The shamrocks are full and blooming again!
Category: Garden
The clematis are starting to bloom
The first clematis bloom opened Tuesday. Always a wonderful sight. Hopefully many more blooms to come.
I am reminded of the years where we kept a very tall trellis in that spot. Funny thing about clematis. They are kind of like work. They expand to fit the time (or space) allotted. We let that one get so big a bird built a nest in it, and we could see inside the nest from inside the window. We called them the “trillers” because they would trill each time Mama approached. Eventually we watched them get big and strong and leave the nest. It doesn’t take long, but it was fun to watch.
This year, I hear something that sounds like a bird in the gutter. I wish I had a drone. I could fly it high and zoom in. I don’t want to climb up on a ladder and try to see. We’ll just wait. Time will tell. It doesn’t seem like an ideal place to nest, but we’ll see.
A Tale of Three Gardens
There is something about an early morning walk in the garden that stirs the soul, makes the mind relax, evokes thankfulness. Wait, define garden.
Sunday morning, after having been up to the land that is now designated “camping”, I thought, “Why do I enjoy an early morning walk there, but not through our extended neighborhood in town?” I used to. So off I went, sans dog who declined the opportunity.
Once I got going, I decided to take an old route. That route is a tad bittersweet. It is past an area that used to be a beautiful long garden on an edge of one of the park areas. The original homeowner who was adjacent to the park area had petitioned the city to plant a beautiful garden there and invested quite a bit of time and energy. It was a delight to many, and I was one. When the original owner of that beautiful garden moved, the new homeowner did not have the same love for gardening. It began to return to a wilder look. For a while I spent time on the weekends trying to maintain it. In the end, although my mind wanted to save it, my body could not. Working away from the home during the weekdays, and having other weekend responsibilities, it was just too big of a project. I took time to heal my body after pushing it way too hard, nature marched on, and eventually I altered my walking path to avoid that garden. I remembered its prior beauty and had a hard time watching it return to wild. That was quite a few years ago.
This morning I decided to walk by that area. It has returned to it’s natural state. It is a different look. Not bad, just different. Whatever thrives, dominates. And the weeds and lilac bushes won.
Enter garden one – on our “camping” land. It is many years past my experience with the park garden. My perception has changed because my personal gardening experiences have broadened. Evidenced by tens of thousands of ferns that thrive and dominate the “camping” land, there is not much chance of keeping a cultivated garden without daily care. Goodness knows I tried! But I have made peace with that. We cut the living area back in May – September so I don’t (hopefully) get a tick born illness (again) and we enjoy the natural state. We bought it in a natural state, I tried to tame a small portion to exercise my hobby, and I lost. That trial.
Enter garden two – Back to the townhouse neighborhood. “Goodness!”, I thought on my Sunday morning walk, “Our lawns, our trees are looking mature this year.” Two weeks ago many of the trees were still budding. The cherry trees were blooming and a delightful treat. Now they are wrapping up and the maples and lindens are starting to shine. I cannot claim working on those. They are the work of hired professionals on behalf of the association. But I enjoy them immensely. A different kind of enjoyment than the “camping” land.
The gardens at our townhouse are also thriving. The hostas, daylilies and sedum are my daily effort, and are continuously cultivated. The large amount of rain we had this week, along with warm temperatures for a few days in a row made the garden flourish. Literally things tripled in a matter of a week. Including the carpet of maple seedlings, which I will also “cultivate” – right into compost.
It’s all good.
I would like to move more of the townhouse garden to garden three but … we have deer … bedding in the back yard … at the tiny little house we plan to retire to … some time … to be determined. Maybe it’s good that they don’t seem to like a little area where I hid a Rainforest Sunrise hosta? It is 9′ x 7′ there. Is that nature’s way of reining in my gardening endeavors for the future? Out front of that little house I lovingly planted sedum this spring. Morning one after planting, I looked outside to see if the deer had feasted overnight. “Success!” I tentatively claimed. Morning two? Yah. Not “Success!” And the same with the five daylilies we planted there. They will all have to move to the 9′ x 7′ area.
So that is the tale of my three “gardens”. I’m learning with each new experience. One could say I’m actually down to two gardens now. Except for the iris and daffodils that are naturalizing at the “camping” land, the rest remains wild.
I wonder sometimes – when we move to the little house, will the daily maintained gardens at the townhouse remain in a tended state? I hope they will. Time will tell. Time a little ways out yet. We just welcomed our first grandbaby. Gotta hang around the townhouse neighborhood for a little while yet.
Check!
The To Do list is getting check offs this weekend, with continued attention to decluttering.
Yesterday I wrapped up the final garden cut back – remaining hostas, and the sedum that were a casualty of the lawn maintenance leaf blowing. Every year I keep the sedum that is still standing. The bunnies and birds enjoy them throughout the winter.
Today my To Do list is focused on the nice fall weather sprint wrapping up, and snow in the forecast for this coming Tuesday.
The winter lanterns went out today,
and all the spring and summer decorations I brought in last weekend went into the storage bin. To keep everything all in one place, I also put all the seeds I harvested into that storage as well. Come January when the seeds need to go into the refrigerator (for stratifying), they will all be easily accessible and organized.
Since I only allow myself one bin for garden decorations, keeping clutter out is important. Today I tossed all garden plant information for things that are no longer in our garden, as well as information on spring bulbs that didn’t bloom in 2020. Tulips and crocus both seldom bloom here for more than a year or two. This fall, with so much going on, I didn’t plant any new tulips. Hopefully some will return next spring from my 2019 plantings.
Inside, I did my weekly “gardening” for the plants we overwinter – cleaning up the hibiscus, shamrocks and lavender plants from the die back that inevitably happens as they lose sunlight hours.
For the afternoon, I’m planning on getting all the batteries in the window candles. That is always quite a job. Once that is done, l’ll start putting them in the windows. With the days getting shorter, the window candles bring a cozy feeling.
I hope you have a good week ahead as we move more indoors and start dreaming and planning for next year’s garden!
Hanging on to summer
Last week it felt like fall, but it was still summer. This week it feels like summer, but it is now fall. And so it will go, as the days get shorter and cooler and the gardens here slowly begin their rest. For now, though, the pollinators are still happy – our sedum are in full bloom.
And at the little house up north, five daylilies have been added to a yard absolutely devoid of any plantings. A completely blank slate front, back, and sides. Only an old lawn and a couple trees. Mind is going, but for this year, while other projects are prioritized, this humble fall planting will have to do. A little sunny corner to make a start. Next spring I’ll pull the grass, the first bit of lawn to be replaced by the start of the gardens.
Recycle?
As part of deciding to let our gardening “start” up north naturalize, I am trying to decide if we should pull the steel raised bed garden frames and use them in the garden at the new (to us) house.
There is currently no garden or landscaping at all at the new house. It is unusual for me to consider a no garden yard, but I’m excited at the possibilities. There are both sunny and shade covered areas so my current style of sticking mostly to hostas, daylilies and sedum is the plan. Some grading will be needed, as there are gutters but no downspouts – another unusual idea for me – but I have read that some folks think it is better to even forego any gutters and just grade and rock away from the house. For us, the gutters will stay, but whether or not downspouts will be part of the long-term plan is not certain.
During this interesting year, it is very hard to find contractors who are not swamped. People are apparently keeping quite busy with home projects. The earliest we can get a contractor out to grade and rock is mid-October. That means … no landscaping up by the house this year. What to do?
I have already ordered 9 distinctly different daylilies for the new house (couldn’t resist, and I want them in the ground this fall …). They are all ones I don’t have in our current gardens. My pending decision? I’m thinking of pulling the raised bed garden frames from the overgrown – ahem “naturalized” – gardens up north in September, and starting a border garden along the back edge of the lawn at the new house. Last year we also bought recycled tin (from an old barn roof) for projects up north, and I could continue the metal vibe in the new house garden next spring if I still like it.
So, being true to us, potentially reusing the unneeded frames, testing on a smaller scale before going wider, and using the recycled tin if we like the metal look down the road are all wins. Now we’ll see exactly how much work it is to implement. Maybe there could even be a “take 2” on the hugelkulture test?
All just on paper right now. Implementation is a month out. Lots of time to consider all options.
Meanwhile, here, the Rainforest Sunrise hostas (some of my faves) are starting to get their scapes, a lovely red with purple flowers. Out front they are overcrowded. They need to come out of there this fall and be divided. Maybe go in the corner of the yard at the new house, where it gets afternoon shade?
Right on the edge of crisp
August is one of those months – the daylilies wrap up, but the hostas are super full. The days are shortening, but the morning air is right on the edge of crisp – perfect! The crickets sing and the monarchs start showing up much more, but the robins are scarce again. The feeling starts to turn the corner into fall, but with plenty of warm days still on the horizon.
I have noticed once again I don’t have a lot of mid to late August blooms in the garden. I need to do something about that. I have also noticed I have plenty of weeding and trimming to do in the garden after a couple very busy past weekends, and I need to do something about that.
A few weeks ago I accepted a more challenging role at work, and at the same time we started to really think about how we want to downsize again and work on some more bucket list items. This whole year and all its events have brought priorities into sharper focus. So my thoughts are turning again to simplifying the things we can so we are able to amplify the things that nurture us. It is once again a time of both weeding out and filling in.
Planning moves, and more mid-July daylilies
About this time of year I start to assess fall moves to optimize next year’s garden. Last fall we moved out two large Aureomarginata hostas from our garden. They found new homes around the association where they weren’t crowded and could really shine, and did really well this year in their new locations (yeay!). My repurpose for that newly empty space in our garden, unfortunately, did not go as planned. The tulips did “meh” and the asian lilies gifted to me did not do well at all. Reason? Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel and friends thought they were their food. I have since purchased repellent, and that seems to be working. There is still, however, a large empty space in two areas of the garden.
Meanwhile, in another area of the garden, a delightful Ivory Queen hosta gets overexposure to the sun each year.
Time to give it a new home, in the more shaded area where one of the Aureomarginata hostas was. It will fit that space well, and look nice amongst the other “blue” hostas.
Maybe I should move this Patriot hosta too – to the more shaded spot where the other Aureomarginata hosta was.
It will fit in well and brighten up an area that gets pretty unremarkable after the asian lilies bloom.
With two hostas moved out of sunnier areas, does that mean that I now have spots for two new sunshine loving daylilies? Possibly … Hard to say …
And now for a few last pics of the mid-July daylily blooms.
Triplets
I love it when there are two daylily blooms on a scape, and three are even better! Two sets of three are quite a treat! The bottom set was tucked under the taller scapes, close to the ground, but not to be missed.
And now for some more evidence of seed pods forming. Looks like there will be an abundance of “chances” again this year for 2021 seedlings.
And a couple more mid-July pics for good measure.
We interrupt mid-July …
We interrupt mid-July pictures for a few “today” pictures.
If you look closely, in the last picture you can see that the Purple D’Oro daylilies are starting to form seed pods. The Purple D’Oros will live on in the existing plants, the pictures, and, hopefully, in seedlings next year. We’ll see 3-4 years from now what we got with a little help from our friends the butterflies, the bees, and maybe the hummingbirds.
And now back to mid-July
Susan's Daily Garden 