The garden girl
So yesterday was gardening day. I, it turns out, was not the only one with this brilliant idea. The Home Depot plant department, where I found mulch, a verigated ginger plant, a flat of impatiens, a flat of dianthus, a flat of begonias, and some basil, was pretty hopping. At Buchanans, it was also crowded. I commiserated with an older woman about how plants seem to just hop into your cart when you're not looking, as I looked down on the Mexican Oregano, some Texas bluebells, more basil, a penstemon, some mint, a couple of salvias, three sweet potato vines, six coleus, a yarrow, a daisy, three milkweed, two Mexican verbena, and a cardamom plant in my basket. Plus I got some compost.
I was a little overwhelmed when I got home. I had done some prep work on Friday evening, tearing out some plumbego limbs and culling some of my passion vine that's gotten a little out of control. But I needed to really get some work done before I could do any planting. I knew the petunias and impatiens were going to be in the front bed by the porch that still sports some residual tulip plants, so I poured compost on the bed to help the soil there out a bit. I also knew that plants with white flowers, plus the Mexican verbena, were going to go in my white bed, in the front yard. The daisy and one of the salvias were pulled aside for that task. The cardamon and the ginger were going to go on the side of the house. I also knew that the six basil plants were going to go in a bed I needed to clear out in the back yard, next to my deck. Other than that I was sort of at a loss and had to figure out what went where.
I figured that I'd work on clearing out the bed that the basil would go in first. It was mainly occupied by a volunteer lantana that showed up a few years back. Birds must have dropped a seed at some point, and it sort of took over the entire side of the deck and the bed it resided in. The problem with it was that it was a little TOO big, and it often wasn't particularly attractive, as the leaves tended to shrivel up at any and every opportunity. The dogs liked to eat its leaves though. I finally decided that it was time for it to go. I clipped almost all of the limbs off with clippers, which took some time, since some of the limbs were somehow or another coming from weird angles under the ground. Next, I got a saw to hack at the larger limbs that were too big for the clippers. Then, I started hacking at roots. This particular plant was halfway under the deck, and it required me digging quite a bit around the plant to get to all of the roots. All in all, it took me a good half hour to get the thing out of there. Once I got it out, I covered the newly uncovered bed with compost. Crianza supervised the whole proceeding.
After that, my afternoon was mostly spent digging holes in the ground and putting plants in. Two flats of annuals were pretty easily put in the front flower bed. The begonias and the impatiens are roughly the same color pink, and I'm really hoping they all grow to their full potential, because it'll look lovely. That bed also has some calladium bulbs in it, though I'm not quite sure if they'll show up this year. That particular bed has a fair amount of plant turnover, as it's my annual bed, and the calladiums could have easily been dug up at some point. I'll keep an eye on it and intervene with more bulbs/plants, should they not start sprouting by the beginning of May. I mulched the bed after I got the plants in the ground.
The white garden got its four additional plants, and I mulched it, as well. That garden is mostly roses, though I do put some other annuals and perennials in there. There's a very lovely gardenia there that's about to take off. And there's a clamitis climbing up a trellis in the middle of that garden. I'm really hoping that the tuberoses come back, though if they don't, I can always grab a volunteer or two from the ranch. After I was done with the front yard, I turned on the irrigation system and let everything get good and soaked.
I planted the ginger and the cardamom and actually voiced to them my wishes that they do well. That particular side of the house doesn't get much sun at all, since there are four bradford pears lining the driveway. Most people are wary of ginger, because it tends to take over the space it's in. I am hoping that's exactly what it does.
The back yard was a little easier, once I figured out that the coleus would go with the sweet potato vines under the palm tree, next to the amazing split leaf philidendurm that just impresses me every time I look at it. That area is going to look very lush and tropical, with vibrant colors popping out of a fairly shaded space. My new little basil bed was flanked by yarrow on one side and some dianthus on the other. The milkweed and Mexican oregano went to the back bed, where I'd cleared out some of the plumbego. The three bluebells went into the pots that basil had resided in last year. The remaining salvias and the penstemon ended up in some pots on the deck, as did the mint. The rest of the dianthus were split among pots and a bed that currently houses the iceland poppy that has just done an awesome job of making that particular bed just beautiful this spring.
Finally, I adorned my garden with four sets of solar powered lightsabres from Ikea. I have two sets in blue and two sets in red, and I clustered them in various corners of the yard, to make it pretty and glow-y at night. My mother made fun of me when I told her about them, as I'm not necessarily subtle in my love for sparkly things and pretty lights.
I still have some work to do. I want to clear out another lantana on the far back fence that just looks sad and pathetic, and I want to dig up a volunteer lugustrum that's also there and move it to the side of the house. In their place, I want to put a Mutabilis rose, which would ultimately grow to be pretty big. I think the lantana in the bed will probably also go, and I'll put some smaller flowering shrubs in its place to attract butterflies. The side climbing bed needs a lot of work, and I think I may have to give up on a couple of the bouganvillas that are there, because they will not behave. There's a rose in there that probably should be moved, because the sun is just awful there. And the vines aren't all that mannerly. That bed may just become a shade bed instead. In the front, I probably will end up getting some more bedding plants for the white garden. And my grand plan of ripping out the boring boxwood, yupon and bottle bush, and putting in citrus, some trellises for the jasmine that resides there, and most importantly, some Knock Out roses. I think the red behind the white will look pretty awesome. And then, Graham wants to put in a fountain or pond or some sort of water feature in somewhere. And we need to flagstone the area that the grill is on. And. And. And.
A gardener's work is never actually done. Which, of course, the reason we all do this crazy contact sport.
I was a little overwhelmed when I got home. I had done some prep work on Friday evening, tearing out some plumbego limbs and culling some of my passion vine that's gotten a little out of control. But I needed to really get some work done before I could do any planting. I knew the petunias and impatiens were going to be in the front bed by the porch that still sports some residual tulip plants, so I poured compost on the bed to help the soil there out a bit. I also knew that plants with white flowers, plus the Mexican verbena, were going to go in my white bed, in the front yard. The daisy and one of the salvias were pulled aside for that task. The cardamon and the ginger were going to go on the side of the house. I also knew that the six basil plants were going to go in a bed I needed to clear out in the back yard, next to my deck. Other than that I was sort of at a loss and had to figure out what went where.
I figured that I'd work on clearing out the bed that the basil would go in first. It was mainly occupied by a volunteer lantana that showed up a few years back. Birds must have dropped a seed at some point, and it sort of took over the entire side of the deck and the bed it resided in. The problem with it was that it was a little TOO big, and it often wasn't particularly attractive, as the leaves tended to shrivel up at any and every opportunity. The dogs liked to eat its leaves though. I finally decided that it was time for it to go. I clipped almost all of the limbs off with clippers, which took some time, since some of the limbs were somehow or another coming from weird angles under the ground. Next, I got a saw to hack at the larger limbs that were too big for the clippers. Then, I started hacking at roots. This particular plant was halfway under the deck, and it required me digging quite a bit around the plant to get to all of the roots. All in all, it took me a good half hour to get the thing out of there. Once I got it out, I covered the newly uncovered bed with compost. Crianza supervised the whole proceeding.
After that, my afternoon was mostly spent digging holes in the ground and putting plants in. Two flats of annuals were pretty easily put in the front flower bed. The begonias and the impatiens are roughly the same color pink, and I'm really hoping they all grow to their full potential, because it'll look lovely. That bed also has some calladium bulbs in it, though I'm not quite sure if they'll show up this year. That particular bed has a fair amount of plant turnover, as it's my annual bed, and the calladiums could have easily been dug up at some point. I'll keep an eye on it and intervene with more bulbs/plants, should they not start sprouting by the beginning of May. I mulched the bed after I got the plants in the ground.
The white garden got its four additional plants, and I mulched it, as well. That garden is mostly roses, though I do put some other annuals and perennials in there. There's a very lovely gardenia there that's about to take off. And there's a clamitis climbing up a trellis in the middle of that garden. I'm really hoping that the tuberoses come back, though if they don't, I can always grab a volunteer or two from the ranch. After I was done with the front yard, I turned on the irrigation system and let everything get good and soaked.
I planted the ginger and the cardamom and actually voiced to them my wishes that they do well. That particular side of the house doesn't get much sun at all, since there are four bradford pears lining the driveway. Most people are wary of ginger, because it tends to take over the space it's in. I am hoping that's exactly what it does.
The back yard was a little easier, once I figured out that the coleus would go with the sweet potato vines under the palm tree, next to the amazing split leaf philidendurm that just impresses me every time I look at it. That area is going to look very lush and tropical, with vibrant colors popping out of a fairly shaded space. My new little basil bed was flanked by yarrow on one side and some dianthus on the other. The milkweed and Mexican oregano went to the back bed, where I'd cleared out some of the plumbego. The three bluebells went into the pots that basil had resided in last year. The remaining salvias and the penstemon ended up in some pots on the deck, as did the mint. The rest of the dianthus were split among pots and a bed that currently houses the iceland poppy that has just done an awesome job of making that particular bed just beautiful this spring.
Finally, I adorned my garden with four sets of solar powered lightsabres from Ikea. I have two sets in blue and two sets in red, and I clustered them in various corners of the yard, to make it pretty and glow-y at night. My mother made fun of me when I told her about them, as I'm not necessarily subtle in my love for sparkly things and pretty lights.
I still have some work to do. I want to clear out another lantana on the far back fence that just looks sad and pathetic, and I want to dig up a volunteer lugustrum that's also there and move it to the side of the house. In their place, I want to put a Mutabilis rose, which would ultimately grow to be pretty big. I think the lantana in the bed will probably also go, and I'll put some smaller flowering shrubs in its place to attract butterflies. The side climbing bed needs a lot of work, and I think I may have to give up on a couple of the bouganvillas that are there, because they will not behave. There's a rose in there that probably should be moved, because the sun is just awful there. And the vines aren't all that mannerly. That bed may just become a shade bed instead. In the front, I probably will end up getting some more bedding plants for the white garden. And my grand plan of ripping out the boring boxwood, yupon and bottle bush, and putting in citrus, some trellises for the jasmine that resides there, and most importantly, some Knock Out roses. I think the red behind the white will look pretty awesome. And then, Graham wants to put in a fountain or pond or some sort of water feature in somewhere. And we need to flagstone the area that the grill is on. And. And. And.
A gardener's work is never actually done. Which, of course, the reason we all do this crazy contact sport.