Garden Projects #14

Good advice.....You have spent tulips, Patti, mine are just starting to bloom.....those few left after the deer/rabbit destruction.

Sadly a bunch of Tulips and Narcissus are done so off with their heads.

We spent a very long day first planting the rest of our lilies and a few other perennials. I did lots of weeding and made some divisions of anything that I felt that I could divide and move. Then I discovered a pile of ceder logs that we had forgotten to burn yesterday, so we hauled them off to the middle of the yard and fired up another burn pile. Once it was going, I decided to spend the rest of the day pruning and adding the trimmings to the roaring fire. I inspired my Brooklyn Pal and DH to get pruning away too. We tackled a bunch of native trees and shrubs along in the wild parts of our property as well as doing some fine tuning to a grove of big cedars. DH cleaned up all the pine cones in the woods, while my pal and I cut back a stand of Clethra alnifolia and pruned a stand of bayberry and some high bush blueberries. I can see the embers of the fire is still glowing in the front yard, but I am spent. Patti

List of plants

10 Astilbe japonica Peach Blossom Jed's bed
10 Astilbe Fanal dell north bed
5 Astilbe Bridal Veil dell iris bed north
1 Epimedium x perralchicum Frohnleiten west walk east side
3 Geranium wallichianum Rise and Shine dell bed south
1 Disporum sessile variegatum dell iris bed north
1 Astrantia major Vanilla Gorilla west walk east side
1 Bergenia Lunar Glow dell Iris bed middle
1 Tricyrtis macropoda west walk east side
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Gironde burning bush bed
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Mount Dragon burning bush bed
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Petite Brigitte burning bush bed
2 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids lankongense Karen North burning bush bed
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Orange Matrix burning bush bed
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Brunello burning bush bed
5 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids Matrix burning bush bed
6 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids double Double Sphinx burning bush bed
4 Lily Div. 1 Asiatic Hybrids double Tiny Double You burning bush bed
3 Lily Div. 6 Trumpet hybrids Golden Splendour burning bush bed
1 Lily Div. 7 Oriental Hybrids Powergloss burning bush bed
3 Lily Div. 7 Oriental Hybrids Red Dutch burning bush bed
3 Lily Div. 8 Other Hybrids Conca d'Or burning bush bed

You win the award for most plants Patti.Holikrap,my back aches after the third entry.

The gardens will look fab, Patti! I bought bergenia Lunar Glow this year.....hope it makes it in this dry spring!

Need both Patti and Bill's energy!


I love that Bergenia, really stands out

It will be my first Pig squeak ever. I have been out taking some photos and deadheading, but I need to get weeding as we are having 25 yards mulch delivered on Monday and we are going to Vt on Thurs so it all has to be ready to spread out the mulch. We have hired a couple guys to help as doing that much is way beyond my energy level. Not up to Wha's speed. Where did spring go? Patti

Wow, you've all been so busy!!! Patti, that's the most beautiful, lush spring planting I've ever seen! But everyone else has gotten so much work done already, too, all the gardens look amazing!

Last weekend was my first real outside working weekend. Mostly general cleanup, a little re-arranging of a few things, and the delivery of a full pallet of shredded pine mulch in 3 cu ft bags (45 bags). I use it over the season, not all at once, so the bags can be stacked behind the barn and are easier for me to deal with. Also DH can't drive over them, like he did the pile of mulch we had delivered a few years ago.

The big work was on Sunday. Our general-help outside guy let me have one of his workers for the day (@ $15/hr, not bad). He moved some huge daylily clumps from behind tall grasses, then moved the grasses back. He also cleared a huge section that had been cleaned up once before then let go again. The un-mulched section has a mix of grasses and other plants that have not emerged enough yet to identify, so I'm waiting to see what grows there before changing anything.

I weeded around the smaller plants, put down a few layers of newspaper, and mulched. That's when I discovered that the bags were full of shredded cedar, not pine. Grrrrr.....

The bags are marked Jolly Bee Pine, the same as the one left over from last year. But the contents are definitely not what I've been using on my beds. The pine breaks down nicely and allows for self-seeding, which I like in most areas. I think the cedar compacts and is a growth inhibitor, best for under trees and shrubs where you don't want anything else, right? I figure the daylily beds won't mind, maybe under the roses and box hedges... But I'm going to see if we can swap some bags out after they straighten out the problem with their supplier, or make some other kind of adjustment. I definitely don't want to use it on everything all summer.

The helper stayed 7 hours, I was out there for 10. I will never need a butt lift. ;-)

This message was edited Apr 30, 2013 12:52 PM

Patti, you & Bill can charge admission! Pam, the bed with the DLs looks wonderful....I've been digging out clumps, too, trying to get the grass out.....awful work!

agreed.. glad you got help!!

Patti's spring bulbs are just amazing! I am in awe of the colors and the quantities. If Patti doesn't have the energy it's because it can't be done. Glad for both Pam and Patti having some help with the big stuff. Those will be some lovely gardens in the weeks and months to come also.

Pfg, Nice job, but sorry about your mulch screw up.

I have a bed of rosa rugosa that has to be cleared of some nasty grass that has invaded it that I am dreading, but I must tackle it tomorrow. I worked in the area near our stream all afternoon and got a nice chunk all cleaned up and edged. I even started weeding the gravel drive, but only because I was avoiding the rosa rugosa bed and two others that need doing before we can mulch next week. I will do them tomorrow. DH dug up the area where we had our burn pile and then raked it smooth and seeded it, so that is now done. The spring to do list is getting smaller. Yippee. Patti

I worked on 2 gardens....amazed to see all the damage on my lilies already by the red lily beetle.......I used Dragoon Dust on every one of them....then tried to get the grass & gill-over-the-ground out of my iris bed....half done.

I had a red lily beetle on my kitchen floor this morning even though I hadn't seen them in the garden yet

tormenting you!!

Been getting a lot of cleanup work done on my week off. Did some burning on the weekend and will do more tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day for open burning here.

I saw someone selling bags of alpaca poop for $5 a bag. I thought that was pretty steep. I can get llama poop for free.

Karen

that's it Allison, kill them before them come down this way!

Bill and Patti, I'm always amazed at how much work you both get done. If I have half your energy, imagine what I could get done here. And Patti, I'm always floored by how many plants you add to your gardens every year. With what you have, you could start of botanical garden and charge admission.

Pam, it looks like you're getting things done. Don't you love this time of year?

The weather has been perfect for my time off from work. I've been in my glory. around out a lot of dead branches from my Rosa rugosas, and shaped them up nicely. I got most of my "dry bed" weeded, where I have my blasted granite stone path. It's looking great, and I have room to put in a few new plants. :-) It's always great when you have room for new plants.

Karen

I haven't noticed any lily beetles yet. I'm sure I'll be seeing my old nemesis soon. Yes, Allison, kill them before they can get here!

Karen

Wasnt there a natural predator wasp introduced to combat the Red Beetle?It cant get here soon enough.
I need cougars and Mt.Loins to take out the deer.
I havnt seen beetles but a few holes in leaves.
I think its going to be the best year ever for lilies after last springs freezes.I see many varieties returning in force that only grew half as high last year.There are also more sturdy stems per clump.
I had never experienced such a spring.Gardeners said things would correct themselves and they are.

I squooshed another one yesterday.. after my dandelion plucking spree

Found a red lily beetle on my Siberian iris!

Yikes!!!

They have been known to dine on other plants I dont remember the entire list.

Got a lot burning done today on this last day for open burning here. Got a later start than I wanted to, as my friend Gretchen needed a ride to work due to brake problems, and then later I had to pick her up. Still, I got a lot done.

I also planter a geum today called 'Koi'. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow. Then I moved a Jerusalem sage plant (phlomis), as it was too close to daily clump.

I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow yet. I have so much to do that it's hard to make a decision. I'm always getting pulled in hundred different directions, and there's never time to get it all done.

Karen

Karen, burning is so satisfying. We use to rent a huge shredding machine, but it was way too dangerous and noisy as well as expensive. 300.00 bucks for Sat afternoon to Monday morning. We couldn't burn in those days as it was illegal. The only other option was to make piles in the woods and hide the mess or to pay an even larger sum to haul the stuff to the dump. I was so happy when the town began the burning option. I have a pile already started for next spring as of today.

Got more beds cleaned up and edged for the mulching next week. We moved more things today that were in the wrong spot or were being eaten including some bulbs. Not sure they will make it, but they had to be moved. We are off to Vt tomorrow and will hit Agway for seeds and a few of our favorite nurseries plus go to Tower Hill and maybe Garden in the woods. I need a day or two to recover from all the heavy work I have been doing. Bone tired, but feel blessed to have not seen any of those dreaded red lily beetles ever on Nantucket. I don't try to grow lilies in Vt as I know they are rampant up there. . Squish away. Patti

Patti. Wouldnt you also have deer problems in VT?

We have tons of bees and wasps, so I will think of the red lily beetles the next time I get stung.

Deer don't seem to bother the vt garden at all. Too much woods and farms for them to bother with our meager selection. Tulips even get ignored up at our house in Vt.

I haven't heard about the tests being done to help with the red lily beetles for a while, hope it is on going and not a bust.

Out to plant last two things that I have on hand. Was hoping to get 4 Japanese maples that I know have been shipped from Topiary Gardens before leaving for Vt. So may delay departure until tomorrow. I also have 2 other online orders still outstanding. One from Arrowhead Alpines and one from Deer Resistant Gardens, but not sure when to expect them. From now on we will be consentrating on planting annuals and veggies and weeding, always weeding and deadheading. We have to move everything out of the greenhouse soon and clean up the shed.

Have to finish the iris bed today, need to start painting the fence along the road.....

Yikes! Do a Huck Finn. Sounds like a chore I wouldn't want. Patti

Hateful job.....unfortunately, no kids on road except for 2 girls heavily into high school sports..,,wish my grandkids were older & closer!

That does not sound like fun

Today I was very excited to fine several clumps of Trout lily Erythronium Pagoda in the two beds that I planted them in back in 2006 and 2009. I had just lamented on this forum that I had tried several times to grow them and that they had failed. I guess I should have been more patient. Patti

Isn't it great to see them!

I have jumped the gun and ordered things to replace plants that just hadnt emerged.

DH finally found, after digging up all the plumbing on the endless stream, a slow leak in the coupling between the hose and the upper falls which had him baffled for a couple of years. It will go back together after we pick up a part in Hyannis tomorrow at Country Gardens and maybe a plant or two. They have an excellent water garden department and people who know their stuff. Love that place.

Today I planted these Acer from Topiary Gardens

Japanese maple Hana Matoi | Acer | palmatum dissectum | west walk east side
Japanese maple Kuro hime | Acer | palmatum | west walk west side
Japanese maple Hupp's Dwarf | Acer | palmatum | west walk west side
Japanese maple Irish Lace | Acer | palmatum dissectum | west walk west side

Also planted
3 Geranium pratense Purple Heron Jmaple bed west
1 Begonia grandis Heron's Pirouette timber bed

And I managed on doing a bit of weeding and dividing, but a quiet day as we had planned to be gone until DH decided he wanted to stay until tomorrow to find that leak. I mostly puttered about aimlessly enjoying all the blooms. Patti

A well-spent day!

Patti's trees must be wonderful to see.

Here's some of my meager progress. These plants have to stay in pots until I get their beds ready. Hankering for blueberries resulted in this trio of pots, and this shade garden was a wreck two summers ago while we were building our fireplace. I dug the berm, and the plants are just starting to fill in.

It looks like you have some great starts for your new beds.

Our new Japanese maples that we planted today ,are quite small so it will be a couple of years before they look at home unless the deer eat them and then they will have to be moved into the fenced part of the yard. A bunch that we moved last fall due to deer damage that I thought were dead are mostly leaving out, but are a tad mutilated and dinky. I should have known better to keep them caged until June. We are doing that this year on the ones we are leaving in the war zone. I am assuming that once they get big and less tender the deer will ignore them. Please tell me that is possible.

Here are some long shots of the north and west side of of the house where there is no fence so this is where the deer roam each night plus a couple of collages of random plants that I took this afternoon. Patti

just so pretty!!!!