Good gardening news, bad gardening news
This has been a week for gardening. I've spent probably close to seven hours all told out there since Sunday, which is way more than I usually put in during the run of a week. Edging has been reset, seeds and bulbs have been planted, soil has been enriched, weeds pulled, grass trimmed. It all actually looks rather nice.
The bad news regards my tulips. They've not bloomed, and they don't look to be doing so at all this year. The foliage right now looks as it does after the bloom period. I don't know what I've done wrong. Usually, they come up, bloom, and everything is fine. The daffodils have been spectacular; ditto the hyacinths. But the tulips have just... died. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the division work I did last fall. I hope not. I mean, the leaves did come up, there are just no blooms and no prospect of blooms.
But that's the only truly bad news. The beebalm is coming along wonderfully, even more strongly than in years past; the same, surprisingly, goes for the columbine, which I thought was finally done. I'm going to see if I can divide those plants this year.
I only have two bluebells. I had a half-dozen last year. I suspect it's the cats. Even if it's not, I suspect them. The bluebells haven't bloomed yet, either, but they look more promising.
I put liatris bulbs where the bachelor's buttons were last year, and some in with the daylilies. We'll see how they come along. Liatris were supposed to go in where the daylilies are, but Vesey's sent me the wrong bulbs. Whatever. The lilies are nice.
Speaking of lilies, the ones by the north side of the house are coming along nicely. They don't seem to have been terribly affected by the division work I did on them, apart from there being rather more of them now. I expect they'll bloom nicely come July.
The lilac looks absolutely amazing. No flowers yet--I probably won't see my first lilac flowers until next year or the year after. But it's as tall as Julieanne, so coming on to four feet, I'd say, and just bristling with leaves.
The rhododendron is once again bigger than it was last year, and it has sprouted two babies by the roots. It'll be another week or two before it blooms, but I'm sure it'll be as spectacular as always.
The herb garden has a new addition. I planted some mint, at long last. I understand it has a tendency to take over. I'll just let it battle it out with the current champion, marjoram. Holy Hannah, that stuff can grow! It's pushing out the thyme. The lavender isn't affected by it (at least not yet), because the thyme stands between it and the marjoram. What's affected my lavender has been my own stupidity. Earlier this spring, I thought the tangle of dead branches looked unsightly, so I trimmed it back. Big mistake. Apparently, lavender is more like a shrub in that the leaves and such go dead, but the woody bits are actually alive all winter, just dormant. *facepalm* I do have little bits of green popping out on it now, but I've probably put its growth back a year or two.
The Rosebush from Hell (TM) is thriving, of course, and I've yet to trim it into submission. I need to get hold of a pair of hedge trimmers to really tackle it, but I'm thinking that if I don't, I'll just go at it with my little bypass pruners. The Rosa Mundi bush... well, it got mowed over last fall. I have no idea if it's going to come back, but I'm tending the little nub of wood as if I expect it will. Fingers crossed.
I did a lot of work on the hydrangea last fall and this spring. I've trimmed off most of the lower branches, so now it looks more like a tree and less like a mound of leaves. Underneath there is a huge bare patch--well, it's bare now that I've dug out all the weeds. I put black earth and composted sheep manure in there to condition the soil, and then scattered seeds throughout. I bought a mix of seeds that are supposed to attract butterflies, a combination of annuals, perennials, and biennials. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
The hostas are up and looking good. The astilbes seem to have spread; I may have to move the hostas from that bed, if it looks like the astilbes are going to choke them out. I put lily-of-the-valley under the sundeck as well, but the soil there is just so much clay. I added composted sheep manure today, so we'll see what comes of that. I hope they take; I'd love some of those lovely little flowers in the garden.
But the jewels of the garden this year--at least so far--promise to be the peonies. They're finally, after three years, going to flower! I can't say how excited I am about this. This is what gardening is all about: patience. Gardeners have to be patient. Not every plant does its thing the first or even the second year after planting. Peonies take a few years to really set their roots down; same with lilacs. But once they're in, they're in for life. As soon as they bloom, I promise there will be photos. Oh, yes, there will be photos!
The bad news regards my tulips. They've not bloomed, and they don't look to be doing so at all this year. The foliage right now looks as it does after the bloom period. I don't know what I've done wrong. Usually, they come up, bloom, and everything is fine. The daffodils have been spectacular; ditto the hyacinths. But the tulips have just... died. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the division work I did last fall. I hope not. I mean, the leaves did come up, there are just no blooms and no prospect of blooms.
But that's the only truly bad news. The beebalm is coming along wonderfully, even more strongly than in years past; the same, surprisingly, goes for the columbine, which I thought was finally done. I'm going to see if I can divide those plants this year.
I only have two bluebells. I had a half-dozen last year. I suspect it's the cats. Even if it's not, I suspect them. The bluebells haven't bloomed yet, either, but they look more promising.
I put liatris bulbs where the bachelor's buttons were last year, and some in with the daylilies. We'll see how they come along. Liatris were supposed to go in where the daylilies are, but Vesey's sent me the wrong bulbs. Whatever. The lilies are nice.
Speaking of lilies, the ones by the north side of the house are coming along nicely. They don't seem to have been terribly affected by the division work I did on them, apart from there being rather more of them now. I expect they'll bloom nicely come July.
The lilac looks absolutely amazing. No flowers yet--I probably won't see my first lilac flowers until next year or the year after. But it's as tall as Julieanne, so coming on to four feet, I'd say, and just bristling with leaves.
The rhododendron is once again bigger than it was last year, and it has sprouted two babies by the roots. It'll be another week or two before it blooms, but I'm sure it'll be as spectacular as always.
The herb garden has a new addition. I planted some mint, at long last. I understand it has a tendency to take over. I'll just let it battle it out with the current champion, marjoram. Holy Hannah, that stuff can grow! It's pushing out the thyme. The lavender isn't affected by it (at least not yet), because the thyme stands between it and the marjoram. What's affected my lavender has been my own stupidity. Earlier this spring, I thought the tangle of dead branches looked unsightly, so I trimmed it back. Big mistake. Apparently, lavender is more like a shrub in that the leaves and such go dead, but the woody bits are actually alive all winter, just dormant. *facepalm* I do have little bits of green popping out on it now, but I've probably put its growth back a year or two.
The Rosebush from Hell (TM) is thriving, of course, and I've yet to trim it into submission. I need to get hold of a pair of hedge trimmers to really tackle it, but I'm thinking that if I don't, I'll just go at it with my little bypass pruners. The Rosa Mundi bush... well, it got mowed over last fall. I have no idea if it's going to come back, but I'm tending the little nub of wood as if I expect it will. Fingers crossed.
I did a lot of work on the hydrangea last fall and this spring. I've trimmed off most of the lower branches, so now it looks more like a tree and less like a mound of leaves. Underneath there is a huge bare patch--well, it's bare now that I've dug out all the weeds. I put black earth and composted sheep manure in there to condition the soil, and then scattered seeds throughout. I bought a mix of seeds that are supposed to attract butterflies, a combination of annuals, perennials, and biennials. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
The hostas are up and looking good. The astilbes seem to have spread; I may have to move the hostas from that bed, if it looks like the astilbes are going to choke them out. I put lily-of-the-valley under the sundeck as well, but the soil there is just so much clay. I added composted sheep manure today, so we'll see what comes of that. I hope they take; I'd love some of those lovely little flowers in the garden.
But the jewels of the garden this year--at least so far--promise to be the peonies. They're finally, after three years, going to flower! I can't say how excited I am about this. This is what gardening is all about: patience. Gardeners have to be patient. Not every plant does its thing the first or even the second year after planting. Peonies take a few years to really set their roots down; same with lilacs. But once they're in, they're in for life. As soon as they bloom, I promise there will be photos. Oh, yes, there will be photos!