garden notes
Yellow hellebore
Originally uploaded by gwyneiraI’ve been trying to work in the garden this week, endeavoring (probably futilely) to get caught up before we leave on vacation next Wednesday.
Sunday, we moved the Sally Holmes rose from the spot by the trellis, which appears not to be a good rose spot (Iceberg had a tough time there too), to where Moonlight was. I hated to take Moonlight out, because it had lovely flowers and was enormous, but it got powdery mildew and spread it to the neighbors every year. Sally Holmes ought to grow equally big and will, I hope, not have the mildew issue.
In the course of replanting the rose, we discovered we needed more dirt, and G. cleverly suggested the compost pile. Remember how excited I was last year when we had actual usable lovely compost? This year, not only was there quite a lot of compost, it was absolutely full of little red worms. I don’t know where they came from, but I was excessively pleased to see them.
Then G. and I finished clearing the lower stone bed; there are bulbs planted along the front, but nothing else. I added more bulbs (ranunculus and lilies) and snap pea and strawberry starts. When we get back from vacation, Liam and I will put in some beans, too.
Today, I just did some weeding and some fertilizing. Next, I have to try to give all the roses their first dose of granular fertilizer and alfalfa.
In bloom: the red flowering currant, the deep pink camellia, a couple of hellebores, a few daffodils, vinca everywhere