some things

around the yard: boarage is getting big leaves and filling in thick around the mailbox spot!

Some sensitive ferns are growing in among the lilies of the valley- I don't mind how it looks mingling, but probably will have to dig/pull some ferns before they go too far. 

My first cranesbill, that seemed to have died off earlier in the year, is doing just fine now! Although still half the size of the other one.

Spiderwort blooming. Looks taller and fuller this year.

All the joe pye I hastily dug up and moved to be against the house wall on the first sideyard, survived the winter and are coming back. They did much better here than the swamp milkweed (I still haven't found more than the first three clumps to move) so I think the milkweed wasn't really thriving here.

That one orange flower came up again among the bleeding hearts and hellebores.

Mountain laurel is starting to bud! Though it doesn't look so happy in this spot- still doesn't have many more leaves. Now I'm starting to wonder should I move it yet again.

Rumex. I always like seeing this plant in spring, though later in the season it always looks ragged from the bugs. . . 

the front bed

Filling up, but still has a ways to go-

Both cranesbill are doing better since moved forward into more sun- 

I moved the nepitella here from the herb bed

yellowish stonecrop is starting to creep along the edge

Remembered to pinch my chrysanthemums

Curious how these two columbines next to each other, are a slightly different green

Maybe a few of the alyssum will make it after all? this one has grown a bit

Mountain laurel bloomed for a few weeks, and it was lovely. They're just starting to fade now.

it's still coming down-

my car this morning:

I went out this afternoon and shook snow/ice off the big holly shrub and the two eonymus. Branches were bending under the weight so far I was afraid they'd break. This one is the little mountain laurel:

green out front

My new grass is up. Silly to be pleased with such a simple thing as getting grass seed to grow, but I am.

The cranesbill plants I moved seem to be doing fine now. I heaped dry leaves under them to mulch against cold (and smother weeds). Some of the old foliage has perked up since the transplant, and new leaves are growing too.

This one, you can see the older leaves are lifted green faces on the end of stems sprawled out flat from the center- I do believe that's how leggy they got from lack of sun before. 

Newer leaves grown since from the crown are on shorter stems.

Not sure yet how the little mountain laurel is doing, it looks the same.

digging relocations

I moved some stuff this past week. Not done yet, but it's a start. First was the rhubarb. I think it's my last attempt to relocate it. Went from the corner of rear perennial bed to a blank spot (taking another chunk out of the lawn) in front of the pannicle hydrangea near the nicotiana patch. (Eventually I want that edge of plants among the tree roots to expand so that lawn edge is straight). That sycamore stump (from the neighbors, who gave me some rounds when they cut down their tree) is the perfect height for me to sit on and enjoy part of the garden. 

It was very sad when I first moved it. 

Watered heavily every day for a while, mulched it thickly with compost and grass clippings. Now a few of the younger leaves are standing upright again, so I hope it will recover well.

The empty spot it left behind doesn't seem so large- 

and now I notice one of the hellebores there is yellowish.

Compare to other one on the left. Too much sun? Nutrient overload from me feeding the rhubarb that was next to it? It's growing new leaves from the crown though, so not done for yet, whatever's wrong.

Next thing I did was rip up more grass in the front, to start expanding that perennial bed so it's a straight line across from the little path off the driveway. Edging will go all the way from driveway corner to curve around where the pink sedums are on the opposite end- 

I will get a better photo later when it's a better job done- right now the edging only goes a little ways and it's not the stones I actually want to use, just what I had at hand. But had to start moving stuff so I'm ready to shift my black-and-blue salvia when it goes dormant. First I dug up and moved forward the two cranesbills. Hope they get more sun.

They are very floppy and pathetic looking now, I am a bit anxious they might not survive this (it's better to transplant them in the spring). Yeah, I didn't pull all the grass out but will soon smother it in mulch and fallen leaves for winter, then uproot what's left in spring.

Into the space vacated by the cranesbills, I transplanted my mountain laurel. I'm hoping it will do better here- has lost a lot of lower leaves lately. And the very attractive flowers can be enjoyed more, now that it's by the front porch.