Tag: Fall planting

A Momentous Day

I am having some mixed feeling tonight -happy that the two year renovation project at the historic cemetery is done, and it will mainly be maintenance and replacements going forward, but also a little sad. It has been very creative, and iterative, and the challenge was also invigorating. But the past two weeks have been very sprint-y in nature, so to have it wrap up feels weird, like the week after New Years.

Today I planted six more daylilies, each with a daffodil bulb to protect against moles.

I also planted some loose daylily roots (they look like tubers) that were at the bottom of the box from my order last week. I don’t know it they will do anything. We shall see.


Tomorrow I need to go put in markers. I have notes, but markers are also nice. Even if the writing fades, they remind me “something is there, don’t weed”. Next year when things start coming up, that will be very helpful.

I also trimmed some of the perennials at the historic cemetery today. I like to trim after bloom so the plants don’t spend energy on seed, and also to keep up, so the fall cutback is easier.

At the townhouse, I was tempted to put off the planting of the Blue Mouse Ears hosta divisions. I really am having to get creative to find places for them. So far it has been along the path. Today I planted one large division and two medium divisions. I have two medium sized divisions left that still need a home. I suppose tomorrow I will do that.

Then I only have to get two pots of 2024 unknown seedlings into their temporary 2025 growing space, and transplant a Bluebells clematis volunteer (very healthy), and I will be DONE for the year, minus weekly fall cutback, of course. Any leftover daffodils (there will be very few) will go into a pot of dirt in the garage for forcing. That is always fun to have that spring prelude indoors.

I have to say, I am tired of planting and transplanting, which is not normal for me. But I had the sprints from the order arrival, and I had a lot of digging, dividing, and transplanting at the townhouse in the past few weeks. I think those types of planting will be done now for quite a few years again, and I will go back to just planting and transplanting daylily seedlings.

On the daylily propagation topic, I harvested 5 Purple D’Oro X Pink Tirza seeds this week, from the only productive Pink Tirza pod.

The other pods are still ripening. The Mystery Yellow Freebie pod was not productive. I need to research that one this winter.

So, planting has been fun, but exhausting with the urgency and volume. Wrapping up the two year renovation project at the historic cemetery feels a bit funny, but still very joyful, and seeds are just now starting to come into harvest time.

I should probably rest a bit. Fall cutback is up next.

Fall planting SPRINT

Saturday morning dawned unseasonably cool, a bit of a treat, as, had it been warmer, the pleasantness factor for the weekend’s activities would have been greatly diminished. The daylily order arrived on Friday, and the instructions reinforced what I knew well – the plants needed to get in the ground right away. Not right right away but definitely within a few days. But rewind, on Friday, or even Wednesday, when I got notification the order was on the way, my great big appetite back a few months ago started to get real. As I reminded myself of what I had bought, not even having opened the box yet, I had this nagging feeling – “this is going to be way more than you thought”.
And, as all good iterative things do, the plan for the historic cemetery plantings had also been refined a bit since I placed the order. So, as I sat with my hot coffee Saturday morning, I purposefully, thankful for the extra time to think, to calm and organize my final thoughts before starting the physical work, enjoyed the cool morning, the hummingbird parade, the squirrel antics, multiple chickadees and finches on the hanging bird bath, hopping down the chain, sitting on the edge, taking sips of the water, making song, the crisp air and the dramatically different light filtering patterns added to the experience. Finally I was ready, plan on phone, hoping on hope that it would be easier than I thought.

It wasn’t. I overbought, again. As the reality dawned, and the clock ticked against the instructions that reminded me to get the order planted right away, I chided myself. What was I thinking? I am not 40 years old anymore! But, that’s ok. Fast forward to Sunday night, it all worked out, it was still an awesome weekend, and now the order is planted. I bumped right up against sunset last night, but the feeling of being done was pretty awesome.

Some of the daylilies ended up in the townhouse gardens, and that meant some overgrown things had to be pulled out of the townhouse gardens. But save a few small daylily pieces, three kitchen garbage bags full of Blue Mouse Ears hostas, and some daffodil bulbs that can go in with the few dailylily pieces over at the historic cemetery, the shovels can rest. Soon.

I will say that, for sure, nothing more can fit in the townhouse gardens. NOTHING. There are roots galore from the surrounding trees and besides that challenge, things are FULL. It will be hard for weeds to find space! And at the the historic cemetery that is exactly the plan! It is set up to be nice and full a few years from now as it matures, keeping the weeds down with plenty of plants and that beautiful bed of mulch. That means any buying, for either place, going forward, has to be a one in, one out. Seedling additions need to be well planned, and seedlings that don’t bloom need to go up north. The deer will not protest. I, on the other hand, may need some reminding from hubs and some very dear friends. After the aching muscles and rock bruised knees subside and the emails with “potential additions” start to look more enticing, I will need to remember – “Nothing. Nooooo thinnngggg!” 🥰

Oh yah, I still have to get two pots of unknown daylily seedlings planted this week. And a clematis volunteer transplanted, but after that, nooothing!