my borage

have mostly survived their transplant operation. (The larger one against the rock wasn't moved, but the smaller one in front to the right was.)

The clary sage I moved from the back garden spot, also survived its transplant just fine. I thought I was going to have to cut the flowers off and wait for a second bloom, but no.

Cranesbill in the front bed looking nice.

Tulips just finished blooming- four pinks this year and only one red, on the other end of the bed and faltering. That's peonies to the right of them- they grow up so fast!

more work today

I cleared more weeds, gathered up last years' leaf mulch (and respread it on the empty garden beds), and hauled three buckets of compost up to the front. Fed the daylilies (again, they didn't get much the first time around)

cleared up some and scattered compost over the black-and-blue salvia- no sign of emergence yet but I do see one gladiola spear coming up! and the lamb's ears on that side look particularly nice this spring

Out front I've more or less cleaned up the front perennial and flowerbed (I had to spread the work over two days). Divided a few allium clumps to spread out- I hope I haven't done this at the wrong time and ruined their chance of bloom. They stood up to the disturbance pretty well, haven't wilted much

these two are next to a tulip

Behind them you can see the fat shoots of peonies arising!

I also moved a few young columbines- they look pretty small yet!

To extend the row of older plants- it gives something to look at in the back of the bed when not much is growing yet, and then later when they're done flowering and died back, the plants in front hide the gap

I can tell now what things I do actually matter in the garden- my raised beds that didn't get composted and mulched properly in fall, the ground was hard, not all loose and soft and dark like other springs. I didn't come out and heavily mulch or cover plants against the cold (except the black-and-blue salvia and the lemon balm) and now I can see the usual mulch and leaf cover was enough for most of them. But I lost a few brunnera- here's one that did well regardless

There's only two mums showing new growth so far in the bed, and of the wild geraniums (cranesbill), one has revived, the other nothing growing. If I've lost it, that makes me sad.

Two or three of the clary sage also died, but I have enough left it's okay

My 'espresso' wild geranium in the back near the garden seems okay though

and next to it the hyssop in a container is doing great! 

I can also tell that scattering hair clippings and irish spring soap shavings was keeping the deer from eating too much of my euonymus and hostas. Because in fall I did none of that, and this winter the deer ate back so much of those shrubs against the house they look awful. I'm going to have to trim them back to reshape, and have started scattering deterrents again.

more pics later

what's coming up

Actually, that was not so hot for April yesteraday. I suppose it just felt so. I looked it up- record temperature for this area in April was 97°. Doing more cleanup around the yard- clearing away dead stems and foliage that I'd left overwinter, spreading mulch (still have a good supply from the maples we took out last year). The oakleaf and pannicle hydrangeas are leafing out, and the rose of sharons just barely starting to. Lilac is nearly in full leaf- but oddly one side of the plant has hardly any. Insect damage? Too much shade from the neighbor's tree? 

 Cranesbill are all sprouting up, bleeding hearts are in full bloom and the columbines look nice across the rear of the front flower bed, where there's nothing much else yet. Later on they'll be obscured by coleus and more when they die back in summer neat. My peonies are putting up shoots, hosta and gladiolas are emerging, yellow salvias already in full leaf around the base of trees. Ajuga spreading bright color so nicely, and I'm very happy to see the ostrich ferns emerging- there seem to be a few more this spring! Beautyberry is leafing, which makes me very happy, and all the heucherellas are still here (not eaten up by rabbits yet). Joe pye weed is growing back. I need to tidy up the liriope and hellebores. I have not yet seen any growth on the black-and-blue salvia, milkweed or mums. And disappointing, there's no borage seedlings. I think a few had come up months ago in the garden, but I dug them out when preparing the beds for planting, thinking plenty would grow in the perennial spot, or around the mailbox. Nope. I wonder if they sprouted earlier when it was unseasonally warm, and then died in the cold again.

Here's a few hellbore flowers I cut and put in tiny jars on the kitchen windowsill to admire for a week.

Just now I planted out the mulberry seedling, mulched and watered it, fenced it around to keep off the deer. The young holly I moved to a spot just downslope of it on that hillside is still alive! The other two look dead but when I scrape a tiny spot with fingernail on the bark, still green underneath so I'm leaving them there in case they can recover. Dug and planted the two canna lilies in a spot near the ostrich fern where it gets pretty damp- water flows there from both the downspout on that side of the house, and output from our basement sump. I've been thinking of someday putting irises in that area, too . . . 

Lovage is thick enough to eat now, so I might strike celery off the grocery shopping list.

dissected flower

I cut another dozen peonies for vases in the house. One from an earlier bouquet was fading, I was cutting up for the compost and grabbed the ruffly bunch of browning petals in hand, one tug and they all came off. This is what the inside of the flower looks like. I thought it pretty interesting. My youngest looked and said "ugh!" then I threw all the loose peony petals on her. 

My first sweet pea opened. It's perfect height to smell their loveliness while sitting in a chair on the deck.

The other two pots with bamboo tripods are almost ready to bloom, too.

two things from outside in-

My tithonias still come in for the night sometimes. I'm waiting impatiently for it to stay above seventy, so I can plant them out on the very bare, second sunny sideyard now. Pleased to see since their repotting in better soil, all the ones that were doing poorly have recovered. 

Been cutting peonies to bring in the house. Sweet scents galore.

around the yard

I took photos of plants, just because they made me glad. The soft blue-green lamb's ears in front of green gladiola foliage

Deeper blue-green hostas- though I should have kicked off the sprinkling of dead leaves first.

Blue and purple salvias behind the lilac- again thinking of digging up and moving these, to clear around the skirts of the lilac. And just let the ajuga fill in. Maybe next year.

My peonies grew up quick- and already full of fat buds! To the right of it there, just out of picture- can see the mountain laurel is budding up too. I think moving that one was a success. 

I'm surprised at this plant- 'peach screamer' nicotiana. I thought wouldn't survive the winter, but would self-seed enough to keep a patch going year to year. I don't see any seedlings. They all grew back.

Plants are growing up to shroud the maple tree stump. The hostas don't show any damage from increased sun yet, though a lot of the yellow salvia have scorched leaves. Well, if they suffer a lot I will move them to more shaded areas next season, and let the turtleheads spread here.

Pink columbine!

Slope behind the large oak and the hellebores is full now- the monarda and echinacea crowd.

I'm liking how things turned out with the mayapples. They come up while the oakleaf hydrangea is still naked, and by the time the mayapples have hit their prime, oakleaf hydrangea is well-leafed out and fills in. When the mayapples fade I won't even notice because I'll be admiring the hydrangea instead.

Finally my rhododendrons are big enough to notice and actually look pretty! I would really like to put a fourth one in, where that pale narrower trunk is on the upper left. It's a small pine tree growing under the maple- overshadowed and rather scrawny anyway. In the foreground is the bayberry, which I thought was looking unkempt and sickly, but it has a sudden flush of new leaves now. 

Another I thought was doing badly- my 'limelight' coleus. I moved them too abruptly into their potted places, and they got leaf burn. 

The new emerging leaves look okay though, so I think they will adjust.

I know it wasn't cold damage because other coleus nearby that have been out overnight on the same schedule but in a more completely shaded spot, are fine.

more digging

And I made an effort to take photos this time. Found one more small heartleaf brunnera in the back and moved it to the front. The three I moved earlier are blooming- lovely airy blue flowers.

The mums are starting to sprout, I dug them all up and moved forward about a foot- hoping with more sun they won't lean and get so leggy

Dug up and moved into this bed the alliums 

 

It's starting to like something now- not just a swath of empty space. The few tulips are coming up

Sedums on one end of the bed, and cranesbill on the other-

My peonies come up weeks later than others' in the neighborhood- probably because they get shaded by the house half the day 

All the columbines grew quickly this spring!

getting colder

Outside I've cut down all the wilted tithonia, trimmed back the joe pye weed and some pokeweed, cut to the ground most of my peonies.

Most of the coleus are dead from chill now; but these few in the front bed sprouted new leaves during a few warm days after a cold night, so I left them in place for a while- sprigs of brighter green

My two transplanted cranesbill seem to be doing well so far

Other plants I moved this fall: the mountain laurel still looks the same, and rhubarb is flourishing!

Really enjoy the combination of arum and zinnias

Here's that one hellebore that went pale- the crown is growing back slowly, still the normal darker green

Garden is finally starting to die back- it's mostly marigolds now, which have grown even thicker and fuller as the other plants fade

And borage- 

the patch in the first bed is nice and thick

Pole beans are withered now, need to clean those up, and finally cut down the tomatoes, amaranth and sunberry. Still have carrots, chard, and lettuces! 

Tonight I'm going to cut a bunch of lettuce, as in a few days it's supposed to drop below freezing, and that may be the end of them. Maybe I should finally start using row covers to extend the season...

I think of the cuban oregano as a semi-succulent, so I tend to forget how cold-hardy it actually is. The row of them outside the short end of the pole bean bed is doing looking particularly nice right now.

Just noticed today that the bit of ivy on the corner of front yard bed is spreading. Time to cut that one back.

Still have not relocated my black-and-blue salvia. I keep watching for it to wilt; once it goes dormant I'll dig and shift it on the next warm day. But it's still full green and waving blue flags. I'm glad of that, but also kind of wish it would die back already so I can move it.