it's been a nine frog day
i had to chase that many of them into my gardens or the neighbor's yard while mowing the lawn this morning. i was surprised there were so many frogs -- hell, just seeing the third one surprised me -- since it's been a bit on the dry side here. but i tend let the lawn grown long, and it's been dewy in the mornings, so maybe the lawn is a happy froggy hunting ground.
i need to do a bunch of work in the gardens soon. last winter's cold snaps killed most of my crocuses, even ones which had naturalized (so it's not that i'd planted them too shallowly). one blueberry bush mysteriously died between waterings, and its neighbor died while we were in england. the second one died with its leaves on, which makes me suspect disease... but it has been a bit dry. i'll plant new ones, but this time with more moss and other water-holding stuff.
i've heard from other gardeners that they lost lots of things last winter as well: other crocuses, roses, random shrubs, a few deep rooted perennials. the ground must have frozen pretty deep to do that. since then, however, it's been a banner year for plants: my astilbe are the biggest i've ever seen them. the patch of columbine has spread to every shady spot it can reach, and a few i'd have sworn it couldn't.
i finally figured out how get a good display outta toadflax, a wild snapdragon. the sowing instructions say "sow densely", and they mean it. most tiny wildflower seed is cut with sand when sown (usually 4:1 or 5:1) so the seedlings don't starve each other out. i'd tried 1:1 last year and got ok results, so i sowed just the seed this year. that's it: i got a lawn of seedlings which needed thinning, but the resulting masses of flowers are worth the effort. 5 stars, will sow again.
Cross-posted from Dreamwidth.
i need to do a bunch of work in the gardens soon. last winter's cold snaps killed most of my crocuses, even ones which had naturalized (so it's not that i'd planted them too shallowly). one blueberry bush mysteriously died between waterings, and its neighbor died while we were in england. the second one died with its leaves on, which makes me suspect disease... but it has been a bit dry. i'll plant new ones, but this time with more moss and other water-holding stuff.
i've heard from other gardeners that they lost lots of things last winter as well: other crocuses, roses, random shrubs, a few deep rooted perennials. the ground must have frozen pretty deep to do that. since then, however, it's been a banner year for plants: my astilbe are the biggest i've ever seen them. the patch of columbine has spread to every shady spot it can reach, and a few i'd have sworn it couldn't.
i finally figured out how get a good display outta toadflax, a wild snapdragon. the sowing instructions say "sow densely", and they mean it. most tiny wildflower seed is cut with sand when sown (usually 4:1 or 5:1) so the seedlings don't starve each other out. i'd tried 1:1 last year and got ok results, so i sowed just the seed this year. that's it: i got a lawn of seedlings which needed thinning, but the resulting masses of flowers are worth the effort. 5 stars, will sow again.
Cross-posted from Dreamwidth.