Signs of Spring

 The weather here has been crazy! We've had 60 degree days followed by snow. 

 

Tornado sirens followed by freezing rain. 

 

I've had on my sandals one day and winter coat the next.

 

 But in spite of the whiplash temperatures, spring truly IS on the way. A few green things are popping up in the garden! My Asiatic lilies are looking good.

 

 And most of the 50 tulips I planted last fall are coming up nicely! I suspect that some bulbs may have been stolen by squirrels as I've spotted a few holes in the area. Still, the tulips are coming up nicely!

 Let's hope they don't mind a few more chilly days!

Tulip Time!

 

For Mother's Day, Bailey sent me a gift card to a local garden center. I decided to use it to purchase tulip bulbs. It's been YEARS since I've planted tulips, and I've never planted them at this house. Give Jay's Dutch heritage and our connection to Pella, Iowa where we met, it seems that we should have a few tulips in the yard!

A few months ago, we had the landscaping in front of our house re-done, leaving a few open areas which are perfect for tulips. With that location in mind, I went off to the garden store earlier this fall.

As it turned out, they were running a sale on tulip bulbs so I used the gift card to purchase not one but TWO bags (that's 50 tulip bulbs...yikes!) and a bag of bulb fertilizer. I already had a bulb digger so I was ready to go!

 

It took a few days but I finally got all the tulip bulbs planted! I used metal garden tags to mark the spots where I put the clumps so I will know where to expect some activity in the spring.

 

 Here's hoping that I planted them correctly AND they make it through the long, cold winter!

 

 I'm already excited for spring! Thanks, Bailey!😊

Neem Oil to the Rescue

I've had my share of patio pot failures over the years but this summer, I have had the worst possible luck -- with a couple of notable exceptions: The crossandra plants I brought back from Texas seem completely immune to disease and have never stopped blooming. They have grown considerably and look so nice and healthy, with no effort whatsover on my part.

 

My hanging lantana baskets have also done quite well, while the lantana in a pot struggled and is finally coming back. Check out that beautiful black swallowtail! We've had a ton of butterflies this summer which makes me very happy!

 

Other than those plants and a handful of others, the patio pot season has been a dismal and perplexing failure. I have replaced many annuals and thrown out even more. As an example, every single plant on this baker's rack died. I still have basil and rosemary but both are replacement plants.

 

 You know it's bad when I don't even have pictures of the plants I had to toss...I was too angry and upset to even document the situation. Most of the plants seemed to start with brown/dried leaves around the stem base which progressed -- unstoppably -- to kill the entire plant. In pots with more than one type of annual, only the flowering annual was affected. In this pot, the pink spotted foliage is still doing fine. Here's one photo I happened to take.

 

The dragonwing begonias that were so spectacular last year didn't grow much at all after planting them. Last year's plants were ridiculously easy to care for and I couldn't wait to have them again! This photo is from last fall.

Unfortunately, this year's begonias were a total flop, even though they came from the same place, were planted in the same pots and placed in the same spot. They barely grew after I planted them and eventually withered and died, even though I cared for them in the same way as last year. The hanging baskets also succumbed to a similar plight. The two hostas are the only plants I have left on the front step. I'd like to get some mums, but do I dare???

My three hibiscus plants started out strong but then nearly succumbed to something which made the buds fall off and the leaves yellow. I tried watering them more, watering them less, more sun, less sun, fungicide, pesticide...nothing was working and I was on the verge of throwing them out.

In desperation, I tried treating them with with Neem Oil I had on hand from last summer and to my complete delight, all three have completely recovered. I only wish I'd thought to try Neem Oil on the other plants.

 

At this point, I've got just a few of the pots I started with but, thanks to Neem Oil, they're all doing well.

Here's hoping my success with Neem Oil might help out a fellow struggling gardening friend!

Woodland Garden Over Time

With all the rain we've had this spring, the front garden (which I've dubbed my "woodland garden") is doing very well. The hostas I put in over the past couple of years have grown larger than I expected. (I really should have spaced them out a little better...). I love the variety of greens and textures in this space.

The current challenge in this bed is that the sweet woodruff groundcover (which you can't see in these photos) has taken over and has a tendency to drown out the other plants. It spreads by runners so it's fairly easy to contain -- if I just take the time to do it. 

Before the mosquitoes took over, I spent some time cleaning up this bed and it now looks much better. I have a couple of empty spots near the edge that will likely be covered with that groundcover by the end of the summer.

As I was working on this woodland garden the other day, I realized how much it has changed over the years. Gardening is truly a long-term commitment. It can take a long time to achieve the results you're seeking. And sometimes you never quite get there!

 It's hard to believe that this is how the garden looked back in 2008 or so when we had a pink-ish house! It definitely didn't have the inviting look I envisioned in my mind. ha ha

We'd had a serviceberry tree in the space but when a wind storm knocked it down, we replaced it with a Japanese maple. We went through a couple of Japanese maple trees before finding one that would actually live.

Around 2008, I began to formulate a plan in my mind for how I wanted the area to look. Since the area is shady during part of the day, I decided to try to create a woodland garden filled with plants I love. I remember finding a garden design in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and trying to replicate it. I really didn't know what I was doing but amazingly, the space started to fill in pretty nicely.

  We also started out with black plastic edging which, over time, began to lift out of the ground and crack. Eventually we just pulled it out but of course, that resulted in a constant infiltration of grass which made maintaining the garden difficult. This photo was taken back in 2015 when deer decided that they'd eat all of our hostas. That was a very bleak summer in the garden!

 

 The next big evolution took place back in 2016 when we expanded the bed and changed the shape to a more natural looking curve. We pulled out some overgrown bushes, leaving space for new plantings.

 We added limestone rock edging, which I think was the best possible change for this garden and the others around the yard. I just love how it looks. And it has been a perfect path for the kitties to walk on!

 

 

 It's fun to look back on this garden and see how it has evolved over time. In it, I can see how much I've learned (and how many mistakes I've made!) as I've fiddled with garden design and plant choices.

And now, after 11+ years, I can say that I'm very happy with my woodland garden. That's not to say I won't continue to tinker with it just a little bit... 😉

Happy gardening!

jp

Feline Friday

It's already Feline Friday again? I had planned to do some garden posts this week, but projects got in the way. **sigh** Well, there's always next week! 😉

 In the meantime, please enjoy some "gardening" pictures from Lily! She has enjoyed going outside on her leash in the evening when the patio (her favorite outdoor place!) is cool. Remember: Cats and dogs cannot tolerate hot pavement temperatures so be sure it's comfortable for YOUR bare feet first!

 

 

As we've established, Lily doesn't enjoy walking in grass. She is intrigued by mulch but doesn't like the texture of it, either. So she's content to just LOOK at the mulch. 

 

 On our last Outdoor Adventure, Lily relaxed enough to actually eat some catnip directly from the plant! This is as close to nature as I've seen her get. She ate quite a few leaves because, you know, everything tastes better outdoors!

Hope you and your furry friends enjoy some outdoor time this weekend. Lily highly recommends it!

 Happy Feline Friday, everyone!

jp and Lily

Curbside Treasures in the Garden

Awhile back, I shared some photos of treasures I found on the curb on our neighborhood clean up days. I was scouting for garden items and it turned out to be a banner year!

After cleaning them up and spray painting them, I put both trellises in the garden.  

  

 

 

 As the plants have grown, the trellises look like they were meant to be in their spots. I'm really happy with how they turned out -- and the price was certainly right!

 

 The little bird bath has a spot in front of the house. I tried putting bird seed in it but as soon as it rained, I had a mess (duh!). So now it's filled with water. The birds and squirrels seem to like it!

 

 

  The two heavy cement pots are now on the front step. As I was planting them, I discovered why they were on the curb: There's a large crack in the "stem" part of one pedestal. It looks like a surface crack and doesn't hinder its use -- the crack just adds character! In spite of the crack, these urns have never been used.

 I put hostas in the urns which I'll plant in the landscape this fall. It's my first time putting perennials in pots so we'll see how it goes. Hostas do really well in front of our house so I'm optimistic!

This baker's rack is just the right size for some smaller pots. I wasn't quite sure where I'd put it this year, so I started by cleaning it up and spraying it black, hoping an idea would come to me.

While it was sitting outside to dry, I realized it fit just perfectly in this little shady nook of our garage.

I bought a hanging basket for the area first, then I decided to find some shade plants for the rack to coordinate with the basket.

The shelf holds six pots: Three adorable miniature coleus which shouldn't get much bigger than they are now, two New Guinea impatiens, and a fern. That fern looks a little big for the second shelf but it can easily move to the top if it grows too tall. It's a beautiful variety called Autumn Brilliance which I first saw at a greenhouse in Texas. When I happened upon one locally, I snatched it up!

  I'm really happy with how my curbside finds have worked out! I'm happy to give these little pieces new life in my garden.

jp

Spring Gardening

It's been a weird spring: Very chilly and slow to start. Some parts of our state have had extreme rainfall resulting in catastrophic floods. I'm very grateful that, although we've had our share of rain where I live, it hasn't been excessive.

Because of the cool, wet conditions, I hadn't even felt like venturing out to the greenhouses until this past week to start thinking about my gardening. It's hard NOT to get inspired when you see all this beauty!

 

 

 We are lucky to have many wonderful greenhouses in this area, just a short drive from me. There's no shortage of plants to choose from, but you do have to be sure to get there before Mother's Day to find exactly what you're looking for. Since I only had a vague idea of what I needed, I did just fine. 😊

So in the coming days, I thought I'd share some of the gardening projects I've been working on, starting with the skinny garden behind our garage.

When I had the gardens re-planted two years ago, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this particular area. But this is what it looked like before we started (YIKES) so there was really nowhere to go but up! LOL

I didn't love the plans that I had drawn up for this garden, but I decided to trust the professionals and see how things went. Obviously, clearing it out made a big difference. We added a peony at the right (which is beautiful, BTW). We thinned and moved the cranesbill geraniums to the front. That also helped the overall appearance.

Then trouble ensued. LOL The back of the bed was planted with Asiatic lilies which I love but before I realized it, the guys had put them in a very straight line rather than in more natural looking clusters. I knew right away that wasn't going to work for me, but I decided to see how things shaped up over the summer, knowing that they have a tendency to spread anyway. The planting was done so late in the season that they didn't bloom so I had to wait until the following season to assess things.

Last summer, the lilies came up just fine but as they started to grow, they leaned WAY forward toward the sidewalk and eventually were lying flat on the ground seeking the sun. Obviously the overhang on the garage was providing way more shade than they like. The garden guy suggested that I could tie them to the fence then move them in the fall.

Strapping them to the fence made the poor things looked like they were being held hostage. It was NOT A GOOD LOOK! In addition to that problem, I didn't like having them all lined up straight across the back of that narrow strip. So in the fall, I dug them up and moved them to the side of the house, not far from my grandma's tiger lilies which need a similar amount of sun.

I was pleased to see that they all came up this spring! You can see them in the photo below, just to the right of the coral bells. They are leaning slightly but not nearly as much as before. They look like they're going to do just fine in their new location!

So back to the skinny bed. After moving the lilies, it was looking quite bleak!

 

The garden guy suggested trying astilbe in that spot because they have a more upright habit. I've had good luck with them, so I ended up buying three plus two Jacob's ladder plants for a little more variety. Once I put them in and mulched the area, it already looked much better.

So far, the new plants seem to be doing really well. I'm anxious to see how this area fills in through the summer.

It's amazing how mulch helps everything look better. It covers up a multitude of problems!

I'll be sharing more garden posts in the coming days. Here's to a successful garden season for all of us!

jp