First I paused garden work to have a weekend with our oldest grandson. And then this happened.
It built up from there, but thankfully the heavy rains from the day before were not snow. It all melted the next day.
Yesterday we got another snow storm, but today that too has pretty much melted, at least on the street, driveways, and sidewalks. Such is early spring. Go, stop, go, stop. Soon snow will disappear from the forecast, and it will be consistently warm enough to not question if garden season really is here. The tulip bulbs that are popping up greens are sending a hopeful message.
Spring garden cleanup is done. At the historic cemetery, everything that needed cutting back and cleaning up is done. There were a lot of oak leaves on the ground cover, and it needed serious trimming, but it is looking very healthy with all of that done.
Instead of bringing the forced daffodils up north, I planted them at the cemetery where it looks like moles are trying to make inroads.
At the townhouse, the linden had shed a lot over the winter. The sticks from the linden that were in the grass are now either to compost or in the rock for the birds to find for nesting.
The rocks that moved out of the trim are back in, the winter lanterns are back in storage, the spring and summer garden decorations are back out,
the bird bath has been filled for the first time,
the forget-me-not foliage has been pulled (and trashed, not composted, so any leftover seeds can’t germinate in unwanted areas),
and I have started to put coffee grounds on the perimeter of the plants (in the rock, to slowly settle in).
This is always such a fun time of year – getting back in the gardens, cleaning them up, getting ready for the season ahead.
Next up is mulch at the cemetery garden. Just a topper.
At the historic cemetery, there is a spot where an old shed used to sit. We use that area as our “compost” pile. But truth be told that compost never really does get to be substantially usable compost. The resident deer and turkeys come and poke through it and take what they want. After they are done, there is usually very little left. We have actually been amazed. Within days, it looks like someone came in and scooped that all out. And we definitely know they are still there because not only do we see them from time to time but we also see little clues lol. Turkey scratches, deer hoof prints, and droppings.
Today was kickoff day for my 2025 gardening season at the historic cemetery. I arrived soooo ready! I pulled up with my new green folding wagon with the telescoping handle, front pivoting wheels, room for a full sized bin to hold trimmings and plucked weeds with room to spare for my trimming tools and my gloves, plus a mesh pouch on the side to hold water bottles and stuff a hat when I start to warm up. I was all set!!! I also gave myself permission to wear a new pair of tennis shoes. Comes a day when worn out, beat up shoes don’t do you any favors. I am at that age. This is the cleanest these two will ever be, because they are both awesome and will be used like crazy. They made my work so much more pleasant!
My goal for today was to get the black-eyed Susans cut back. Instead, I did all the cutback for the things I left for the birds (and bunnies) – the sedums, black-eyed susans, daylilies that still had seed pods – it all got cut back to make way for 2025 growth. And almost all the ground cover got cleaned up. All except a taller version that needs to be seriously cut back. Underneath is already new growth, but the rest was dead, dead, dead. This is the new growth on one I trimmed.
I usually put coffee grounds on the townhouse garden as each plant comes up, especially the hostas, so I may do that at the historic cemetery garden to keep the slugs down again this year. But it shouldn’t need a boost like the townhouse plants. The mulch should be far superior.
Tomorrow is sedum cutback day at the townhouse. And then the watching begins.
”sdlg” is used in daylily data to signify unregistered or unlisted parentage (seedling crosses). This has been a non-issue for me in the past, but I am bumping up against it a little bit now in my research while planning crosses.
Do I now care?
No. I am a hobbyist. I am focusing on fun and maybe a dedication project from time to time. I don’t ever see a day when lack of daylily parentage information would cause me to not use it in a cross. In fact, for the Mahala project, both daylilies in that (hopefully successful) cross don’t list any parentage at all. It actually fits the project to a “T” – a lot of unknowns. And that is ok.
Tomorrow is our spring equinox. Yahoo! True, that actually means very little regarding the gardens. We could still have a big snowstorm. But it is time to start doing garden cleanup, both here at the townhome, and at the historic cemetery.
Every spring, after I reconnect, and fall in love with the gardens all over again, my mind goes all Product Manager. At the historic cemetery, the fence garden is the Product. I have an analysis, and it is time for an action plan. And, frankly, to be the most efficient, I put a plan together so I don’t get over there and go into a dreamy state, which, of course, is the joy of every gardener ~ just looking at what’s going on, right? But there is work to be done so a plan is needed. Dreamy can happen at the end of a work session.
So what is the data telling me?
The ground cover needs to be under observation. I didn’t put it in so I am still learning its features and growth cycles. It does look like quite a bit of winter kill on the ground cover, but hopefully it will revive.
The birds did not do much with the black-eyed Susans I left for seed food. The stems just bent and broke and fell over, and are just laying in the garden. Black-eyed Susans set seed so easily, and although they are definitely a fan fave over there with those who walk by, as the Product Manager (the volunteer help lol) I am the one who has to maintain them, and they are … a lot. Yah, we will just say it that way. So, if the birds want some black eyed Susan seed next winter, it will all be in a pile in our compost area and they are welcome to it. 😂 For now, what I left stand for the winter needs to be cut back right away, and I need to watch for volunteer seedlings (scope creep).
The bunnies seem to have enjoyed most of the sedum I left stand, but there are some tall sedum they didn’t eat, and I need to cut that back to make way for new growth.
The last part of cleanup will be the iris bed, and any other remnants.
Then it will be time for the mulch topper. The mulch bed was GORGEOUS last year, very healthy, and rewarding me with much less weeding. Annual toppings should do it from here on out.
Here are some pics of early greens already popping up
Farther out ~
We do have the old overgrown weedy garden inside the gate to contend with this year. It is possible that garden will be dug up and moved to a historic estate in town. If not, this is the year it goes. It gets pretty nasty with bugs (think tall grass and wood ticks), and even snakes. I don’t mind snakes, they are beneficial, but I prefer not to cultivate an environment where they hide. Come out and sun yourselves, no problem. I will steer clear. But bottom line, maybe younger, more flexible, hiding bug and snake loving volunteers could do it, but this grandma? Nope. There is a better way. Lawn mowers 😂 This is the year it goes. Yeay!
Additionally, last year was the major planting year. The garden is fully planted, with no room left for additions. Another yeay! The space that looks like emptiness right now needs to be there for the new plantings to establish and expand. However … if things die off, new things can be put in, like daylily seedlings from crosses lol. OK, and maybe some carefullly chosen new daylilies. Yah, high probability stuff that dies will give their space to new daylilies. Already have a buying list. Just in case.
So that is the kick off point for the historic cemetery garden this year. There are also other projects there too, like removing a plastic border and putting in bricks, but that will be down the road, maybe in May when the wooded area ground dries out a bit so the bricks can be retrieved, as they are the remains of the vault. But that is another day’s blog. Hint – very little hardscaping gets wasted.
I use daffodils as a digger deterrent. Yes, they are very pretty, but even if they don’t bloom, diggers don’t like them, so they stay away from the daylilies and sedum and hostas I plant with daffodils.
Bulb forcing is pretty easy, and you can save a boatload of money by doing it yourself. Buying forced bulbs in a container like a plant pot or a glass forcing vase – oh so expensive. And I remember those days, driving to the garden store, maybe they aren’t out yet, …. Nowadays, I force daffodils, because I have them. If you are wondering about other spring bulbs, I don’t force tulips or hyacinth because I don’t have leftovers because they don’t do well enough to plant them here. But, suffice to say, experience from a while back has validated for me:
* tulips and hyacinth seldom bloom after forcing. * grape hyacinth and daffodils, on the other hand, do quite well.
What to do when forced daffodils bloom? At first they look very nice ~ for a day or so ~ and then they start to fall over like this:
At that point, it is super tempting to cut them. Which is exactly what I do a lot of the time. There is an art to when to cut the stems with the blooms. The best time to cut the stems is when it still is in a gooseneck position like this:
After all the blooms are cut and spent, the bulbs can go outside. And then they can be planted as soon as the ground is thawed. They will not bloom again that year, but they should bloom the next. I bring them up north, and plant them in an area where all of our forest daffodils get planted. They do pretty well, even with the deer. No guarantees, of course, but if they don’t survive, then they add to the soil of that garden.
So, there you have it ~ daffodils as a digger deterrent around new plantings and for early indoor blooms when the ground is still frozen or thawing.
I present to you the first bloom of 2025 (if you don’t count the shamrocks)
Well, yes, it is St. Patrick’s Day, and I do have a smidge of Irish, and I did marry an Irishman ‘o so many years ago, and we did have an Irish terrier (sweet Darby ❤️) so, for St. Patrick’s Day, a shamrock bloom. From the plant that is overcrowded (or so I thought) 😊😘
Susan's Daily Garden 