I got back on plan today. I wanted to start at one side of the perennial border and work my way around, instead of jumping from bed to bed and never getting any area completely finished. It’s all still a bit overwhelming when I look at how much there is still to get done, but spring is like that, and it all wants to be done NOW, but I got a lot done today.
I started in the bed at the start of the driveway, where that huge rock was last year that we had to get Mark up with his backhoe to get out. I had planted a bunch of new perennials in this bed last year, and Frank was convinced I’d put too many, and that this year I’d have to divide them already. But actually, I don’t think I will have to. It looks like it will be pleasantly full, but not overcrowded. I think.
I will have to do something about the yarrow, though. It is beautiful, and I loved it last year, (it’s just off to the left of that picture) but that did get a little overwhelming, and it’s spreading all throughout the bed this year. I wonder where else I can move it to? Hmmm.
There’s a coral bells plant in this bed that will be smothered by the yarrow if I don’t remember to move it as well.
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I put in hollyhocks in this bed. But I figure I’ll try them one year. Last year they didn’t do much at all, but supposedly they take a year before they shoot up. We’ll see. I never had hollyhocks growing up in El Paso desert, so they are new to me. People around here think I’m nuts for voluntarily planting them, but I think they are pretty.
I am thrilled, by the way, to see no signs of the horsetail weed in this bed. Last year, I tried to smother it with newspaper and mulch. It might be too early to be sure, but so far, so good. It was awful last year. ick.
The peonies in this bed are coming up. They didn’t bloom for me last year, though the ones by the pergola did. I composted them really well last fall, and lifted them a bit, so I have hopes for blooms this year.
I need to prune the white rose from the old garden just on the other side of the stone wall here. It’s got some serious winter kill, but otherwise is looking fine.
I pulled out four or five huge Halloween mum clumps. I’m very irritated with them this year, and they have crossed the line into weeds in my brain. We took them down to Ginny’s, though, as she needs an instant hedge. Good riddance! They’ve smothered too many things for me, and just don’t belong in a flower bed, I think. Frank still feels a bit nostalgic for them, I think, so he might stick some down the driveway or something, which is fine.
Though Frank had ordered six roses from Arena earlier this spring, when they finally arrived yesterday, they’d only shipped four.
So here’s what we actually got:
The two that didn’t come (and for which they better give us a credit) are:
Frank and a friend of who came over to help garden (what a friend that is!) planted the roses, trying to be sure to plant them deep enough last year. We think we lost a few of the ones from Arena over the winter because we didn’t plant them deep enough. They amended the soil with peat, green sand, and threw in some osmocote as well.