Rain garden or vernal pond?

We received another inch of rain last night, so now the rain garden is full. Again. When the last rainfall finally drained away, I had to reseat several plants; I think one of the dogs got in there, so I also reinforced the fencing around it as well. Now I'm hoping they all survive a second dunking. More rain is forecast this week. I'm wondering if my rain garden is going to be more of a vernal pond.

Despite the rainy, cold weather earlier this week, I visited two local nurseries. I purchased two bleeding heart plants from Arbor Farms on Monday. Tuesday I hit up Stuckeys for sweet potato vine, black eyed Susan vine, a couple of tomato plants, some basil, coleus, and rudbekia. Yesteday two honeysuckle vines arrived from Brushwood Nursery. Last summer I purchased just a handful of plants because of the redo of the landscaping, and late, so there wasn't much to choose from. I didn't want that to happen this year. I should be all set.

The weather has improved now, so I planted grass seed in the area north of the house where nothing but plantain has grown for years. With the arborvitae gone, sunshine will reach that area, at least part of the day. All this rainy weather means I won't have to water it so often.

Sparrows have been sneaking into the mealworm feeder, so I purchased a cylinder of "nesting" food to lure them away. That disappeared in a matter of days, thanks to the starlings. If I buy another cylinder, I am going to also purchase a starling-proof cage to put around that feeder.

A bluebird was trying to get into the wren house. After mentioning that to my son, he gifted me with a bluebird box (early Mother's Day gift). He selected one that is supposed to be sparrow-resistant. Today's chore will be to install it in the backyard. I hope it is not too late. (A wren is now building a nest in its house, and singing up a storm.)

In the middle of the afternoon this past week, I saw a raccoon climbing the corner of a neighbor's shed. I tried to get a photo, but the rascal slipped inside the shed through a hole under the eaves. I take the mealworm feeder in most nights because of raccoons, but I think this one has been cleaning out the feeder I have for the squirrels.

Do you think I need signs everywhere in my yard? THIS food is for bluebirds, THIS feeder is for the squirrels, THIS box is for the wrens, DON'T knock over the bird bath, etc.

Now for some eye candy.

'Prairie Fire' crabapple

Volunteer violets

Wild geranium blossom

Blue star blossoms

Blue star

Chokeberry blossoms

I am loving the golden ragwort in the front of the house. It is not even one year old yet, but going to town. It blooms about the same time as daffodils, but lasts so much longer. Next year, those beds will be absolutely packed.

When the bloom is done, I'll prune back the flower stems.

I think our last frost date is past, so it's time to transplant some of those plants I mentioned above, except for the tomatoes and sweet potato vine. I knew to keep the tomatoes inside for a while, but unthinkingly left the sweet potato vines on the deck. They were not happy, but they perked up after a few hours under a grow light. I'll hold back on transplanting them for another week or so.

Bugs, buds, and blossoms

I've seen a swarm or two of gnats this past week, but today I spotted this fellow feeding on the witch hazel blossoms. Some kind of bee, I guess. Honey?

Bee on witch hazel

Meanwhile, buds are starting to swell here and there around the yard.

Serviceberry

Chokeberry

Elm

Hawthorn

Ragwort

I didn't get a good photo of the snowdrops, but the "regular" croci are blooming as well as the daffodils (which look a little raggedy, due to the fluctuating weather).


So much for outside. Inside, I finally got around to starting the zinnias from seed. But first, I made some pots from newspaper, as described in this video.


Mine are not as refined as the ones in the video, but they will work.

Today I finished de-branching the arborvitae, so that task is finished. Now I am waiting on an estimate for the rain garden, because of this repeat performance:

I hope the rain garden helps.

Another way to feed the birds

As I have mentioned before, I stopped filling bird feeders because of the sparrows. My backyard is too sparrow-friendly, to the point they were the only birds I saw. Also, they were stripping bark from the limbs of my tulip tree, to the point the limbs were dying. Bad birds! So I put away the feeders, at least for the time being.

That does not mean there is nothing for the birds to eat in my yard. During the summer, there are seed heads of course - sunflowers, coneflowers, etc. - but there are also berries, starting in the spring with the serviceberry crop. That tree is stripped clean in no time at all, by robins. As other shrubs and trees produce fruit, some is eaten right away, some in a more leisurely fashion, and some remains into and over winter.

Aronia melanocarpa, a.k.a. Chokeberry

The size of the crop can vary greatly from year to year as well. I have never had more than a few berries on the 'Blue Muffin' viburnum, but its cousin 'Chicago Lustre' went all out this summer. The 'Wentworth' highbush cranberry and blackhaw viburnum bloomed well but neither produced much fruit even though I don't think we had a late frost. It's a puzzlement.

Viburnum Dentatum 'Chicago Lustre', a.k.a. arrowwood viburnum

I'm really impressed with the crop on the hawthorn. This tree is not that old, but it is loaded with orange fruit. It's a delight to view through the picture window.

Crataegus viridis 'Winter King', a.k.a. hawthorn

The 'Perfect Purple' flowering crab is young, too, but trying to do its part. My dad had a flowering crab that held its fruit all winter along, to be descended upon by a flock of robins in early spring when there is not much of anything else to eat.

Malus 'Perfect Purple' , a.k.a. flowering crab

I do miss feeding the birds from bird feeders, though, and am trying to figure out a place in the front yard where I (and the cats) can watch from the window. My indoor/outdoor cat is also a problem, but the older he gets, the more indoor he becomes.

I turned my back for a few days

This past Saturday was spent mostly doing housework, Sunday was Mother's Day so family came over (hence the reason for the housecleaning), and Monday it poured, so my SO and I left town. Today I was surprised to find *more* flowering going on in the yard. (Please excuse all the weeds!)

Volunteer Canadian columbine are popping up all over the place

Prunifolium viburnum, a.k.a. Blackhaw

Aronia melanocarpa, a.k.a. Chokeberry

Chokeberry, up close

Prairie Fire crabapple, year ONE

Finding blossoms on the stick-like Prairie Fire crab was a delightful surprise. Not all color is from flowers, though. Two shrubs I planted last summer are fulfilling their promise of providing contrast to my mostly-purple-leafed front yard.

Lemony Lace elderberry

Golden Spirit smokebush

Not everything is doing well, though. It looks like the climbing rose bit the dust. Periodically, I would contemplate removing it, only to have it put on a great show. After deciding I would keep it, I planted shasta daisies in front of it for contrast. Now it is dead. At least the hosta bed survived the dog trampling, as has one coral bells plant; the other is questionable, as is the mountain mint.

Palace Purple heuchera

Hosta bed

Big hostas have big impact, but my favorite is this small-leafed Golden Tiara (at least I think that is the variety). The bed also has some volunteer columbine and violets (and dandelion, which I cropped out of the pic).

Golden Tiara hosta

I hope your yard and garden are just as full of surprises!

The fun stuff

I spent a good part of yesterday weeding while waiting on the underground utility guy to show up (he never did). By midafternoon, I was bushed. By evening I could barely move. My gardening muscles have certainly atrophied over the winter. If my SO was not scheduled to come help me today, I might have laid on the couch watching golf with my eyes closed. But he came and we worked. But it was mostly fun stuff.

One task that definitely took two was installing a Coolaroo sun shade over the pergola. But first I tended to the pergola planters: coir liners, potting soil, and Margarita sweet potato plants (Ipomoea batatas). Last year's effort to grow something that would shade the deck was a big FAIL. I think these vines will work better, but we added the sun shade as insurance.

We noticed the difference the sun shade made almost immediately. Purchased at Costco, it's 7'x13' while my pergola is about 10'x10'. The sun shade fits between the main cross pieces, then hangs over one side, the side the sun will be on later this summer. I'm looking forward to enjoying late afternoon iced tea on the "veranda".

Even though the underground utility guy didn't come to mark the electrical and FIOS, the gas guy did show up on Wednesday, so I was able to plant the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) and smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) shrubs I purchased earlier this spring.

I didn't take photos, but I also planted two more rattlesnake masters (Eryngium yuccifolium) in this corner of the yard. If I can ever get the creeping charlie under control, I think this area will be real purty someday.

I also didn't take photos of the madder (Rubia tinctoria) plant (the roots are used for dyeing fiber), nor did I document the removal of the yarrow from the native sampler bed on the south side of the house. My SO took one yarrow clump while I transferred the other to a raised bed where it presumably can't wander hither and yon. I moved what I presume to be a 'Husker Red' Penstemon into one of the yarrow holes.

I thought I had killed off all the Husker Red (by accident) a few years ago, but this one popped up in the sampler bed.

I know I said NO NEW BEDS in my last post, but I don't think this one really counts. Leftover lumber had been piled next to the deck, but that was not stopping the iris from trying to spread. We cleared it out and threw down a couple of delineating timbers. I'm not sure what I will do with this area other than reset some of the iris rhizomes come August. Daylilies? Sunflowers?

Elsewhere around the yard, the trees I planted last year are doing well, the Triumph Elm (Ulmus 'Morton Glossy') in the back and a hawthorn (Crataegus viridis 'Winter King') in the front.

I forgot that the hawthorn blooms. Pretty, but also pretty stinky. I don't care for the fragrance.

I need to mind the thorns when I mow around it. Yikes!

The tulip tree has been here since 2009 (?). It looks a little sparse in part because I have not yet lopped off the lower branches that the sparrows killed last year by stripping the bark for their nests. Actually, I blame the blue jays because they would wipe their beaks on the limbs, presumably damaging the tender bark. This spring the sparrows tried to pull off more bark but appeared to be unsuccessful. I also took a hiatus on feeding the birds; the jays can get their whole peanuts somewhere else.

Of greater concern is what I think is a weather crack. I first noticed this last summer. I'm hoping it does not prove to be fatal.

I wish I were better able to capture how bright and shiny the barberry is this year, a nice contrast with the gold mop. There used to be a burning bush where the flamingo is, on the left. You can't tell from this photo, but I cut out one of the barberry too. My hope is the gold mop will fill in the spaces.

I wasn't sure how the hostas would survive the fence installation last year, but I lucked out and two of them are on one side and the rest on the other side are just fine. There is a bit of volunteer rudbeckia growing around the 'Love Pat' on the right. The other hosta is a mystery.

I think this hosta is 'Golden Tiara' and I was afraid it was going to peter out a couple of years ago, the victim of home improvement. I shoveled some homemade compost on it a year (or two?) ago and it looks like it is recovering. I like it because of the small leaves.

There is still more planting to do, and some plant moving, which is almost as much fun as planting. Then it is back to the weeding and mulching.

Before I forget

Today I planted garlic, 39 cloves of German Extra Hardy from 5 bulbs and 21 cloves of Broadleaf Czech from 2 bulbs. I've never grown garlic before, so I hope I did okay.



My lasagna beds are not very deep yet, so I spread the contents of two of my big containers over the garlic. Hopefully, the potting soil will provide enough food to get the garlic growing well in the spring. Meanwhile, those worms I saw today better get in gear!

Also planted jonquils (Giant Yellow for Naturalizing), Fondant hyacinth, and pink grape hyacinth. The hyacinth went around the smoke bush, while the jonquils wound up here, there, and everywhere.

And my SO, aka Mulch Man, spread more mulch around the shrubs.

Oh, and that tree from my previous post? Not a maple. We got up close and personal and discovered it has small purple fruit. I'm guessing flowering crab. Of course, when I try to find photos online of flowering crab trees, all I can find are spring pix, not fall ones.

Now, because I am too pooped to write anymore, here are a few pictures from around the yard.

Serviceberry (AmElanchier x Grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'):



Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliant') (and my neighbor's sailboat, which is for sale, if anyone is interested):



Sargent viburnum (Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'):



Rhododendron 'PMJ':



Japanese maple (Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'):



Burning bush: