As seen in the garden...

1. A million weeds, but a million fewer than at the beginning of the afternoon

2. My downed wisteria, which toppled two trellises under its weight and with the constant rain. In spite of it all, it seems quite healthy. Let's hope it remains that way after its haircut next weekend

3. A bank of bright orangey-yellow lantana and hiding underneath some weeds near the roses, some variegated lantana that may bloom at last (in October!)

4. Beetles and earthworms and two piles of what must be earthworm eggs

5. A crazy amount of shards of glass. Where do they all come from? I swear they grow back there. Also bits of colored plastic

6. Two types of asters in two shades of purple. The brighter-colored shrub variety bloomed like crazy even though all of its stalks are, a la the wisteria, all over the ground instead of standing tall

7. An odd, crazy hook sticking into the ground in the middle of the yard. How the heck did it get there? How did I miss it all this time? If I pull hard enough, will I unearth a time capsule? An escape hatch? A door to the direct route to China? Some vital piece of the infrastructure to my house?

8. Cats. Lots of them (well, 5-6. Or maybe 7. Or 8). But especially Junior, who spent quality time guarding my back door so she could run in in case it opened, and who actually crawled into my lap when I was sitting on the back steps.

Here she is on my front steps last week, refusing to smile for the camera:



9. Daisies! Last year, instead of flowers for the holiday, I bought cheap potted daisy plants from Produce Junction, one white, one orange. After the holiday, I planted them both, and much to my surprise, one of them made it. But in typical fashion, I didn't note which color was planted where, and so had no idea what color would come up this year. Hurrah - the white! Who thought orange anything would make a good centerpiece anyway??

10. The demise of my American Beauty Berry. I was so excited to find one at Bartram's Garden this spring, and it seemed like it was doing fine. But now it just seems gone and unlikely to return

Next weekend's garden chores include finishing my back garden weeding odyssey, getting that wisteria back into some semblence of order, and maybe even planting some spring bulbs. Any suggestions???

Fence-be-Gone!

A million years ago, my backyard looked like this:



And then I bought the house...

A year ago March, while I was away from home, a storm swept through and took part of the fence with it:





I removed the leaning panel on the right, and left the panel closest to the corner of the yard. It seemed stable and was surrounding an old tree stump.

On the other side of the leaning panel above was part of an old chain link fence against my neighbor's porch. It seemed to have no function:



Over the course of this past year, both the chain link and the remaining wooden panel developped more and more of a lean.





Notice the fence trying to win against the aster!

Tonight, it was time for the fence to go!

First I pulled out the chain link, which was mostly held up by creeper vine and some sticks in the right places. Now it looks like this:



I suspect the clean-up of the trash and glass and other debris from my neighbor's yard will be constant, but at least the evil creeper will have to work harder to reach my wisteria.

Then Paul came over to help me with the other fence panel which was mostly held up by ivy and luck. We thought we would have to saw it apart, but actually some whacks with a hammer in strategic places and some sheer brute force was all it took...



Notice the impressive stump that was hiding under there!

And here's my new vista:



Where shall I put the folly???

Spring comes to Durham Street...

...in small doses.

The one good thing to come out of the time change was a whole half hour of light after I got home from work yesterday. That could only mean one thing: time to get back into the garden!

At the Flower Show last week, I bought two plants: a bright yellow rannuncula, destined for the front yard, and a magenta paeony for the back. I love both kinds of plants, and attempted to plant both last year with neither appearing. But I will not be deterred!

I started my gardening time with a tour around the grounds. I discovered:

A lovely clump of crocuses in back that I did not plant last fall. Where did they come from???



One lone snowdrop in front. Will there be more to follow???



I also found assorted other green shoots that I hope will grow into some of the 50 bulbs I planted last year, early leaves on the lilacs and hyacinths, a rose bush in desperate need of pruning, and some leafy action on the cheap daisies I bought from Produce Junction and then stuck in the ground, just in case.

And....

...just where I planted one of the failed paeonies from last year....

...some red shoots sticking up from the ground!!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned for news and more photos taken with a real camera in actual daylight!

I have to stop buying plants...

...I just have to. It occurred to me yesterday as I was planting some of my started seedlings that I'm just about out of room for plants with not all of the seedlings in the ground. Did that stop me from buying two small-ish pots of Lantana today at Lowe's? Nope, of course not. But I think, I hope, I'd better be done garden shopping for the season.

So, a tour. I've gone a little picture happy, so this will be the long post about the backyard. Pictures of the front garden will follow shortly - maybe after I trim the grass again, and plant one of the lantanas.

Picture yourself walking in my back gate. The house in on your right. We will proceed around the perimeter clockwise.

1. White lilac - Susie bought this one for me from Monticello. Last year it had no blooms; This year, one. I have high hopes for next year. Right beside it is a baby lilac, also from Monticello, procured by George. I suspect it is exactly the same variety, but I'll know in a couple of years when it's big enough to bloom.



2. Pink Azalea - one of the extremely cheap plants I bought at the end of last summer. I had no idea what color it would be, but it was a great pop of pink in the back corner of the yard.



3. Rose Campion - from Peter. These were bright and fun last year. I can't wait for the flowers.



4. Blue Forget-Me-Nots - I was worried about these and not sure they would make it, but they're larger and happier-looking than last year.



5. Apothecary Rose - also from Susie, also from Monticello. This picture was taken this afternoon, and as you can see, the first blooms got a bit beaten down by the rain, but there are a lot more to come. I bought a small trellis today to get the bush off of the ground. I wish I had room for more roses. I'd love a peach variety, and a pale pink. Maybe next year...



6. Yellow Poppy Celandine - this plant is amazing! And huge! I think this came from Liz's garden. I must've planted it and forgotten about it that first spring in the house. Now in it's second year it is thriving. There is something growing next to it which is a real plant, but without flowers, I have no idea what it is. I hope I find out soon.



7. White Azalea - also from Liz. This plant is in ground a little to marshy for comfort, but it's hanging in there. In the photo, the blooms look white, but they are really tinged with some pale purple.



8. Pink Forget-Me-Nots - these look pinker in person. I found these at Waterloo Gardens - a truly dangerous place. I love the delicate flower stalks.



9. Mystery Plant - this photo is from a couple of weeks ago. Now that the plant has grown a bit more, I suspect it's a butterfly bush, and if so, likely a cutting from George and Paul. Stay tuned...



10. Hosta - I was sure I had killed this one. I am so ignorant about gardening that I didn't know they died back to the ground and then re-emerged in the spring. It's a happy plant. No flowers, but maybe they will come.



11. Bleeding Hearts - one of my purchases at the Chestnut Hill Garden Days on May Day weekend. It's a small plant, as yet, but today I discovered two flowers!!!



12. Wisteria - this picture is also from a couple of weeks ago, just after I bought the trellis. Looking at the plant now, you can see how well it's adapting the the structure, sending runners upward that intertwine around the wire supports. I can't wait for flowers!



13. Hydrangea - also from two weeks ago. The plant is bigger now with the blooms just starting to open. I wonder what color they will be! There is another, smaller hydrangea in the back, and one in front. The other one in back, between the lilacs and the pink azalea, is too small for blooms this year.



14. Paeony - this picture is quite enlarged, but shows that I may yet have paeonies in my garden! And yesterday when I was planting my ranunculas next to the site of my other paeony, which I was sure had bitten the dust, you can tell, if you look carefully, that something is alive down there. Yet another instance of wait until next year. This seems to be a theme in my young garden.



15. Day lilies - also from Peter. They are dark red and will bloom later in the summer.



16. Lantana - today's purchase, still sitting in it's pot on the back steps. This one will go right at the entrance to the garden. The other will go in the front of the house. I debated keeping them in pots so I could take them in in the winter in hopes they might survive, but I decided to take my chances this year. If they don't last, I will try for pots next year.



The landscaping plan: What I really want to do in the back is build a brick patio with 2' - 3' beds on the perimeter. But as that is pretty far down on the list of house projects, I decided that I would begin edging (and clearing, and weeding) the beds a bit at a time. Patios are expensive, but bricks are cheap. I bought a couple dozen and set them out. Today I bought a dozen more that are not yet out. We'll see how far along the side that gets me. The top picture is from a couple of weeks ago.



This picture is from today. If you squint and look between the wisteria and the hydrangea, you can see some of my planted seedlings. In that corner, a row of hollyhocks against the fence, and sweet peas in front (do sweet peas need supports?). I hope they take! Elsewhere in the garden are a bed of rannculas, and some other seedlings which may be violas and dame's rocket (phlox) but may also be poppies and alyssum. Someone forgot to label her seedlings. I guess I will just like surprises!



So, if I had just a bit more space, I would plant a viburnum, which smell heavenly, and American beauty berry, which has incredibly purple berries in the fall. And more roses, as mentioned above. I do want some snow drops for the front yard, but I think I will manage to find a place for those. Maybe...

Bits and Pieces

A few images from the last week:



In my opinion, the picture doesn't do this birthday card justice. It's simple, but cute, and I stole the idea fair and square from a magazine. It satisfies my love of grid patterns and embossed papers (embossed by my very own self).



I finally sorted through all of my fabric scraps, and discarded the two by nothing bits that weren't good for a thing. The remainders just fit into the eight bins I bought (from the Container Store, of course) which fit neatly on my top two shelves. It's hard to imagine how one that hardly sews can end up with fabric to fill eight bins, but there it is. And yes, there is more fabric in my trunk, but I'm afraid to look...



And finally, my rose bloomed over the weekend! I first thought it would be red, but the picture barely does justice to the dark fushia/pink. Dare I cut any blooms to adorn my house?? I need a cutting garden. Maybe next year...

Not dead...

That's me, and my garden...

Summer begins this week as far as I'm concerned. Free evenings to fill (okay, free evenings that are already filled), time to work on projects, crafts, house, social evenings... Time to marvel at the fact that I didn't kill all of the plants in my garden. In fact, some of them seem quite happy!

Last Thursday evening, after about 75 straight years of rain, the sun came out, and with it my camera to document what was there. The images below were taken then and this evening.

Last summer the City came and planted trees along my street. Since then, I've wondered what kind I have. Now that the tree is in leaf and in flower, I know! It's a crabapple. The blossoms just now are white and lovely. I think at some point, maybe in the fall, I will move the tree to the center of my lawn, and move the lilac that's there to the back (though I hate to hide it).



Isn't it beautiful! It's even more beautiful than the picture let's on. This past weekend I was in Ann Arbor, MI, where it was prime lilac time. And we're not just talking bushes here, but groves of stunning purple flowers that you could just bury your head in and inhale. Mine will be like that soon (once it's a little taller).



I have a second lilac that was quite happy in a pot over the winter. I hope it will be just as happy in the backyard where I planted it. This one is a white lilac variety from Monticello. If it blooms, I'll post a picture.



Last year, Liz gave me a whole bunch of cuttings from things in her garden. The one I know made it is the azalea above. The one thing I didn't know until today was what color it was. As the photo doesn't quite show, it's a pale purple, with large flowers. I'm hoping it will grow and spread to fill that back corner of the yard. And finally...



Susie send me some renegade bulbs from the Netherlands that were specially treated to bloom this year. And what do you know, two of them did. This picture cannot do justice to the beautiful, dark purple blooms. I hope more of them come up next year!

But wait! There's still more. I have a Monticello Apothecary Rose in and leafing nicely. No idea what the bloom will look like, but stay tuned. And today, hidin under a clump of weeds, a hosta.

If I have time this weekend, I may find a few more things to pop in the ground. High on my list at the moment are these flowering shrubs: hydrangea, peonies, viburnum, lantana, and more roses!

Happy Spring!

And geraniums red...

The Dormouse and the Doctor
Alan Alexander Milne 1882-1956

There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And all the day long he'd a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said:
"Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you in bed.
Just say 'Ninety-nine' while I look at your chest....
Don't you find that chrysanthemums answer the best?"

The Dormouse looked round at the view and replied
(When he'd said "Ninety-nine") that he'd tried and he'd tried,
And much the most answering things that he knew
Were geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

The Doctor stood frowning and shaking his head,
And he took up his shiny silk hat as he said:
"What the patient requires is a change," and he went
To see some chrysanthemum people in Kent.

The Dormouse lay there, and he gazed at the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue),
And he knew there was nothing he wanted instead
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

The Doctor came back and, to show what he meant,
He had brought some chrysanthemum cuttings from Kent.
"Now these," he remarked, "give a much better view
Than geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)."

They took out their spades and they dug up the bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And they planted chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
"And now," said the Doctor, "we'll soon have you right."

The Dormouse looked out, and he said with a sigh:
"I suppose all these people know better than I.
It was silly, perhaps, but I did like the view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

"The Doctor came round and examined his chest,
And ordered him Nourishment, Tonics, and Rest.
"How very effective," he said, as he shook
The thermometer, "all these chrysanthemums look!"

The Dormouse turned over to shut out the sight
Of the endless chrysanthemums (yellow and white).
"How lovely," he thought, "to be back in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red.)"

The Doctor said, "Tut! It's another attack!"
And ordered him Milk and Massage-of-the-back,
And Freedom-from-worry and Drives-in-a-car,
And murmured, "How sweet your chrysanthemums are!"

The Dormouse lay there with his paws to his eyes,
And imagined himself such a pleasant surprise:
"I'll pretend the chrysanthemums turn to a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red)!"

The Doctor next morning was rubbing his hands,
And saying, "There's nobody quite understands
These cases as I do! The cure has begun!
How fresh the chrysanthemums look in the sun!"

The Dormouse lay happy, his eyes were so tight
He could see no chrysanthemums, yellow or white.
And all that he felt at the back of his head
Were delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red).

And that is the reason (Aunt Emily said)
If a Dormouse gets in a chrysanthemum bed,
You will find (so Aunt Emily says) that he lies
Fast asleep on his front with his paws to his eyes.

I think it was last Fall, or maybe last Spring, when Mom and Deb were in and I still lived downtown. We were walking home one afternoon when I found a geranium plant, sans pot and soil, but root intact, lying on top of a newspaper box. I rescued it, potted it, took it into work, and set it in the sun. And kept my fingers crossed. And though it didn't always seem likely, it's finally taken, and just now, bloomed salmon-y pink flowers. Hurrah! Here's hoping for more of the same!

How does your garden grow?

Well, we'll see if it grows at all...

This is where I wish I had a digital camera so I could show you all of the things I planted this morning. But maybe I'd better wait until I see if this stuff takes.

On Thursday, Liz gave me a bounty of plants, perennials, many of which are happy with shade, and which, if they make it, will spread. There's a lilac, an azalea, bleeding hearts, forget-me-nots, black-eyed-susans, columbine and who remembers what else. I've lined three sides of my back fence, giving each plant some room to grow and spread. Keep your fingers crossed.

This is the beginning of my gardening adventure. I'm not really much of a gardener, though I want to have some fairly low maintenance stands of flowers. And I'm willing to put in some work to make this happen. Assuming these plants take, as they grow, I'll be able to discern them from the weeds and pull everything unwanted. And possibly fit in more plantings as I see what kind of space I have.

I've been inspired lately by this picture:

I eventually want to put in a brick patio, and line the beds with stones or other edging, but unlike the photo, I want to have more patio for cocktail parties, dining and tea parties al fresco, etc. All in good time.

There are a few plants I know I want to add - some up front, some in back:

-Roses - yellow and peach ones, but I like so many kinds and colors

-Peonies

-Daisies - white and shasta - such good cutting flowers

-Heuchera or coral bells - the leaf shapes are great

-Allyssum

-Viburnum - one with those lovely scented flowers

And doubtless many others. But this is a good group of stuff to begin with - to see if I can keep them alive and start to create my own petite oasis.

What's growing in your backyard?

The beginning of a post...

I still can't get over the idea that I can come home from the dance. park right away, and just pop in a load of laundry, even if I don't have enough quarters in my wallet. I wonder if I'll ever get used to it.

This post must be brief, though there's lots to say, as it's been a couple of late nights and a very early morning this morning. So I'm going to write only until it's time to pop the clothes in the dryer and then go to bed.

On Monday night I bought, among other things, a mechanical sheep, otherwise known as a rotary push mower. It's perfect for my little patch of grass out front, and will do for the back until I some day put in a patio. Last night I put the mower together, gave the front patch a once over, and with help from George and Paul, planted the lilac and the lilies of the valley, both favorite flowers, and both from Jenny.

OK, losing it now. Time to switch the laundry and go to bed.