are cloned.






Took cuttings from the two white geraniums.


and the black sweet potato vine


Potted up coleus and impatiens




I took cuttings of lantana, guara (white), provence lavender, some petunias, and several other things. The kong cutting is ready to be potted.

But now, for the real reason I wanted to make this post. The perennial bed is really impressing me. I've had little luck or experience growing perennials. I had always purchased plants only to find that something kills them long before I do. Maybe I overwater. Maybe I don't water enough. In any case, they die.

This year is different. Most of my plants were wintersown. If you don't know what it is, check it out. So this year, as I started documenting the garden on Sundays, I realized that those tiny pictures really don't show the extent of what is out there.

Normally you see this.


Here's what adds up to the whole.































Yes, there are lots of weeds. No, I don't like all of my results. But, I do recognize that this is a work in progress. It won't be perfect this year. During the dormant season, things will change. Once it blooms, I'll get a better idea of what to do. This is just one big experiment, after all.

That bright green Anise Hyssop "Golden Jubilee", started out as this as seen on February 16, 2009.


We've all got some growing to do. I love gardening. It's my therapy time. Even when I do all that I do, it's my "down time". It allows me to decompress. Some seedling dies, oh well. Don't get attached to the details. Don't sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the whole. I know I am.

This week, the perennial bed is officially 1 year old. Here's a reminder of what it looked like when I started.



I need to create a new bed this year.