Yarden maintenance May into June

Are we all keeping a spiffy as our new favorite garden center here, Longwood Nursery in Waldorf?
LOL not me!

My front sidewalk looks mysteriously filthy, needs pressure washing, something I am NOT in the habit of doing, but really for some reason it is very grey in areas.

DH considered lawn fertilizer but we will first use up some from last year. Probably should use lime as well- do you all lime every year?

Some shrubs have grown well and need trimming.

At this point I am trying to get vegetables in first. I planted okra seed and bought sweet potato plants. I brought two bales of pine needle from North Carolina. Each is smaller than a bale of straw but I expect it to fluff up and be very fun to walk on in my vege garden paths, over the cardboard.

All I do is pull out Aegepodium.

That is a bear, I had it at Mom's. False dragonhead Obedient Plant could spar with it, tho that is not much consolation!

Really? I can't get Obedient Plant to grow here. I keep begging for more from Critter.

I have a bucket of it torn from my garden...in some water...

I don't know why it doesn't like me. Maybe I should feel blessed.

I was walking around the yard and saw these coming up. They must have been in my containers last year but I don't know what they are. Can anyone ID them for me?

Sally---

The opening photo.........Is that from YOUR garden????? HUH???? NO WAY!!!!

If it is--WHAT has happened???? I do not remember EVER seeing this kind of a
garden feature in your garden!!!

Happy---
Tongue in cheek now......IF you cannot get the Obedient Plant to grow for you--
I think it needs some disciplining.......

Sally--and anyone else--PLEASE consider using Milorganite as your Lawn fertilizer.
It is totally Eco Friendly--has no salts and is organic. NPK is---5-2-0.

We have a discussion on this product going on in another Thread. maybe this one's earlier version???

I cannot tell you how I have hauled for the last few days!!!!

Today--I dug up and removed ALL the Daffodils that were covering my East side bed with their foliage.
How I HATE it! Every year--when i want to start planting my annuals--there is ALL this bulb foliage
laying all over all the beds! And--for what??? Two weeks of bloom????

Well--I had enough of it today!!!!! Time for some drastic action!!!!
As much as I like the daffs. welcoming me in Spring--it is a lot more how I HATE having to deal
with all the dying off foliage when they are done blooming. It just covers all the available soil in my beds.
And--many of you know how small my beds are!

I am good at braiding...I am good at bundling---I an super-great at rubber-banding....or even knotting them up.
NONE of them is recommended!!! Bah--humbug!!! It IS the easiest way--after all!

My Kitchen side bed--Bright East sun till 3PM--COULD serve a lot of purposes. But for the. non-productive,
dying bulb Foliage...It covers ALL the available spaces i want to plant annuals in by now. Mercy me!!!

As I assessed this bed this morning--I noticed several robust shoots of Begonia Grandis trying to grow
through all this limp bulb foliage. That did it!!! Priorities are priorities!!! Vengeance is mine!!!

Bulb foliage? GONE!!!! Along with all the daffodil bulbs attache to it....
No more welcoming blooms Next spring!! So sorry!!!
OMG!!! I had NO idea how many bulbs there would be when I dug them all up!!! Mamma Mia!!!
And--I am sure that there will be several left in the depths of the soil that I never got to.

So--This had now become a determined, deadly work in progress--- Ultimate goal--
--To plant my Dr. S. Brug in this bed...ALL my Dr. Seuss Brugs have been planted in this bed.
--To amend the soil that is in this bed--with all the Mushroom Soil I dug and hauled.....
--To lighten up the soil as best I can---using past potting mixes from pots of basil and w-Boxes.
Good, light soil--great for mixing in the heavier, existing soil--along with other goodies.
A good way to recycle used container soil.
--Adding some "Organic Choice" soil mix for nutrition and nutrients....Dig--Dig--Dig---turn everything over again!

At this time--my little Dr. S. has still been languishing--but growing--in the pot I dug it up in last fall. A real trooper!
I hope most of you have, by now, read the Dr.'s saga???? SO! It DID need to be planted in its permanent quarters asap.

THAT was today's mission. And--does my body hurt at the accomplishment of it!!! At least 5hrs of non-stop work!!!
Getting to old to haul like this!
The reward is--that another bed has been done! Now I can add whatever annuals I want to it.

Here is the cleaned up bed as of today! And--Pic. #2--With the begonia Grandis' and Dr. Seuss all planted.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...This bed is almost done! Annuals? No biggie!!! Poke a hole and plant!

Tomorrow--I am continuing. My Old Birch Tree bed needs attention. That is where i grow most of my Coleus....

Here is the East side bed. And--them--the same bed with the begonias and the Dr. S. Brug planted in it...

The shrub on the left is my Endless Summer Hydrangea. I DO have some cuttings of it for the Swap--like two left.
The front will be planted with Coleus and annuals for a lot of color. Then--AHH! enjoying the Dr.'s blooms!!!
AND--hopefully I have set free the begonia Grandis plants that were always smothered in the back of this bed.
They totally disappear for the winter and early spring--Then grow out of nowhere! And--bloom until frost!
They multiply fast and easily. You just have to be patient!

Catbird----

Could it be Ajuga? It is a ground cover of sorts--sends up a spike of small, blue flowers.

G.

Catbird your pic looks like purple perilla to me. Is the stem square? Perilla is a relative of mint and coleus and has been known to freely reseed where happy.

perilla fructaens:
http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/herbs/perilla.html

Perilla- I agree. Holly got me started with that. Love it though does self sow.

NO GITA - that is from Longwood Nursery.

Gita: Your Endless Summer is gorgeous -- I'd love a cutting if they aren't all spoken for. I'll bring something to stick it in!

Happy--

These cuttings are already "stuck in" and rooted and growing....

I have 2 pots of 3-4 cuttings in each-- all rooted. Will tag one of the pots for you!
You can either split them up--(???) or grow them as is and have a nice, full bush.

Gita

I agree Perilla, Might have come from me, It does a lot of self seeding but it is easy to remove. I have passed a good bit of it around.

Gita: Thanks!

My foxgloves are about to bloom! When Pippi dug it out of her garden for me last fall, it was just some nondescript leaves. It stayed evergreen all winter and is easily 5 feet tall now. I can't wait for the flowers!

But the bloom stalks are tall and looking rather floppy already. I've read that they need to be staked. Is this necessary? How do I do this?

I went to the Brookside Gardens this weekend and picked up some free tulip bulbs. Gita, you're getting rid of your dying bulb foliage, but I'm about to introduce them! They recommended that we plant them now and let them foliage die back naturally. I guess I'll have a few more weeks of dead foliage to look at.

The east side of my house is a muddy mess whenever it rain. The dirt on that side is so poor that even weeds can't grow. I'm thinking about covering it with hardwood mulch. It's sloped, but I hear hardwood mulch stays put. Has anyone tried this? Maybe the mulch will eventually breakdown and improve the soil enough for actually ground cover to grow.

SS--

Absolutely!!!! Stake your Foxglove bloom spikes---or this will happen in the next big storm!

The blooms get too heavy for the the skinny stems. This happened last year after one of the big storms...

All you need is one of the skinny bamboo stakes to tie them up with.

ssgardener -- try ajuga or sweet woodruff on your hill. Or I can give you some very tough hostas (not named varieties -- they have self-seeded) that will hold up a hill.

Happy_macomb, this is a high-traffic area, so I'm planning on planting some ajuga once the soil is diggable. It's just compacted construction debris at this point. I tried digging once and gave up after about half an hour. I think all the walking, lack of sun, and dragging of trash cans has ruined the soil.

Gita, holy moly! I guess I have to stake the blooms for sure!

Oh my- reminds me my foxgloves are GORGEOUS right now, or were this morning. I hope they weren't blown down by all the gusts today.

ssgardener I can bring green ajuga, if you want, and plenty of it. I'd plant something like that and mulch, and I bet it will root right into the mulch as the mulch melds into the soil. (and it all becomes one with the universe...)

Thank you Sally, but I've been "cultivating" some ajuga, just for this purpose! :-) They're growing like mad in their current spot. .

Sally, your foxgloves are blooming already? I can't wait for mine! I've never staked anything before, so this should be an interesting experiment.

Another question!

I potted up caladium bulbs about a month ago and they're starting to send up stalks. Is it warm enough now to leave the pots outside? I keep reading conflicting information about minimum temperature required for caladiums.

Good- one less thing for me to bring ROFL

Gita,

You have dmail!!!

ssgardener -- you don't need to wait for anything. The soil doesn't have to be diggable. You don't have to cultivate it. Just take the ajuga, with its roots sitting in a little bit of the dirt from whence it came, and plop it on your hill. Use a stick or rock or something to hold it down. You can put an upside-down container on top to protect it from the sun while it gets used to its new surroundings if it if you want to get fancy. I have cultivated masses of ajuga to fill up spaces on hills. It works like a charm. Don't waste time waiting for the soil to be better. Doesn't mind being stepped on at all.

HM, that's very interesting! I had no idea ajuga were so tough.

I planted some chocolate chip ajuga on the west side (by the roses that you saw) but they all died over the winter. I think voles might have gotten to them, but I'm not sure. I hadn't prepped the soil in that area before planting them, so I'd assumed that I needed to improve the clay first before killing this other ajuga, which is the regular vigorous variety, not chocolate chip.

You totally don't. If it it weren't raining, I'd take a photo of my ajuga field....

Ssgardener, might I suggest maybe some Plumbago for that wet area? I've got a few growing in a totally shaded area (it gets about 1 hour of morning sun, that's it) right next to the rain downspout and they're thriving and very happy. (same thing, huh?) They've been accidentally run over by the lawn mower a couple of times and don't seem to mind it at all, maybe it'd work for you? Just a suggestion. =)

P.S. Oh, I forgot to mention: I didn't amend the soil there when I planted 'em 'cause I was feeling lazy at the time. They're in clay/rocky crap soil. < =D

Speediebean, it's actually a muddy walkway. The planting area next to the walkway was lasagna mulched last fall and is looking really good. I couldn't lasagna mulch the walkway, so it's muddy when it rains and hard as a rock when dry. Plumbao can't be used as a ground cover, can it?

My hubby just ran over a miscanthus with the lawnmower. He thought it was a weed!

I guess I should just be thankful he mowed the lawn!

Try putting Sweet Woodruff on the hill right now, even in the mud. I bet that is all you need.

ssgardener do you have the capability to post some pictures of your slope/walkway? Or anything else for that matter?

I've used my cell phone to send a pic email to myself and then transfer from email to "My photos " on computer. Currently, something in that process is not working so I am up to date photoless.

Anyhow, taking before and after pictures is a good task and tool for May yardining.

Ooh, good idea Coleup! My phone takes terrible pictures, so I'll try to find a camera that works.

I was out there the other day, laying down cardboard boxes over an area where I am going to mulch. I like using it as I can easily go back later and plant right though it when I am ready to put in extra plants.

Oooops, I mis-read, sorry Ss! < =/ There's lots of different "steppables" you could consider; they're a bunch of nice ground covers that get different pretty flowers on them (depending on which variety you choose), grow low to the ground and spread out nicely, they take varying amounts of foot traffic, and a little high mowing when necessary. There are lots of them that are hardy in our area.

Plumbago is a hardy ground cover in this area as well, they spread a LOT from what I hear, though mine have not spread much yet, but they may get a bit higher than you'd want, and I'm not sure they'd tolerate foot traffic. For a walk-way, the Ajuga or a steppable would be a better way to go.

Sorry about the misunderstanding. < =o

Had to laugh when Catbird posted the picture and wanted an id on it. I too have one little piece of it growing and after hearing everyone's answers can vouch for it as being the Perillo. It is growing nearby where I planted some Bloody Dock I got from Holly. Thanks for asking the question Robin and thanks to Cole for giving some back ground on it. Interesting things learned here, for sure.

Thanks Sally for starting the new thread for May. I have had a week of non gardening again. Monday was a follow up doctor visit for a foot blister than bothered me pretty much all winter, but thankfully healed nicely after seeing the doc and having treatment. I also went and picked out the carpeting that will be installed hopefully with the next month to six weeks. Yippie!!!

Wednesday morning woke up with cramps which are not something I suffer with usually. Add some nasty nausea to that and then add about thirty six hours of round the clock sleeping, only getting up for potty breaks, and a non-active gardener have ye. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning to see if my history of Urinary Tract Infections has decided to act up yet once again. I cannot recall being this sick for a long time, and I wouldn't have minded someone putting me out of my misery yesterday at all. John has been busy potting and separating things for the swap and has announced on second thought that our car shouldn't be too overly full on the trip up. Now, coming back is another matter. I have requested a lot of things, though I am thinking I have requested things and then not listed them, because my wants list seems short to me. Anyway.....I am partially recovered from the worst of it and want to be in as tip top shape as I can for the 19th.

Always great to hear from everyone. Keep up the good work folks.

Ruby

Thought I would drop by with an update. Since I sort of side tracked the conversation yesterday with tales of my woes, I thought I would let everyone know that I feel about half human now versus three quarters dead. I saw my doc and have another nasty Urinary Tract Infection. The boogers knock me out. I started a sulfa drug earlier, and some might say that it is too quick for it to work yet, but I am feeling so much better today that it needs to be shared.

In a few minutes after I put a load of clothes in the dryer, I plan to go out and water the pots on the front deck. After the rain we have had the last week, I would have thought they would be in good shape, but when looking at them earlier, I see that most are really thirsty.

I have two packages of my all time favorite plant, Gladiolus to pot up shortly too. I have two beds in the back yard that are chock full of the glads, and I have been trying for weeks to get out there and plant these, but have just decided a huge pot that just became available will be their home instead.

When I returned from the doctor earlier, my dogs were so excited to see me that they went running wildly through a pot of the new hens and chicks we just acquired last week. Only one hen was knocked out, and is now back in the pot, along with the soil I had to sweep up. Hopefully not too much damage was done.

Some of my other Hens have really taken off and are spitting out little chicks everywhere. While on the deck earlier, I smelled the sweetest smell and was drawn to a pot of Balsam and Sweet Williams that were sown together last year from a packed of thirty three cent seeds. They have definitely exceeded my expectations, and made me very happy for doing so.

I will try to click a few pictures while out there watering in a bit. I want to also snap a few of the vases that John prepared this week. We have Peonies out of the ears. If he decides to divide any, anytime soon, I will certainly let people know in time for the next swap.

The vase on the dining room table is Peonies and a dark purple Iris. Just gorgeous. Will post some pics when I can.

Since there hasn't been any activity here today, I hope it means that folks are out and about and enjoying an absolutely beautiful day. I have missed the last two days and can't begin to guess what the weather was even like. so glad to be alive and able to enjoy the beauty and sweet smells around me.

Ruby

Glad the meds are making you feel better. Nothing like a UTI to put a crimp in your style.

Have been tryin g to deep- weed some beds. Amazing how they grow like. Well. Weeds. Heehee

Ruby----

Drink a lot of Cranberry Juice.....It is known to help with UTI....

Glad you are feeling better Ruby!

It was gorgeous here today. My spare time was out in the yard, for sure, thinking swap things, and thinking 'where are these vegetables going to go and which ones, and who'd going to do all the digging ?" LOL My vegetable garden is skimpy by most standards and getting shady, and I keep waffling over which veg will get the sunnier or shadier spots.

Thanks ladies - Oh gosh Sally......I have never really done much veggie wise. One year when I lived in another town I had a bumper crop of Roma and Cherry tomatoes. I don't remember sowing so many seeds, but I had them in several containers on the back deck and in a small bed on the end of the house. They were coming out of my ears that year. John does all the veggie gardening and if it is a good year, I do the preserving. Two years ago we had a good year, but last year was definitely nothing to write home about. Here is wishing you much success for your efforts though.

I did go out and snap a few pics last night. Didn't get around to watering and will be evidenced in one of the photos where the leaves on a pot of Balsam were wilted. After finishing on the computer this morning, I will go out and water the pots in front. I am sure they will sigh with relief.

I have read several instances this morning pertaining to Peonies. We seem to have more this year than I remember ever having in the past. The first two shots I will show will be vases of the beauties. Hope you all enjoy.

Ruby

This is the pot of Hens that my dogs knocked over yesterday. The second pic is the view from our back deck yesterday afternoon. Number three is an Iris bed in the back yard.

Ruby