I have spent a fair amount of time in the townhouse gardens lately – yet these scapes did not catch my eye until yesterday. How is that possible? Maybe because the asian lilies are blooming. Maybe because I am looking for the first daylily scapes.
Welcome first (hosta) scapes!
The roofs, gutters, fascia project work is all done. It was a long month of very much activity around here, which was a good thing, but I am glad it’s done. Yesterday we put the pictures back on the walls inside (it was recommended to remove them during the roof replacement). Then we moved outside and started really assessing the gardens – what needs love this season.
The gardens here will be refreshed this fall. And we know a bush out front will be removed to make way for the new gutter drain system. So not too much extra work in the garden this season will be smart until we know what all that looks like. But we can do a few things. A little fun. Adding the garden decorations back, planting a gift of zucchini plants in a pot (we can’t grow veggies in the ground per townhome regulations), moving the green shamrock to a shady spot out front, and maybe, just maybe, a couple coneflowers to fill in a bare spot in the back garden. Hey, they were at the farmer’s market and they, how does the saying go, chose me ☺️
So, we put one foot in front of the other, and say thanks for the weekend of time to finally relax.
The clematis are now done blooming, as is the weigelia, and next up are the asian lilies. This is what some looked like a few days ago.
I remember when the garden out back was pink and purple asian lilies and (purple) Siberian irises – 19 years ago. The Siberian irises were a bit too crowding in the greenery department, and moved to my mother-in-law’s much larger garden. But the asian lilies are still there – they came up peach year two and have been peach ever since. For 18 years. Multiplied and divided and new growth started. Just consistently showing up each year in the same area in the back gardens. Nice.
I added pink Asian lilies year three in another area in the back gardens, and those multiplied and divided and I started new groupings. Every year they come up in the same areas. Nice.
A friend and I swapped divisions of our Asian lilies, and I got some tall white lilies from her. Every year they come up in the back gardens too. Very nice.
Under the linden, the deep pink Asian lilies are also a fixture.
And out front one pink Elodie stand still remains. Asian lilies do not have as much staying power out front, but that one bunch continues.
Much is the same, and much is up in the air. But little by little, we move forward.
It looks like the peach daylilies will kick off the color show.
The buckets and plant pots that protected the daylilies, hostas, and sedum during the roofing project are off, but will have one more appearance in the next couple weeks when the gutter and fascia work is going on.
After that very long, hard to wait but dreading the potential collateral damage May, it was great to get back in the garden.
First up was removing the remainder of the tree seedlings. That got done yesterday. The total of buckets this year was down from the past few years – 5, compared to the usual 7. Hurray!
Then the pollinator created, harvested daylily seeds from 2021 finally got planted. Another post on that coming soon.
The sunflower seedlings also all got pulled. They were an experiment, but the rolling roofing dumpster made that decision for me. My husband was very happy – hahaha!!!
Today my thoughts turned to the front entry garden. It needs love.
One of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas out back also got a little smooshed with the roofing project. That was ok because it needed to be divided anyway, and the flowers get hit by the sprinkler, so moving the whole plant is probably a good idea. Blue Mouse Ears are the perfect size for the entryway area, and with dappled sun due to the Amur Maple they will look great for years to come. That area also had the remnant of a Rainforest Sunrise hosta I mostly moved up north, but it got a bit smooshed too so this will not be it’s shining year. I had to cut away the smooshed leaves. No worries, it will pop back next year. But besides a center hosta and the few Blue Mouse Ears divisions, and the low growing sedum, what to put in that area for color? No to annuals I think. Daily watering – ugghhh. That is for bird baths – haha! No to sedum divisions – the two low growing sedum are enough. Asian lilies seem to die out there, and the stems are not great after bloom either. They require layering to cover those up. So it may be daylilies. I am concerned about the dappled sun, but maybe. Still contemplating.
Finally, the center of one of the back garden areas was pretty bare. Plenty of baby forget-me-nots that will bloom next year, but it needs something additional. I pulled a nice daylily from there to go up north last year, and right afterward I saw how bare that area was and regretted it. Bummer. So that area needs love. But low investment. Trying out the green shamrock. Not sure. Might need a trip to the garden store.
So that was the weekend garden fun. Super enjoyed it.
Last year I accidentally grew a sunflower. Whether or not it was from bird seed falling into the pot of daylily seedlings, I cannot say. It was fun for the birds for sure. I suspect the squirrels swung on it and broke it, after which I cut it back and the next morning the cut piece was gone. Bunny?
We had a bumper crop of sunflower seedlings in the rock outside the edge of the patio this spring. I let a small section survive weeding, pending possible transplant.
I have a couple boring areas where transplants would look nice but the shells that get dropped are not good for other plants, so probably a no go there.
Might be adios to sunflowers in the townhouse garden this year. Maybe they can go up north.
The asian lilies are starting to bud out. We have quite a few at the townhouse, scattered through all the areas. The thing about asian lilies is you get one chance. If they get broken, pack it in until next year. They do not rebloom. Fingers crossed.
After an intense work day yesterday I sat out on the patio with my husband. As we relaxed, and I looked out over the back garden, the tree seedlings got to me. And two in particular were really getting to my husband. They were getting to him because he is used to my gardening habit of keeping the tree seedlings out of the rock, they were getting quite tall, and I was saying not to pull them. Quite tall for tree seedlings in the rock is over 4″ – lol. The two tall seedlings were from the cherry trees around the neighborhood. I was deliberating trying to transplant them and see if they survived.
After sitting for a while, I couldn’t resist. The hundreds of tree seedlings fell prey to the start of my annual ” next steps” cadence. Despite my intentions to leave them until the roof/gutter/fascia work here is done, the gardener in me was sad. The garden looked sad. So, I went and got my weeding bucket and started the clean-up.
I have shared my experience that gardening is excellent exercise. I must have REALLY needed that yesterday.
Today unofficial summer starts here. It feels good. And more normal. There is no construction noise. The nature sounds are the backdrop to a beautiful morning. A little thunder in the distance. Ahhhhh.
Next week the roof project turns the corner to our area, and it will be increasingly noisy as we are kind of in the middle of the remainder. But that can be dealt with by filling up the gas tank and heading north. For this morning, when the rain finishes up, I think I will get out and fill another bucket with tree seedlings. That would be bucket 2 of the usual 7. Everything in moderation 🙂
I had a sunflower seed germinate in my pot of daylily seedlings this year. Whether or not it was from birdseed I cannot say.
It grew to be a full sunflower plant with 4 mature flowers, and it looked like a 5th on the way. The birds were digging it. I was digging it. Then the squirrels dug it. Actually they probably swung on it. It started to bend. Then the next morning it was broken.
Since I had put zero effort into it except watering the pot, I was not too sad. I cut the stalk and brought the pot of of daylily seedlings up north to plant. The next time I saw the sunflower (now just the stalk) it was under the pine tree. The next morning it was totally gone.
Nothing from that sunflower went to waste. A cooperative effort between the birds, the squirrels, and the bunnies I suspect.
This year I have some new daylily blooms in the garden. A couple of years ago I bought 3 Pink Tirzah daylilies. Two were planted here and one up north. One of the Pink Tirzah daylilies got buds this year and is now blooming.
The name Tirzah means ‘She is my delight”. Indeed, another delightful addition to the garden.
For anyone who may think Minnesotans escape the heat in summer, I can without a doubt say, we don’t. Summers are prone to heat spells like winter is prone to long cold spells. We are in a heat spell right now.
During those times, I like to get out early to enjoy garden tending. This morning I did just that. It was time to pull the tulip leaves, along with the few stalks from this spring’s blooms. In that few minutes outside, carefully pulling dried tulip leaves (that didn’t bloom) in the back center of one of the gardens, I found myself thinking, “Why did I donate those big Aureomarginata hostas again? They used to cover up the drying tulip leaves so well!”
Today’s picture is from a few days ago when the heat first arrived. The clematis looked much fresher then. But all’s well. The first blooms on hostas are about to open, and the asian lily buds are starting to pink up. Soon we will have more blooms.
The shamrocks are full and blooming again!
Susan's Daily Garden 