Wake up!

Now that it is officially spring, things are happening. The weather itself is still on the cold side, but the grass looks greener and some perennials are popping out of the ground. It won't be long now.

Cup plant

Rattlesnake Master

Goldenrod

I dismantled the dead hedge and relocated the branches to a somewhat hidden area, between mature shrubs and the privacy fence. May they rot in place.

I think the sparrow has finally ceded the bluebird box to its rightful owners. An employee at Wild Birds Unlimited commented that she puts a empty tuna can in the bottom of her bluebird box, to discourage the sparrows. I didn't have a tuna can, so I tried a plastic sour cream container. That worked against the sparrows, but it also seemed to spook the bluebirds - too white? I replaced it with several layers of corrugated cardboard, and now I think all is well.

A pair of mallards appeared in the backyard, apparently interested in the rain garden which was full of water on that day. They didn't stay long, but it was fun to see them.

My SO reports bees at his birdbath. I found a busy one at the witch hazel.

I've been transcribing my journals and am currently on year 1979. Back then I was just as itchy to get into the garden as I am now. Back then I had more energy, though. Hopefully, the arc of the yard is bending toward less labor-intensive activities as I ease into my later years.

High floppability

The natives planted along the fence on the south side of the house are blooming... and flopping. I like them tall but not when they lean across the path I take with the lawn mower. The ironweed plants have inverted tomato cages to keep them somewhat upright, but the coneflower and rudbeckia need some help. There is a new edition of Tracy DiSabato-Aust's book The Well-Tended Perennial Garden; I have an older copy, maybe should check out what's new. Perhaps the pruning techniques will help. If not, a fence of some sort, one that won't obstruct?

I took advantage of the lovely weather this week to finish edging around the shrubs and the hawthorn tree out front. While I was at it, I removed the protective hardware cloth, snipped suckers, pulled weeds, etc. I also propped up the false indigo just in time for the lawn treatment guys. Then there was the pruning of redbuds and viburnum. My SO helped with the latter, thank goodness; my shoulders won't let me operate the lopper.

The mid-to-late summer perennials are going at it. I *love* the cup plant patch, as do the finches. The plants are at least ten feet tall.

In front of the cup plant is a clump of silvergrass with the additions of coneflower, rudbeckia, daylily, and aster.

Volunteer sunflowers mingle with rattlesnake master and big bluestem.

Besides volunteer sunflowers, there are some volunteer morning glories growing in containers. Some vines that I thought were morning glories are something else, bindweed or something like it, so those have been eliminated. I'm trying to help the actual morning glories with a trellis; it's too short, but that isn't stopping them.

Does anyone know what is wrong with this clump of aster? I think the browning of the lower leaves can occur when there is too little rain, but we have had plenty of that.

Another problem we have had plenty of are Japanese beetles. I plant hollyhocks as a trap crop, but this year the little buggers have ignored the hollyhocks in favor of coneflowers and zinnias. Boo.

I hear cicadas, have found one husk and seen one flying around, but we must not be Brood X country. My son lived in Bloomington IN during the last emergence and says they were quite the nuisance down there. What's been your experience?