Spring Cleaning

It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so I decided it would be a great time to start cleaning up the garden. First, I repotted the Crown Princess Margareta climbing rose so that the bud union is under the soil instead of inches above. I had first potted the plant in haste and didn't realize until later, when it started to rain, that it was not planted at proper depth. I also planted a Jackmanii clematis behind it. I hope that the orange of the rose and the purple of the clematis will be a knockout combination.

Next, I attacked the half moon bed in front of the garage. There was a bit of weeding to do and C helped me cut down the large overwintered fountain grass with our nifty electric hedge trimmer.

Before:

After: 

The peony that was transplanted a year or two ago has sent up some shoots. I am hoping that it will flower this year. 

Most of the Russian sage were hand trimmed, as well as the lavender. The Autumn Joy sedum and the Artemesia seem to be doing well. There seems to be signs of Rudebeckia and Echinacea Prairie Splendor as well. The scented lilies which can be seen in the background in the image above seem to be multiplying too. I'm pretty happy about that since they are so fragrant!

 The sedum were planted in front of the house in a bed created by the walkway which is usually filled with weeds. I don't normally like sedum, but they look better than weeds! I only had two flats which I cut into eight 5" x 5" pieces. I definitely need more if I want to cover that area!

Next, I cleaned up some of the catmint and planted some marigolds next to them, thinking that the purple and orange combination might be pleasing... hm... that would be similar to the rose and clematis combination I have in the back. In the picture, there are also irises and an Eremurus (foxtail lily). I had originally planted more than one, but since their roots are so fragile, it seems only one survived. I really should plant some more. Their height and foxtail-like flowers make statement in the bed.  Fortunately, there are two more that I planted a year or two earlier, a little further back. 

At the other end of the bed above, I was happy to see that Achillea millefolium 'Oertel's Rose' (yarrow) is coming back strong and has even spread a little. I planted some more of the marigolds nearby to fill in some of the empty space. Originally daylilly Stella d'Oro were planted there, but they didn't seem to take off.

A picture of the overall bed from the south before the cleanup:

After the cleanup - a view from the west:

Next project - the bed in front of the house. Thanks for reading! :)