NEXT!

The blossoming continues. Unfortunately, the light is not always ideal and I am not the best photo editor around. So while I am documenting the progression of the flowering, some of the pics are not the most flattering. Not that the plants care.

I keep trying to capture the way the purple-leaf plantings in the front yard enhance the rest. An example is the hawthorn and the 'Crimson King' maple trees.

The hawthorn is peaking blossom-wise.

The 'Wentworth' highbush cranberry is coming on strong.

I love the delicate details of the flowers.

Behind the highbush cranberry is the easy-to-neglect 'Alabama Crimson' honeysuckle vine. It has been blooming for a while. I keep meaning to provide it with a trellis so it can show off more.

Just getting to the honeysuckle is a challenge.

The sad looking shrub on the right is the 'Aphrodite' Rose of Sharon. It is always late to the dance, but is looking particularly peaked this spring. I think I will cut it back severely and see if it recovers. And while it is in a smaller size, maybe I will get that trellis installed for the honeysuckle.

I am not sure if the catmint in the milkweed bed is 'Walkers Low' or 'Six Hills Giant'. If you look closely, you can see a milkweed plant sprouting in the midst of the catmint. By the way, I spotted a monarch today, fluttering around some milkweed on the south side of the house, but alas, it did not land.

I'm glad this catmint is doing so well because the Russian sage planted at the corners of the bed is not.

A few plants of dames rocket spot the yard. This is a non-native invasive that I have mistaken for some kind of phlox in the past. Sometimes there is a lot, sometimes a little. I let it hang around because I like it.

The false indigo gets bigger every year. When I planted it I had no idea just how big it would get. I'm happy with it, though.

There is some volunteer columbine mixed in with it this year.

This poor 'Niobe' clematis keeps trying but has never lived up to its reputation of being 8'-12' tall. It adds another shade of purple to the front yard, though.

Meanwhile, my efforts to get rid of the yucca is turning into a game of whack-a-mole. The roots keep sending up more shoots. I snip them off and they come back. I'm beginning to wonder if a yucca is forever.

My immediate goal (besides moving the giant pile of mulch in the driveway and keeping the lawn mowed) is to get the rest of the transplants into the ground. There are the ones I bought, which are waiting rather patiently. Then there are the ones I grew, which are moving on as best they can despite my starting them too early and transplanting them too late, like these Profusion zinnias.

For the record, three 'Luna Red' hibiscus are in their own raised bed; I started more plants, as I want at least four. Today I planted some zucchini and cucumber in paper cups, to get them off to a good start. Last year's hollyhock did not all come back - it looks like some of them rotted in the ground - so I transplanted some 'Torch' sunflowers into that bed, to keep the survivors company. I've neglected the alyssum I purchased earlier (and it shows), so I've been moving it and some of the Profusion zinnias to containers.

I was wrong about the climbing rose being dead, as it is sending up some new growth from its base; it probably heard me musing about planting a honeysuckle in its place. I whacked back the forsythia again, as it just won't stop growing. I'm beginning to wonder if forsythia is forever, too.

And I have been weeding, weeding, weeding, especially the Canada thistle. How about you?

Note to self - WAIT

I blame the weather. This year winter seemed interminable (and it isn't over YET!) To combat the February doldrums, I sowed some seeds. Now most of the seedlings are of a size for planting outdoors. Tonight's low is forecast to be 19 degrees. NINETEEN! Will winter ever end?!?

I repotted some of the more spindly seedlings, as they were root bound and depressed about it. I will probably repot more. I'm happy they are so robust but really wishing it were May, not April. That's assuming May will be warmer than April. A big assumption.

Actually, today wasn't too bad, once the temps climbed into the 30's, as there was little wind and much sunshine. I attacked the yucca mound, planning to try to do in about 3/4 of it. I got carried away, though, and whacked it all. The problem was the yucca was spreading, not only within its bed but to other beds. My fault, I fear, as once upon a time I witnessed a downy woodpecker pecking at the dry seed stalk, so I stopped removing the stalks when the blossoms were done. I never saw another downy woodpecker at the yucca, but many baby yuccas sprouted all around, presumably from seed. A friend told me once that she had tried tidying up her yucca by removing the dried lower leaves, but the plant died. I'm counting on that working here, as I removed ALL the leaves, green and otherwise, plus sawed off the crowns best I could. I'm hoping that will do the trick.

Now the bed looks open and inviting, so of course I am contemplating what I can plant there going forward. There is a purple leaf sand cherry and a blue false indigo at either end. Maybe a dwarf butterfly bush between them and/or yellow flowers like coreopsis, daylily, or Profusion zinnias? And maybe I will reshape the bed to make it easier to mow around. Suggestions?

Let's try Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

I've seen others post as part of the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and decided to give it a try. I would not describe my yard as being colorful right now, but there actually are a lot of plants in flower or just starting their bloom period.

First up are the Early Wave 'Velour Red' petunias among the sweet potato vines, high in the sky on the pergola. Last year's candidates for these planters were a FAIL. I think the petunias will not be returning, as I have to climb a ladder in order to dead head them.

The 'Betty Corning' clematis are hitting their stride. Next year, the trellis supports will be replaced with 72" tall, 24" wide tuteurs (recently purchased, on sale at Gardeners Supply). Also, I may limit the number of vines growing up from the base - these plants get HUGE.

Most gardeners may consider fleabane to be a weed, but I have come to appreciate it in limited quantities. It is a native, blooms all summer long, and comes back on its own.

I truly love the coral color of the 'Major Wheeler' honeysuckle vine. Unfortunately, it is rather hidden from general view. Currently, the vine is climbing right over the privacy fence. I'd like to train it to stay on this side.

Catmint is a reliable summer bloomer. This is 'Walkers Low'. Bees love it.

The newbie 'Miss Violet' butterfly bush is "sleeping" (first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap) as it develops a healthy root system. But it still produces blooms despite its youth.

For some reason, the raspberry patch is full of four-foot-tall red clover. Despite my cleaning up this patch every year, all kinds of stuff competes with the brambles, to the point I am abandoning it after this year's harvest.

This it the second year for the lanceleaf coreopsis. It survived attacks by rabbits and woodchucks and is now blooming semi-profusely. Love seeing that cheery yellow.

The tiger lilies are just starting; this might be 'Orange Star'. At one point, I moved them all to one bed, more as a survival strategy than a design technique. Now I would like to scatter them around the yard.

I've had this 'Avant-Garde' clematis for a long time. In previous years, I let it flop over the garden gate, but that garden gate is gone now. It too will get a tuteur next year, a little smaller than Betty's.

After the tulip fiasco, I planted sweet alyssum in containers and added a pink geranium for a burst of color. The geranium is not working out as I had hoped, so I may add some zinnias.

The pink geraniums and petunias on the front porch are doing fine, though. I used to concentrate on yellows in the front yard, to contrast with all the purple-leaved plants, shrubs, and trees, but this year I discovered pink works well, too.

The 'Zagreb' coreopsis is just starting. Not only is this the most resilient coreopsis I have ever grown, the clumps are now spreading.

The 'Route 66' coreopsis seems to have disappeared, but there is still one clump of 'Tequila Sunrise'.

This is a migrant yucca, able to leap broad sidewalks in a single bound. It gets more sun than its parent clump. It is also destined to be removed - naughty plant has boundary issues.

This might be 'Francis Williams', the first hosta to bloom this year. Last summer I tried to identify all the hostas in my yard, but many remain a mystery.

Once upon a time, I had 12 (TWELVE) Stella d'Oro daylilies in my front yard. I gave away most of them, but a few clumps remain. Now I am feeling more kindly toward them, plan to divide and spread them around again, as they are a great source of yellow.

Gout weed is not a flashy bloomer; I'm just glad five of the six plants I planted under the 'Limelight' hydrangea survived. The goal is for these survivors to spread all around the hydrangea but go no farther. Lots a luck, right?

Today I purchased a few more plants in bloom, some marigolds in pots to go under the purple smoke bush, as the little zinnias there are not thriving, and a shasta daisy to replace the one that did not survive being transplanted last year.

And that's about it for now. How is your garden blooming?

What's blooming now

My yard seems to have a gap in late spring bloomers, but now that summer is officially here, others are stepping up.

The cardinal vines planted in pots under the redbud trees are starting to blossom. The flowers are smaller than I expected (this is the first time I have grown these), so I'm hoping they make up for their size with profuseness. The vines seem to be doing okay in the clay pots but need daily watering.

The stalks of the yuccas shot up when no one was looking and are now blooming. I once tried to dig out these plants, but only succeeded in goosing them into multiplying. I give up and will cede the bed to them.

I plant bees friend in the vegetable garden and orchard, in the cement blocks that form some of the raised beds. I had never heard of this plant, tried it, liked it. More importantly, the bees really like it, especially since it is more resistant to fall frosts than other flowering plants.

A few hardy coreopsis continue to perform, this one 'Zagreb'. They need to be divided, but it was the 'Autumn Joy' sedum's turn this year.

That sweet smell I detect comes from the common milkweed that pop up here and there.

I have always had at least some milkweed in the yard, but I have NEVER seen a single monarch caterpillar. Maybe it is because of the occasional aphid infestation? I've read that monarchs will not lay eggs on plants like this one.

Not all the plants are infested, so I will try to eliminate the danger and see if that makes any difference. My expectations are low. Maybe there has to be a certain density of milkweed?

I had a vision of white shasta daisies blooming against a background of red climbing roses. Unfortunately, the roses are in serious decline by the time the daisies pop. (I don't know why some of the daisies flopped.)

But now I am thinking the daisies would play nice with the orange tiger lilies I divided this year. At least the bloom times would match. Anybody that tries to flop could be tied to the chain link fence.

Orange you glad we bloomed?

I read that the new Triumph Elm in my backyard may be susceptible to Japanese beetles. It's a good thing I plant hollyhocks as a trap for those shiny buggers.

I purchased the seed for black hollyhocks many years ago, so I was somewhat surprised last year when it germinated. Of the four plants I started, only one survived the winter. I'm thinking maybe I should start some more this year, as they are biennials that bloom the second year.

Maybe these would like to join the tiger lilies and daisies?

Not too clean

Last week I wandered around the yard, clipping and yanking the thoroughly dead, no possible winter interest leftovers from summer. Things like dry stalks from daylilies and hostas, entire blackened coleus (good thing I dug one up to serve as next year's mother plant) and frosted marigolds, done in zinnias, etc. You know the drill. The so-called experts exhort us to clean, clean, clean up the garden and flower beds each fall. I do some, especially in the front of the house, but not too much. There are living things that depend on leaf litter and dead plants, plus after a long winter, I am usually antsy to be outside before it is safe to do any digging or planting, so leave some clean up for early spring.

Even the yucca stalks can wait.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Not only was I out in the noonday sun, but I was hard at it. Just as one doesn't realize one has been in the sun too long until it's too late, I didn't realize I had worked too hard until late in the evening, when hoisting my butt off the couch became a major endeavor. This morning I feel about 80% recovered, though. Some gentle yoga should release the remaining aches and pains.

(A brief paean to yoga: If it weren't for the yoga classes I have been attending, I would not be able to do a fraction of the yard work I have accomplished this year, particularly the digging. I highly recommend yoga for improving ones strength and flexibility.)

I attacked the Queen Anne's lace and thistle with vim and vigor, concentrating on the larger plants which were starting to bloom. Because of the amount of foliage I removed, the 3B garden now looks ravaged. Soon the coneflower will be bursting forth, though, which should distract the eye.

Earlier this season, I planted black eyed Susan and tickseed. The former is just kind of sitting there, presumably setting down roots. The latter is doing the same, but also blooming.



I'm glad I surrounded this area with chicken wire, as I have come across rudbeckia I planted in previous years, or rather the remnants of those plants. The bunnies must really like the stuff.

This astilbe is a long-suffering resident of my yard.



I have tried it here and there, with little success. It is supposed to like shade, but I guess it's possible to get too much of a good thing. It is getting more sun than usual this year, and is responding with some nice color.

Heuchera, aka coral bells, is not known for its flowers, but it does bloom.



Another shade lover, the dark foliage provides colorful contrast to the hostas.

The yucca flower stalk has broken free from the asplenifolia.



Its petals are already dropping.

On the south side of the house I have a fair amount of painted daisy of the 'Clara Curtis' variety.



It's not really a daisy per se, but a member of the chrysanthemum family.

There are a few shasta daisies mingled with the monarda.



This bee balm is known as 'Fireball' and is mildew resistant. Ordinarily, the bees cannot resist it, but so far this year, the blossoms are sadly lacking their insect companions.



I read an article yesterday about how not only is the honeybee population in danger, but all pollinators are struggling to survive, even hummingbirds. This tragic fact is evident in my own backyard. Last year hummingbirds and butterflies were daily visitors but I have seen very few of either this year. No one knows for sure what the problem is, but likely culprits are loss of habitat and overuse of pesticides and herbicides.

Ordinarily, my yard is not totally pesticide/herbicide free. I have been known to apply weed and feed on the lawn and wage battle with mulberries and Canada thistle using Round Up. But this year I just did not get around to the lawn treatments, and every time I thought about spraying weeds, a breeze would spring up, leaving me fearful of herbicide drift. My lawn looks a bit raggedy and is not nearly as lush as it usually is, but it is basically green, so I am not going to worry about it too much. I'll take care of the thistle by pulling it and using newspapers as a weed barrier beneath the mulch. It's more work than spraying; I don't know about you, but I can always use the exercise.