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! :)

Bluebird House Workshop

Just took the Bluebird House Workshop led by Tom Sheppard, Chief Park Naturalist of the Hunterdon County Parks & Recreation department. The workshop was informative and Tom Sheppard was very helpful and attentive in helping everyone build their birdhouses. I definitely enjoyed the class!

Flowers, flowers

The coneflowers have started to bloom as well as the orange day lilies. The white oriental lilies are getting ready to open their buds. Something ate their flower buds last year, so this year will be the first year that will be able to smell them and I'm looking forward to it!

Almost the Last of the Fall Shipments

I finally planted Calluna "H.E. Beale" (Scotch Heather) and Calluna vulgaris "Winter Chocolate" as well as 2 Grand Canyon Sunset tall bearded iris rhizomes. One of the Lavandula Hidcote Superior which looked a bit ragged and sad seems to be doing okay... there is new growth at the base of the plant, so I'm relieved.

The Geranium Lancastriense and are still alive and are, hopefully, settling in. The Summers Memories Mix  Hollyhock are also looking good. The one that I started from seed still has green leaves. I wonder if it will flower next year...

Achillea Oertel's Rose has also put out some more green growth... a good sign.

Now to find time to plant the Stella de Oro Daylilly!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the work that was done on Sunday...

Catmint, Purple Bearded Irises and Foxtails planted

Broom, Lavender and Sedum Autumn Joy

Achillea mill. Oertel's Rose in front of Ornamental Grass

Cleaned up the semi-circular planting bed too...

South side:

Echinacea Prarie Splendor and Primroses were added in the Spring

North Side:

Lavender was also added this year; the primroses look more lush on this side 

Middle of the Bed:

It's a bit hard to tell from here, but you can see the sad looking
transplanted peony between the sedum and Russian Sage

Cleopatra Foxtail Lilies

Planted 3 of the Cleopatra Foxtail lilies which came in the mail last week yesterday. I snuck in an allium bulb and planted some purple bearded irises next to them. The catmints were moved up to the front of the planting bed. It now has a more prominent place along the new path and looks good there. The broom, which never bloomed, was moved next to the new lavenders as well as the sedum which is currently in bloom.

Here is a before picture as well as my plans. I won't be planting the daylily since the catmint is taking up more room than expected. I'll post an update picture later!

Update

I forgot to mention that C and I also moved some peonies planted by a previous gardener to the half round bed in the back, in front of the garage. It was sitting under the pine tree near the mailbox and had bloomed only once after C cut down a couple of young shade (weed?) trees. I am hoping that moving it out to a sunnier area will help it to rebloom in future springs to come.

Geraniums and Lavender

Planted 3 Geranium Lancastriense and 3 Lavandula Hidcote Superiors today, as well as weeded a bit. Move 3 of the half eaten lilies to the back of the house, by the driveway. I accidentally shattered one of the bulbs while digging it out. I left the lily cloves in the front. Maybe they will grow into lily plants later.

Also visited Peddler's Village. They always seem to have nice landscaping with lot of flowers. I'm thinking that maybe I should create a new bed with salvias and some other nice low growing flowers in the front.