Sometimes things go according to plan (mostly)

The rain garden install did start on Monday as scheduled. Sean took a photo last year of where the utilities were marked in the yard, and he felt confident that their digging would be safe. And he was right.

He was not so right about the "Dingo" being able to scoop up the earth. My clay soil is so hard and compacted that the crew had to break it up by hand before the Dingo could scoop anything. It was useful for moving the dirt (and tearing up the lawn a bit).

So instead of being completely done in one day, only the digging was finished by the end of Monday. Sean calculated the size by estimating the runoff from the roof over the den.

Tuesday it rained off and on all day, so no work was accomplished. The moisture did make it easier to install the plants - Carex bromides, a.k.a. brome sedge - as did a mechanical hand auger. They didn't use all the plants ordered, so that reduced my bill some.

Originally, they were going to mulch with river rock, but Sean mentioned using mulch instead. I liked the *idea* of river rock, but he said that by next year, the river rock would not be visible. So we went with mulch, another money saver.

And then it rained, an inch over the past two days. The rain garden appears to be doing its job, as not only is there standing water inside it, there is NO standing water outside of it. Whoo-hoo!

Besides the rain garden, the crew installed three ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius 'Jefam', a.k.a. Amber Jubilee. These shrubs should grow to be 4' wide and 6' tall, a better fit for that space than the arborvitae. Also, more sun for the 'Limelight' hydrangea. I'm eager to see how that pans out.

Sadly, I was right about the pagoda dogwood meeting its demise from the soggy lawn. The crew went to cut it down, but it basically pulled right out of the ground as there were no roots to speak of. I thought about replacing it, but my yard and soil and moisture conditions are not really right for it. Why torture an innocent plant?

New plants that should thrive in my yard have been arriving. On the left in this photo are a dozen coneflower, destined for the last remainng raised bed where they should be protected from the perennial thugs. On the right are a bunch of catmint plants, ten Calamintha Nepeta Nepeta (I don't know why "nepeta" is repeated) and four Nepeta 'Cat's Pajamas'. Most of them are destined for the beds around the trees in the front yard, but the extras will go into a container for the deck.

Here is this year's messy robin's nest.

Last Monday, an oriole landed on the feeder, complained bitterly about all the commotion in the backyard, flew off, and has not returned. Yet. Some house finches have been sampling the grape jelly in the orioles' absence. And lately I have heard wrens, although no nest building has occurred yet. A bluebird tried to squeeze into one of the wren houses, which I mentioned to my son. I think I will be getting a bluebird box for Mother's Day. He's looking for one that is sparrow-resistant.

In situ

We have been digging holes. (Well, mostly my SO has. I stand by and supervise.) Almost everything in current inventory is in the ground (although I expect more inventory any day now).

The photo above shows the newly installed Creeping Broad-leaved Sedge 'Banana Boat', a shade loving thing (or five) to contrast with the 'Crimson Pygmy' Barberry. To plant these, we extended the bed a bit. I anticipate adding something like white hyacinth for spring pizzazz.

Here we have four hollies, Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess' and 'Blue Prince', rescued from under the arborvitae. Their tale is long and sad - basically I was looking for creeping wintergreen, the nursery guy offered these up in its stead, and I insisted on treating them like shade-loving wintergreen instead of sun-craving holly - in 2010. One saw the light two years ago, or as much light as it could considering the weediness of its environs. Now all are out of the dark in what I hope is their final resting place, between the vegetable garden and the chain link fence.

They are in various stages of health, from superduper if compact to barely alive. Fingers crossed they all not only survive but thrive. By the way, these do not creep like the wintergreen I originally sought - they are supposed to get 10 (!) feet tall. I hope they have not been permanently stunted.

Once we rescued the holly, the Golden Mop Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Mops') could be installed to disguise the rabbit damage on the arborvitae (which occurred their second winter). The mops look little now, but these guys will grow 2'-3' wide and 2'-3' tall. These two are on the south side of the yard; there are two more for the arborvitae on the north side, but considering the shallow depth of the fiber optic cable nearby, I'm waiting for the yard to be marked by the underground utility guys before proceeding.

Not all planting occurred in ground. I purchased five planters for the pergola but used only four (and lost the receipt so I couldn't return the extra). This one is hanging on the vegetable garden fence and contains two dahlias and a lantana.

I am finding it ironic that earlier this spring I thought I had lost my gardening mojo and now I can barely stay away from my beloved plants. A big factor in this scenario is the help I have received from my son. He has taken on the mowing, helps with the weeding, and is working on some long-deferred projects of mine. The psychic boost of having a willing assistant is tremendous, even if he occasionally yanks up a non-weed in his enthusiasm.

When the weather is tough, the tough go shopping

The weather is wet and windy and generally yucky. I'd never been to the Master Gardeners plant sale, so I decided today would be a good day to get a lethal chill. There were lots of perennials and a few vegetable plants, plus a few other vendors offered fruit trees and natives. Without a plan, though, I hated to buy stuff just to be buying stuff. I actually walked away plantless.

Since I was in a plant-buying mood, I stopped at Stuckys on the way home and dropped a C-note to help the local economy. I've been wanting to plant something yellow in front of the barberry and have been leaning toward a dwarf golden variety of the same. At Stuckys I spotted a creeping broad-leaved sedge 'Banana Boat' that would offer not only a different color, but different form and texture as well. That's good, right?

It also tolerates clay soil, prefers moisture (its future location is on the wet side of the driveway), and wants to be shaded. If it creeps under the barberry, that is fine with me, but I expect it to be more mound-shaped.

Because I am a sucker for sedum, I picked up a few Sedum rupestre (reflexum) 'Lemon Ball' plants. The bed by the front walk contains quite a few sedums already, both creeping and tall. I am planning to move the 'Autumn Joy' from under the Japanese maple to this bed, but am trying to do it in a more controlled fashion than my usual willy-nilly style.

And yet I made this purchase impulsively.

I wasn't going to grow any tomatoes this year, but my son is staying with me right now and requested some cherries. 'Juliet' (a grape variety) and 'Sunsugar' (a yellow cherry) came home with me. It's the least I can do, in exchange for all the mowing he does for me.

My attempts to grow annual vines look pretty pathetic, and I was tempted by some much more robust specimens at Stuckys, but balked at paying $8 a pop for them (even though they each came with their own little bamboo trellis). The ornamental sweet potato also tempted me, but I opted for the lavender trailing lantana (Lantana Rastrera) instead. Both are attractive to the eye, but the latter is also attractive to butterflies. We'll see how it does on the pergola.