I came in for a break as well---been outside for about 4 hrs...
Dug up and divided the extra clumps from both my big Ferns.
Potted them up (nicely!) in big pots so they can continue doing their thing..
These are both in my kitchen side bed...Cleaned it all up--dug in some new soil
and raked up all the leaves.. This bed now looks ready for....whatever...
Dog up my Strawberries--only got 8 individual small clumps--VERY small...
and one bigger one. No runners on anything yet...They have been covered
with a layer of leaves all winter. Raked those in a pile--still have to trash.
NO room in my SEM to add anything...it is full to the hilt.
C'Mon warm weather ans all the wiggly bugs and larva!!! A feast awaits you!
Will go out after my break to write tags for all the potted up stuff...
Morning was so cold! When the wind died down--it was beautiful...
I am imagining that garden at HD was insane today!!! Don't people listen to the weather
forecast??? Another cold front coming through with below freezing T* and a
possibility of S-N-O-W between Tuesday and Wed. AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!
My lawn is starting to green up--ever so slightly.....need some warm days! 1 week has passed...
Already had the rain. Then will take another set of pictures to show you....
If you don't know what the heck i am talking about--it is to show everyone how great
Yardening 7, March 2014
Just came in for another break. I was picking up all the downed branches in the front lawn and noticed mole/vole tunnels everywhere. Haven't noticed any in the garden beds though, so I guess that is good news. I've spent most of the day just doing general cleanup. Took about 2 1/2 hours to take all the Christmas decorations on the front porch down and around to the basement. I can't believe I waited until end of March for that LOL...
I still have some outdoor Christmas decorations in the garage by my trash bin. I'm torn between putting them away and throwing them out. Fairfax County incinerates garbage to produce energy, so I don't feel too bad about tossing things like that.
What an incredible day! I cleaned up my front bed and uncovered Great Blue Lobelia which had stayed green all winter (the basal leaves, that is). The hyacinths have buds. A catbird builds a nest in a shrub in that bed every year, and she was already sitting in it. I think she's jumping the gun a little bit, but what do I know? She's listening to Mother Nature.
sigh...spent the day in the library....
Were you at least able to flip through some gardening books?
not even that!
Haha Gita, House Hunters can be irritating I think because everyone on that show is so negative. Same with Love It or List It. It's a wonder how some of those marriages stay together! We just started watching Dancing With the Stars. I wanted to root for the Olympic ice dancers Meryl and Charlie.
I'm a little glad today is not as inviting out as yesterday. Yesterday was probably the most physically challenging day I've had since my surgeries. I had set some goals to complete and achieved them all. That gives me hope for the upcoming garden season. :-} Planning a reasonable goal and completing it has many times eluded me.
Way to go Ric. It must feel great to accomplish what you got done yesterday, and glad that you are setting limits.
I forgot to mention that when I was out yardening yesterday, I actually saw a butterfly!
Lucky you Terri, all I got were bugs in my coffee. chuckle chuckle
Ric, youve done well, and probably deserved a rest day. Glad Holly is able to get out some too.
I just cleaned up things, my vegetable garden is kinds white trashy looking with pots, bags, stakes of all kinds...
Got a fire going and burned some leaves and sticks. It is nice getting rid of stuff instantly with fire and not the whole bagging and bundling rigamarole. Especially barberry bush trimmings and raspberries .
You are so right Sally, I love being able to burn whatever I want to get rid of. I have friends that must cut up their brush into small pieces and bundle it and put it in the trash. What a hassle.
Is Chelone a heavy self seeder? Do their seedlings have a bronze/purple hue to them? Nothing ever self seeds for me (except for chickweed and lamium!), but I have a heavy blanket of these seedlings near where the turleheads were planted last year. Or they could be Monarda?
Monarda is a beast. Quick way to tell if it is Monarda is to crunch up some leaves it should smell similar to mint. Or photo ID it. It is vivacios plant as a mint family member once established, you should pull it up twice a year what you don't want. To eraticate established mature monarda I would be prapared to attack it at least two seasons.
I always used the square stem as a reference but apparently from my research that trait is shared with other families.
I actually I really enjoy Monarda or Bee Balm and have it established in 3 different locations. I only have one color and am always looking for others. If anybody has different colors I will trade healthy massive bunch for new colors. I have the florescent pink/fuschia. Off the top of my head there is a red, pink, and white as well. LMK.
From wikipedia: The Lamiaceae family
The leaves emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one.
The stems are frequently square in cross section, but this is not found in all members of the family, and is sometimes found in other plant families.
The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with 5 united petals, 5 united sepals. They are usually bisexual and verticillastrate (a flower cluster that looks like a whorl of flowers but actually consists of two crowded clusters).
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSpO1D6weApjlYysJvTR41xx3eJ2tWzU9ZBQCeiiJsIr0eY6A10DsnW50Tr
Paul, we have carried a deep red Monarda at work in the past. As I am now the "ordering person", I can make sure to get some for you if you like. If I recall correctly, what we've had is "Scarlett". Would you like for me to check into this for you?
Sure! And i am interested in the shooting star as well.
I'll take pictures of those mysterious seedlings. And put me down for a shooting star, speedie!
What do you all plant on the base of roses? I have red knockouts that bloom very nicely but they're in part shade so they get pretty leggy. Any recommendations for part-shade ground covers that play nicely with roses? I tried salvias, but it's too shady for them.
Geranium? Ajuga?
I got this Monarda a couple years ago at a Swap---Love the blooms...
Looking forward to see it spread a bit this year.
It is against the house in my S. side bed behind all kinds of other plants.
G.
Gita that is a pretty color!
I think the popular scarlet variety like what Gita has is 'Jacob Cline' and the one that I think Terp and I both have is 'Rasberry Wine'.
It is very pretty Gita.
Typwc nicely done.
I came across some 'white' monarda seeds when I first signed up to DG. I just scattered them in the garden but they never came up. If only I had known what I know now!
I can't remember if they were "newbee" seeds or from trade.
I have the raspberry wine too; it's gorgeous. It's also a lot sturdier than some but it got terrible powdery mildew late last season. I think it had something to do with the drought we had at the end of the summer. I can already tell that it is spreading nicely. I liked this one because, with deadheading, it would bloom for a while. I used to have another one that would crap out after bloom even with deadheading. I ripped that one out but there are still a few remnants.
Speedie, if you have shooting star up for grabs, I'll happily take some too. :)
Don't re,remember who gave me the little start of this Monarda, but I think it was
at Jan's swap. Somehow--the "raspberry...ring a bell..
Will just have to wait until it blooms again. July...I think.
I have another one--somewhere....many new things since last year.
Getting excited to see it all. G.
Here are the mysterious seedlings. Pretty sure they're monarda. And bonus Heuchera. This one's a noid from HD and currently my favorite. It stayed this pretty all winter. :).
It definitely is monarda.
sag they look just like the Monarda bradburiana emerging here. Love seeing the little things emerge in spring.
Just back from Ace Hardware. I had a coupon so I was planning to get potting mix of some kind and mulch of some kind. The Glen Burnie Ace guy said they recommend Gardener's Gold, (white and blue bag) and showed me pictures of a tirla that the Edgewater Ace store did. Looked impressive. (Edgewater Ace has a fabulous nursery, Judy has mentioned them) I don't like buying not knowing how the texture is, but all the bags of all mix were frozen and I couldn't judge. I decided to trust my Helpful Hardware guys and gals and get two bags. I'll let you know how it looks when it, and I , thaw out.
I nosed around in the greenhouse today and I can confirm that 'Jacob's Cline" is DEFINITELY one of the varieties we have (the other one is a pink). How many shall I grab for ya Paul.
OK, gonna D-mail myself a list to keep track of for the Shooting Stars:
Hollyann
Paul
Ssg
Sequoia (Jeff)
... did I miss anyone?
< =D
Speedie, I'm giddy with excitement over this hydrangea! :)
Holly/Ric I meant to tell you my quince plant from you is leafing out. I was afraid I'd lost it.
;^)
I have so many pots of NOID DIRT sitting in various places. Not sure if its dormant plants, really dead plants, or seeds!
Sally I have some of them, too. I just wait to see what survived the winter and what comes up. Some of them are things I potted up to give away and never did find a home for them. If they make it thru the winter they get a second chance at a forever home. LOL
Speedie, what do you want for the shooting star?
Jeff, not sure yet; First I have to find a vendor with them, then see how we're gonna price them, then I'll make a deal with Bossman that all you DG'ers get MY discount. I'll keep you posted though, is that ok?
Yeah all good. I may have missed it but what size are these little gems?
I saw my first aphid of the season yesterday. AARRRGGGHHH
It seems too early for aphids! I don't have any lacewings, ladybugs, or preying mantis yet. :(
Those of you who bought Abelia 'Kaleidoscope' from Ace last year -- how's yours looking? Mine was fully evergreen until the most recent arctic blast and is now looking very sad.
I was awestruck at the stacks and stacks and stacks of mulch bags at Lowes today. They were sure hoping for a lot of those to be selling today but few braved the rain.
Sally--you know---when we have warmer days coming--it will be a like Black
Friday AM--the hordes of people coming to, finally, shop for garden stuff..
It will be an invasion. Gotta be ready. Garden will rock and roll...
G.
I braved the rain to buy mulch, garden bed edging and seed starter kits from HD. It was a busy place! I think I convinced some people to buy the same edging I had in my cart.
some Yarrow, probably a peach colored one that Jill gave me, has quietly gone crazy in my driveway side flowerbed. That's going to help determine how I plant that area this year.
Muddy, do tell! What's the edging that you use?
This is it: http://www.homedepot.com/p/EcoBorder-4-ft-Brown-Rubber-Landscape-Edging-ECOBRD-BRN-4FT/202650522
It's much darker brown that it appears in that photo. I've used it to make large circles around the trees in my front yard, which has just enough of a slope so that mulch kept washing downhill. This edging is just tall enough to hold it in place. It also has just enough of a "mowing strip" so that I can mow the grass around it rather than use the string-trimmer.
Right now, my side flower bed is edged with rotten landscape timbers, so I decided I should re-do that with the same edging. All I need now is a break in the weather!
This edging is really easy to work with. I have been gradually expanding a mixed shrub/tree bed in my front yard (getting rid of more grass each time; yay!), and I like that I can yank it up, reposition it and re-stake it. It comes with brown plastic stakes.
I just noticed that it comes in 5 colors. My local HD just carries dark brown, though.
They also carry a pricier, more decorative recycled rubber edger, but it doesn't have a mowing strip.
This message was edited Mar 29, 2014 8:34 PM