It is tulip planting time. “What?”, you say. “Perhaps fall would be better?” you say. Yes, but these are bulbs from a watch’em grow vase our grandson, by way of Mom and Dad, gave me. They started to bloom before we went on our first ever planned “down south” vacation, and waited to wrap up blooming until a few days after we got back. Amazing! Maybe it was because we needed some cheering up during our covid bout.
Where should they be planted? Maybe up north. Maybe in the front of the townhouse. Or maybe at a new volunteer location, if approved of course. I will keep you posted 😁
We have two fairly good-sized shamrock plants in pots here. Most summers they can be seen in the area under the linden. One is purple and one is green.
Every fall I bring them into the house, and they eventually go into my office. They give me all-winter mini flowers, and occasionally I hear rustling in late fall from a ladybug who made it in with the shamrocks, usually the purple one.
I cannot say how long I have had the Shamrocks. Probably close to, if not over 15 years now. I remember buying them one St. Patrick’s season, at the grocery store across town. They were in those tiny 3-4″ pots, and very inexpensive. I thought it would be “fun” 😊 My husband and our younger son teased that Yes! We definitely needed more plants! Hahaha!
I have given divisions to other people and they haven’t done well. But those two shamrocks are very healthy here.
There have been years where I have been sooooo looking to get the shamrocks back outside. This year is not one of them. They are very happy inside this year.
But alas! They are part of the ecosystem here. In the spring they go out, and the robins pluck the dead stuff for their nests. Eventually the wind gets to them, and all the leaves die back, and then it is just soil until they grow back and fill in stronger than ever.
It looks like the robins are starting to pair up. I am thinking they will be starting to build their nests soon. The bird bath should go out today so they can have water to make mud, and the shamrocks could go out next week after our forecasted cool and rainy weekend.
When we do move them out, I will miss them in my office, but they are starting to get that “good material for birds nests” look. Yes, I put some egg shells in there. Another post about those on the way.
Last Saturday was a springboard to glorious garden time days. I could not resist being out in the front gardens. Sunday morning the gardens out back also got some love.
The snow melted very fast and is now gone – even the giant snow plow pile. A very odd feeling after such a LONG SNOWY winter, but it is time! We may have another snow or two, but just like early fall, they melt pretty fast.
The perennial survival rates are good so far.
All of the sedum made it through the winter, and have new leaf buds forming. The non-productive tulips out front are also up, as well as one daylily.
Out back, the Purple D’Oro and Just Plum Happy daylilies are poking up, the two areas with productive tulips, crocus, and on one side hyacinth are up, and … the Blue Mouse Ears are starting to poke up!
Under the Linden, the Marque Moon daylilies are coming up.
No asian lilies, and no big hostas yet, but that is super normal.
With the Amur Maple situation out front, whether or not they replace the tree, our shade will be compromised, so I am very glad I did not put any Blue Mouse Ears divisions in front where there used to be shade.
Look super closely. A few days ago these were the Purple D’Oro daylilies. Just a tiny sprig of green.
Here they are a few days later.
Two days ago the South Seas daylily popped up.
And the Marque Moon daylilies are starting to come up.
Things will start filling in and covering the rock quickly now.
Oh boy! Where do we start? I do indeed love our seasons, but this year, in my humble opinion, has been a very long winter. It probably doesn’t help that we took our first ever planned warm weather actual vacation this year, and I still have “beach” on my mind. But alas, beach gardening is not a thing, I don’t think, so no plans to move just yet 😉
I like to say I am a “Thursday” sort of girl – the whole (weekend) yet ahead, but right … almost … there … I feel that way right now. The snow is melting, and I do see the grass and garden emerging. I suppose in July I will miss all this snow. But for now, sooooo done with this view.
The hummingbirds have been gone for a week and a half, the geese are flocking up and filling the skies with their wonderful honking, we have had our first frost, the shamrocks are out of the gardens and up by the patio, transitioning to their eventual move indoors for the winter, and the daylily seeds are almost all harvested, and in envelopes, safely stored until February stratification time.
We have also worked through a lot of what we brought back from the little house up north. Some was not worth sharing, but definitely needed purging. We are once again in a “manageable decluttered” state. Not perfect, but back to continual maintenance.
I recently planted the two hostas that were really struggling at that little house up north, back into the garden here, the last transitional piece. As a bonus, we hear from our former neighbors that the new homeowners are very nice. A match, and a blessing indeed. We were blessed to enjoy that wonderful home during its, and indeed our, transitional period, and had wonderful memories there to enjoy for a lifetime, including friendships we carry forward.
Now the fall things at the townhouse remain – cutting back the garden after the color is largely gone, balancing between enjoying the last bit, and getting winterized before significant snow flies. It is part of the cycle, and a good time to wind down the garden blog for the 2022 season.
So I bid you a fond adieu until the gardens pick up in spring 2023. I will post from time to time as “share worthy” things come up in the interim, and will catch up next spring for another garden season.
Susan's Daily Garden 