Labor Pains

But it's so worth it! Last night, we tilled our new garden bed and planted our Crepe Myrtle. I divided the purple Bearded Irises and transplanted some variegated Hosta in back. The purples, white and greens look good together, so I'm going to stick to those colors for this area. I'm in the market for some white flowers to put in front. What do you suggest?



Today, I spent 8 straight hours working on this little area on the front side of our house. We kept saying that we needed to do something with this area, but we knew it would be such a pain that we kept putting it off. I finally got fed up today and chopped this Hydrangea back and yanked that sucker out.

There were a couple of things at play here:

• The Hydrangea was huge, but was not getting enough sun.
  
• It was HUGE and cumbersome. It was 5'x5'x4' deep. We had to cut it back which looked ugly and walk around it making a huge bald spot in our grass.
• It was a magnet for dead birds and leaves cultivating underneath the branches.
  
• The former gutter that goes under the pavement is clogged and this newer gutter makes a mess on the pavement.
• Because of the inefficient gutter, the soil is constantly washing away making yet another mess.
  
• (not shown) The gate wouldn't open all the way because of all the soil and branches in the way. Again, annoying.
  

3 hours later:

I cut the Hydrangea back (not shown) and dug it up. It was a pain, but not as bad as I thought it would be. There were 6-7 major roots which I cut with tree branch cutters. Then I pried it up with a spade. I moved over 3 wheel barrows full of soil to other areas around the house, so that the gate can swing fully open. Then I had to pick out all these rocks in the soil.


I transplanted an Azalea from the south side of the house over to this side for shade. The Azalea was always getting burnt out as soon as it had blooms on it, so this may be a better spot for it. There's also a Lamium and Fingerplant which are both great groundcovers. I transplanted a couple of pink lilies for some added whimpsy. I planted a new Shasta daisy, which will grow into a full ball (like a Mum) to fill the corner. Also, some Gladiola bulbs, which I hope will a nice appearance in the summer. And a pink "Ruby Spice Summersweet" shrub. The darker soil that you see on top is compost to amend the poor old soil. The light brown sheet is that landscaping material used to suppress weeds. I plan on putting mulch on top tomorrow.

Garden Views

I have to say I am in love love with my home. I just love the view as I approach the house. The garden peeps out and it looks gorgeous to me!

Siberian Irises

One word...Breathtaking. Is that one word or is that a compound?



Unlike Bearded Irises, Siberian Irises have woody roots just like Peonies. Plant them in a sunny spot and forget em. They will bloom and multiply for years. They can be divided, but not the way Bearded Irises are divided (where each tuber can be pulled away). It's not as easy and when you do divide them, they might not bloom the following year (similar to Peonies).



They are on the short side right now (since I divided them last year), but as the years progress they can be 4' tall and the plants have a "fountain grass look". They also make an excellent cut flower for a centerpieces if you want to get some quick flowers for the dinner table.



I'm going to have to pay another visit to my dear friend Barbara who I found on Craig's List last year. She sells her thinned plants on Craig's List and I bought these Siberian Irises and some pink Peones from her. For the price you're paying, you're getting a plant that has years of growth already which is priceless!

Veggie Bed

On Tuesday, I planted most of my veggie seedlings into the garden bed. In order to avoid some weeding this year, I laid down some "landscaping material" to suppress the weeds. It's pretty strong stuff, but also flexible enough that I can easily cut holes out where I want my seedlings to be. The material also retains moisture which is a plus.



I planted my tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, jalepeno, summer squash and chili pepper plants. I also started some radishes in a container and I'll work on starting some carrots in a container next. Last year, the carrots were a waste because the ground was too hard whereas you can amend the soil more easily in a container. This weekend, I'll prepare some other garden beds for the corn and pumpkins which are ready to go out now. I still haven't decided where to plant my watermelons and bottle neck gourds yet. In other news, the peas are doing really well.



It's going to be raining this weekend, so we'll probably be over in Our Place doing some home improvements... :)

Name this Plant

My mom gave me this, but we don't know the name of it. Can you help?

Live and Learn

Today I cut another new garden bed. This has been a slow work in progress. Each year I learn from previous year's mistakes and do things to improve my garden. Last year, we cut a 'concave' curve and planted a bunch of stuff. Then I realized it was all shade about 20" from the deck and I could never see the flowers comfortably if I stood on the deck. What a wasted effort! Also, part of the space would be in sun, so I had to plant 2 types of plants; both shade and sun. What a pain!

Last Year: (All shade, just my luck!)


I learned that the garden bed had to be really deep to space plants out appropriately AND to be able to step into the bed and work on the plants. Before, it was just narrow enough that I could not fit into the garden bed, but deep enough that I really hurt my back trying to stretch over to the plants. Because of our half/half issue, I decided to bring the garden bed out and plant a large Crepe Myrtle shrub which requires full sun. The shrub grows very thick which will create ALL shade below it, so I can plant all shade plants below. This weekend, we'll till the soil and I'll move some hosta to the garden bed.

In other news:

• I planted my Lupine, Snapdragon, Forget Me Not and Ranunculus seedlings into the garden.
• Potted some plants my mom gave me that she thinned from her garden.
• Redefined my 'island' garden bed.
• Potted a bell pepper in a large pot. Testing to see if it grows better than in a garden bed.
  

New Garden Bed

Today, I dug a new garden bed in this corner and transplanted a peach colored day lily here. Last year, I felt like this corner needed to be a garden, so I put some firecracker transplants here. They came back this year, so I thought I would dig a nice big bed that would be visible from the far side of the yard. It worked out nicely.



In other news:

• I transplanted some Dianthus
• Weeded around the AC
• Potted a huge Arugula plant
• Moved my seedlings outdoors
• Planted some Gladiolas bulbs
• Brought home a Crepe Myrtle Shrub & freesia bulbs
• Trimmed both hydrangeas
• Covered the veggie garden with row covers
• My mom gave me some succulents and lilies.