up and up

My parsley came up yesterday! Doesn't look like much yet- little loops of stem unfolding.

More plants in the yard I am happy to see again- the mayapples I transplanted across the very back edge a year or two ago-

Lysimachia-

Pulled back some leaves to see the little shoots of late boneset-

Wild geranium trimmings I stuck in the ground various places the year before- are growing! (this one next to some ajuga)

And I'm trying to change how I feel about this plant- I now think it's some kind of fleabane, a native plant that provides early blooms for pollinators. There's a few clumps of it in the lawn that have annoyed me by coming back persistently every year- and they grow pretty fast after getting mowed over. I dug up and moved several into an area in the back around base of a shade tree- where I'd rather have something else not the yellow salvia anymore.

around the garden

I've been doing some work on the garden structure- the bed edges and such. But too tired from that to write it all out now, so here's some incidental pictures from the past few days. More on the actual work tomorrow. Found an unknown caterpillar- black and spiky!- on the boneset plant.

Which is doing great- it grew so fast, 

already the height of my small camellia.

I want to get more of this plant, or the common one that blooms in summer. Near it is the yarrow- so thin and small- I really admired some yarrow in a relative's yard several states south this past weekend, where it's warmer- hers so bright and thick and feathery! I suspect now mine would do better if I move it to a sunnier location.

Funny though, the same gardener had arum growing here and there in her yard. She asked me what it was- they'd been pulling it out! I like the bright, exotic appearance. She thought it might be an objectionable plant. I shrugged and said: well, if you like it, leave it be- but if you don't want it around, you'll probably have to dig up the tuberous roots. Here's mine, regrowing in fall-

I dug up a few echinacea to take to the plant swap soon. Here with other potted extras on my little bench- several catmint, a few beautyberry, and two pots of the miniature geranium (which I've grown tired of).

Not sure I'm going to take the beautyberries to the swap, though. Half the larger ones I transplanted died, or look like they did. This one by the hydrangeas is just a few thin sticks with a few leaves- 

but it does have three clusters of bright purple!

The side bed it's in, starting to look a bit neater and more deliberate. I've dug the stones into their places in the ground, to make the edge. Pulled more grass from behind the edge, and transplanted some errant ajuga out of the lawn, back into the bed.

When I was doing that work (actually about a week ago) I trimmed a bit of the wild chrysanthemum, and just stuck the cuttings in the ground on the other side of the little ornamental cypress. Wasn't sure if they'd take- but not only did they survive, they're blooming! Hard to see in this photo, I'll get a better one soon.

across the front

My front bed has needed a lot of cleaning up. So many weeds and young volunteer trees to pull, mulch to spread, things to trim back. My clumps of clary sage have lots of bug holes-

 But I was pleased to find, next to this baby cranesbill, a new clary sage as well! At least one of them self-seeded (even though I cut the flower stalks back to try and get a second bloom).

A few catmint have popped up here, too, next to the brunnera. Those traveled far!

Even though I only pinched back the mums once, they grew quite thick so I hope flower without flopping over too much this year.

In the other front corner by the driveway, I've weeded and mulched around the daylilies- and you can see that little pink lily is still here!

Some of the lyreleaf sage I planted under the lilac are finally looking okay.

And this one is grown really thick and lush. I think it might be one of those ajuga actually getting a foothold now- it looks very much like the lyreleaf, I won't really be sure until it blooms in spring. Feel silly not recognizing my own plant, but hey.

I'm dismayed my lilac is still apparently dying. The right half is still bare, in fact the barren branches seem to be spreading. And there's very little bug sign on the foliage this year. I'm stumped. Is it the encroachment of the black-and-blue salvia I put in the corner behind it? Did I really overdo it with leaf mulch those early winters, and it got rot down in the root crown? I just don't know.

today

I planted the new self-heal in a clay pot (having learned that it is related to mint, so I don't want it to spread in the ground)

and dug up a few swamp milkweeds from the first sideyard, moved them to the second where there's much more sun. In the spot I'm removing them from, the standard joe pye are all coming up where I shifted them very late in the year.

They're really puny compared to the common milkweed already starting to get established there. Need to weed more in this spot, and spread some mulch!

small wildlife and things

in the yard. When I was digging compost out of the pile (still a lot to spread) I startled a leopard frog. I reached for the camera in my pocket but in the few seconds it took to lift up, the frog was gone.

But I did get a picture of this little toad that was under the weeds in my garden bed 7. I think it's a Fowler's toad.

The other day I was out picking dandelion heads from the smaller sideyard (just so the poufs don't scatter seed everywhere) and saw a narrow tail disappearing under the stepping stone. I thought it was a baby snake and wanted to see- lifted the edge and there was a fat skink! pressing himself further away from me and then dashed out into the open, scrambled into shelter behind a shrub so fast it made me laugh. The stones have a hollow underneath and I wonder if the skinks shelter there in winter, which pleases me. Though it probably makes a nice place for slugs to stay, too.

Today I found another brown skink, it had fallen into an empty bucket. So glad I found it while still alive. Called my husband to come see it up close (would have hollered for my kid but she was at school) and then set the bucket down laid sideways to let it go. It sat there very still as if stunned on the decking for a moment then ran down between two boards, so quick. Yesterday I saw a very small skink with bright blue tail, on the railing up top. So lively again.

My daughter looked out across the yard and said "oh, is that my favorite weed?!" at the ajuga. I'm not sure if it's the one she's thinking of- she said it grew at our previous house, and she liked to pop the "bumps off the stem in a row." Maybe it's the ajuga she means, when it has buds or seed formed? I just thought it was great she has a favorite weed. Who else but the child of a gardener.

Although I'm dismayed to learn that once again, I planted something that's considered an invasive in my yard. Both the vinca here growing among the bright purple bugleweed.

At least the lamb's ears opposite are not invasive, just alien.

out in the yard

I had thought that ajuga was a shade plant. But this large clump that survived the removal of maple trees on my larger sideyard, has grown even bigger and is blooming great!

There's also tons of violets scattering down the hillside. I'm glad these aren't considered invasive, because I like them.

More bleeding hearts-

Found the crown of my false indigo is growing back, so I cut down its old stems. Only the larger plant, though. Smaller one closer to the hydrangea, no sign of it.

Nearby, glad to see this bit of artemesia is still alive too.

I feel like every spring I'm still looking for some as survivors, wondering if they made it through the cold. Especially when I wasn't out there mulching protectively as much as I used to.

Yesterday

I just did two of the many tasks on my list, and it was enough to wear me out again, sigh. Because I actually mowed half the lawn a few days before that, which got me really beat. Cleaned up a bit in the rear perennial beds- cut out older leaves from under the hellebores, and cut back all the dead stems of monarda from previous season. Pulled up some volunteer viburnums and japanese honeysuckle. Noticed that my spring beauties are a bit more numerous this year, and the mayapples are coming up!

Admired my little patch of lysimachia purpurea- it's hard to notice unless you look close- but the leaves do have a nice delicate blue-green edged with red. I hope these spread some!

the arum has got nice and thick

I love seeing the new leaves unfold on the oakleaf hydrangea. They make me think of candles when the light hits them in late afternoon. Hope next year the plant will be tall enough I can remove the fencing that's keeping deer from eating it.

From the kitchen window or deck, can actually see the younger euonymus shrubs I moved back there, finally filling in (to the right and behind the hydrangea). There's three more on the other side of that tree, but they're much smaller- eaten more by the deer, or don't get quite as much sun I think.

Under the panicle hydrangea, rumex is coming up again-

All the shade areas have yellow salvias growing back in thick and fast. I've gotten a bit tired of this plant and started actually pulling it out where it's spreading too far.

I do like seeing how thick the 'autumn joy' sedums come in though

Sad that in the front, I still only have one cranesbill growing in. The other shows no signs of life although when I push aside the mulch there's a little center shoot left, so I hope it can regrow eventually.

Ajuga is showing bright color under the trees- but in some places it's not staying in a tidy area, spreading out into the lawn. Just an opportunity to dig and move some.

small goals

I am feeling some dismay about the state of my yard and garden. Last summer the front bed looked like this- all full!

Now it's pretty shabby. The deer have eaten back a lot of the shrub on the corner, and I think some of the mums died. I did not go out on the spur of the moment to quickly cover plants from cold this past fall and winter- didn't even really mulch most of the plants. So I expect not everything survived. I suppose the plus is that it shows me what work I was doing needlessly! I need to get out there and clean stuff up, but can still only do a little bit at a time.

One of the few things I did accomplish last fall was digging up some errant ajuga and moving them to form an outside ring surrounding the crabapple base in front yard. Also trimmed back the yellow salvias, which looked like they might start spreading into the lawn. I dug up and moved some autum joy sedums around, and also tore out tons of vinca from the sideyard where the steps are, transplanted milkweed to the other sideyard, and dug and moved joe pye weed into its place against the house on that slope. Because the milkweed never seemed to do great on the first sideyard, but a few were thriving in the other spot. And I wanted to move most of the joe pye from where we planned to put a gate in, thought it would look nice tall against the house there. 

Now it just looks strange and empty where I dug and moved plants, because the fence has not yet got installed. And the deer come up into that space now, are eating the other euonymus shrub plus the small ones I planted in the back, plus what's in the garden . . . 

However the ajuga on first sideyard is filling in between the stepping stones

and other things are still showing their greenery for spring. Yesterday I cleared half another garden bed of weeds, pulled out dead stems above the freshly sprouting catmint, and gathered up piles of sycamore leaves that had blown into the yard, stuck under shrubs all winter. It was enough to get me winded and swell my ankle again.

I think this year I have to just plan on trying to keep the yard tidy and take care of the perennials, that's probably it. They will get a good feed this season as I didn't turn over and spread the compost last season, just gave them some leaf mulch if I recall. 

the big sideyard

I have to differentiate the two. The first sunny sideyard, which is narrower, I think of it as the smaller one. And the second sunny sideyard, which was in shade before we had those huge maples cut down, is wider and more open, so I think of it as the bigger one. I spent half a day out there, pulling crabgrass and the worst of the weeds. Left some things alone, like the wild violets

Found a few bugleweed (ajuga) that survived the tree-cutting

Yanked out a bunch of wild rose that was all tangled behind the beautyberry (those thorny stems had grown a lot thicker with more sun) and now it looks so nice! Anticipating the purple berries

Lungwort also impressed me how much it grew!

Ostrich ferns are doing way better now, too.

And the sensitive ferns seem to be reviving from the heat, and the bugs-

there's new fiddleheads under there

My shady 'purple corner' looks promising- I need more persian shield!

I like how the wandering jew has done, need more of that also!

Spiderwort is blooming again- floating above the green