first freeze

was last night. I spent the last two days raking leaves and picking up more pin oak acorns out of the grass. Put some leaf litter/grass clippings mulch around and over some of my plants just as it was getting dark yesterday- the new rosemary, sweetspire, hyssop (which also got cut back to two inches), wild geraniums, lemon balm and tarragon, etc. 

A few days earlier I had spread the compost on all the garden beds- it was just barely enough. I didn't have any left over to feed the ferns, hostas or other yard perennials. Now I'll have to spend this afternoon cutting down the plants killed by frost, that just look icky- the coleus and celosia, the black tatters of leaves on monarda and joe pye stems. Other things that just look dried up, I'll leave be until spring. 

Pictures from compost spreading day, just because it looked so rich. Momentarily- as soon as this was done, I put leaf/grass mulch over the copmost layer. I could tell the soil had been neglected past two seasons- removing some weeds before spreading the compost, found the soil was hard, dry and somewhat compacted. Maybe that's why I haven't seen squirrels digging in the garden so much this year. I thought it was because the hawks and owls passing through our yard more often had taken some of them- but maybe also because the soil just wasn't as soft and inviting, when I hadn't been mulching and feeding it. Well, now it got that treatment again.

another angle- still just as empty.

There are some things still here, though- rue looks great, as if re-flourishing since its little trim

Borage coming up in bed one also has lovely bluish hue, robust leaves

Nicotiana in a few scattered spots

This tall one next to the dill has been blooming like crazy

other side

The dill is over my head again! I would cut the umbrels for more dried seed, but they're still green yet

Here's a smaller dill alone in bed three. 

A few small leeks in bed ten. I'd like to eat them, but want them to grow bigger first.

I cut some bug-riddled leaves out of the lovage, and that looks better now 

My new rosemary looks rather pale. I trimmed it a bit more (using for tea), the leaves look all faintly speckled as if from aphid bites . . . 

The blue sage still has tons of color, though quite a few flower stems are gone to seed now

I found a few bees on them- I think affected by the cold, because they were moving very slowly

but that allowed me to get quite close

I also brought in a lot of potted plants against the cold, and put the young beautyberries in the mini greenhouse to overwinter (never got around to planting them). More pics soon.

Why do I tend to forget how much I love gardening, until I'm out there again? Tidying things up, seeing the richness of the turned compost, digging my fingers through the soil, leaning against the sun-warmed bricks of the bed edges, just feel so content and happy in what I'm doing. It's good work.

structure

I've been working a lot outside- the cooler weather plus my improving health makes me delighted to be outside for hours getting sweaty and sore muscles. It's great! But not a lot of work to do with plants, although I'm pulling weeds, raking, trimming stuff per usual. Straightening garden bed edges, where some bricks had fallen out of alignment over the past few years. And digging small rocks with flat edges into the ground, to make a "mowing strip" of sorts around the base of the beds.

A few days ago I started this task: putting a flat path in the one garden area the lawn mower won't fit. Between beds four and five (which is the small square one with just rue), straight down between beds three and six (the perennial herbs). It's the annoying area where I always end up pulling tons of weeds by hand, trimming grass with scissors or a knife, and getting struck by rue (from just brushing against it).

So I had all these narrow cinder blocks, the kind with two holes through the center. They're the same dimension as my garden bed edging bricks, but my husband picked them up (free) for me not realizing I couldn't use ones with holes. Various reasons. Had them sitting around for over a year, trying to think how to make them work for the garden edge- fill the holes with cement and make them solid? put in as-is with a flat stone cap? plant stuff in the holes (don't like that look)? never satisfied with any ideas so they'd been on my porch holding up a planks for a makeshift bench. (Useful, but not a nice look either).

Then I asked my husband to cut them all in half lengthwise with his wet saw. And I dug them into the ground with the flat sides up, packing clay and small broken stone under the hollows. One cracked in half because I dropped it, otherwise they feel pretty solid- firm to the ground and not rocking. Mostly. 

Next job -yesterday- was to straighten the bricks on the outside edge of bed 10. Which was the most crooked of them all. Quite a bit of work, but very satisfying. I must be a real garden nerd, I love pulling the edges off and seeing the darkness of the garden soil, from my compost enrichments. Even though in this bed it's kind of shallow (because of the initial stick layer, which has broken down by now).

I laid a string line this time to get the edge straight. 

It was also satisfying to see that, in spite of some wedges I had shoved under the bricks to level them the first time around being wood- which rotted away- the clay soil under them was pretty compact and smooth, flat surface once I brushed away the dirt that had sifted down through cracks. I think it was mostly the pushing of roots, motion of insects and shifting of dirt from gravity, that had caused the bricks to get crooked.

Now fairly straight- not perfect, but good enough for me.

I keep thinking I ought to dig all the edges out, make a narrow shallow trench around the beds, fill with sand or fine gravel, and set the bricks again on that, for a proper base. Just didn't have the energy, time, or want the expense of buying more materials the first time I did all this. Wonder if I even need to. The rest of the garden edges are in good shape still, only a few more I might pull off to straighten- and I am pretty sure they're all ones I had wedged with wood shims. Now I wedge with small flat rocks or just packed clay soil. It stays pretty firm. 

Also satisfied to see they've held up well, where the bricks are under/against the soil. The sealant and paint layers have not worn off (in four years). 

After all that, I went back to finishing the path. I'm really pleased with it- so I took a lot of pictures, from all angles! It's nice to walk on.

After walking on it for a day I realize I'm probably going to take the trouble to lift half the path again and re-dig so they sit deeper. It slopes down and then goes up again towards the outer edge of the garden- following the land- but is too shallow between the rue and bed four. Bed five with the rue needed almost all the bricks pulled off and re-set. They were very wonky. I had to chop a lot of roots- I think their pushing is what made the edge go crooked. 

Trimmed the rue back quite a bit before starting work, and even then I brushed against it too many times, so went inside and washed my hands, arms and face with rubbing alcohol and then soap and lots of water, hoping to stave off a skin reaction. Interesting to see when I exposed the soil in the rue bed, it was paler than in the other beds- not so black, but still darker than the plain red clay soil. Because this bed I don't feed compost, it just gets some grass trimmings and leaf litter mulch in fall.

Looking straight down it. See how tall the dill umbrels (green)! This is after I cut it back twice earlier in the season. It's really growing crazy in the cooler weather now.

From above. I spy another brick on the short edge of bed three, that needs straightening . . .

While doing all that digging, I pulled three large dandelions. Nice straight roots the width of my finger, so I cleaned, scraped and roasted them for tea. Hadn't done that in a long time.

some flowers

It wasn't as hot today, so I actually got some work done in the yard. The nicest surprise was finding this lily in a corner by the driveway- I thought that plant was long dead (photo from yesterday after rain)

I mowed, pulled crabgrass and other weeds around the garden and milkweed patch. Still no sign of monarchs. But I did see a swallowtail on the turtleheads which are finally blooming, 

and not so poorly as I expected- and a hummingbird buzzed close by!

I found quite a few swallowtail caterpillars on the dill that self-seeded all over bed 4

Here's a younger instar and an older one together-

The blue sage is outdoing itself with color still- and I'm glad to see a younger clump of the same plant nearby. Going to mulch them and clear out the space between to sow with more seed.

Sad that my rhubarb suffered in the recent heat- it's almost completely disappeared just one leaf left

weeks ago

I dug up a small rue seedling, and took two cuttings from a trim, and planted them all in this pot.

Soon after it got attacked by something white, fuzzy- I thought mold but they moved, it's probably mealy bugs or wooly aphids. I sprayed the plant and then rinsed, twice- and cut off all the sickly leaves. It was much reduced then, but now growing back fine!

The parent plant got cut back by half- and it still fills its space. (Bricks are crooked though). I was more careful this time- used long-handled pruners, wore disposable gloves, washed my hands and arms with rubbing alcohol and then lots of soap and water after coming inside. Didn't get a reaction this time (last time I pruned the plant, I had blistery rash on my arm and wrist that lasted several weeks. Honey was more soothing that calmonie, covered with bandaids to keep from scratching and spreading it.)

I've found a few more volunteer seedlings, debating whether to pot them up or leave where they are- I've read that rue plants have a 4 to 5 year lifespan, then you want to replace with younger set. Mine doesn't seem to be faltering yet, but nice to have its seedlings as backup.

in the garden space

tarragon is emerging

and winter savory is alive after all, but only just barely. I cut off a ton of dead stems.

I'm pleased with the sculpit- there's been plenty to eat from at least once a week.

Sorrel has grown in thick again- looks like the deer have quit invading my yard temporarily (I scattered the soap shavings and hair again). But I haven't eaten this plant this spring- I used to have it as a fresh green alongside a pork roast usually, and we just haven't had that often of late.

Rue is regrowing from a cutback I gave it a few weeks ago. The bricks on this little bed have gone all wonky, leaning and crooked and full of gaps. I wonder are the plant's roots pushing them outward, or did I just set them poorly the first time. Really need to get out there and dig them straight with a proper little gravel layer underneath.

Not in a garden bed- elsewhere on the edge of a perennial patch- my rhubarb finally got harvested! This is a day after I cut about a third of the stems, and made one small pie. It was so tasty. I got no picture, we ate it so fast.

Lovage

I shouldn't have worried that the second plant was not up yet- it is now! I put some in deviled eggs today.

I cut back the rue and scattered its trimmings in places I want the deer to stay away (in case the pungent smell actually helps with that). Two of the cuttings I moved in past years are still here- but all the small ones I put on the second sideyard didn't make it through winter (or even fall, now that I think of it). 

There's a few small seedlings under the parent plant that are starting their second season now. I think this coming fall or next spring I will move them to a new spot.

Rhubarb is bigger! Maybe this year I will cut some for a pie.

colder today

Once again I did a little work outside, even as it was starting to drizzle. Walked up the slope on one side of the house to cut back mess of old salvia stems under a shrub, and deadhead last years' autumn joy sedums. New growth is thick around their base. Also trimmed the small rue plant in that bed. On the other side of the yard I pulled off all the flopped over leaves of gladiolas, and cut out diseased/dead leaves and stems on the lamb's ears. It was messy. Most of that went into a bag to put on the curb- my compost heap bin is overflowing and hasn't been turned/emptied yet. I raked up a small part of the first sideyard (leaves scattered from my mulch out onto the lawn) and put the litter back over the blue hosta spot where wind had swept it bare. And that's all I could do. Out of breath and tired. 

 Here's another picture from the year before: rue seedlings! The few cuttings I had taken and put in pots all died, likewise some I had just stuck in the ground by the milkweeds. I think I'll just have to let seedlings that come up on their own, grow a year before I move them.

That seems to be working better with the hellebores. Once before I had transplanted two-year-old seedlings- and a single one survived. It's blooming now, and looks so nice I tried again. Year before last I had cleared clumps of seedlings out of the bed in the backyard, leaving just a dozen of the larger ones to grow up. Just last week dug a few of those (crowded with more tiny new seedlings again) and moved them to the front bed in that same row under the boxwood. They're twice the size of my first attempt, and have had a week of cooler weather and rain now to settle in.

Here's some others that are- three years old now I think? and have not yet bloomed for me. Ones I got from another gardener, planted in a different area of the yard where the ferns and hostas get eaten by the deer. I'm not sure why they're still smaller. Too much shade? or maybe I didn't feed them enough compost to boost growth.

caterpillars

Saw some bare stems in my carrot patch. Thought a rabbit had got into the garden, but the damage was too slight. Looked close and found a bunch of swallowtail caterpillars.

Funny that even so small, they put their 'horns' out to threaten when I gently pick them up.

I moved them the rue plant. 

They seem happy enough there.

One by itself on the lovage. 

I let it be- there's enough lovage to go around!

I did find one monarch caterpillar on the first sideyard, where the milkweed plants look scraggly this year.