Gardening is not something you can buy at the store, it is something you have to work at all the time. Slow and steady wins the race along with transplanting your bits and bobs and learning your little corner of the world and what works best.
A write these garden blogs as much for me as for others because it helps me document the garden so I know what will come up next spring. It all looks barren in March but the weeds are getting an early start and you have to know what not to pull. And what space you might have to plant or repair for the summer.
The pandemic has given us all a little extra time this year, and I used mine in the garden of course. I tend to spend a lot of time in the garden anyway, but the extra time this year has been wonderful for trying new things and giving extra attention to things that tend to get ignored.
Of course I do spend a little money on the garden, and most of that was at Halifax Seed this spring. It felt great to support a small business during these trying times. They have excellent safety protocols in place and are a pleasure to deal with in any times. Supporting local and being kind are what will get us through this crisis, a little goes a long way.
Although a few things did not make it, the garden has not disappointed this year. Something different has been blooming every day since April and the Roses did not even make an appearance yet.
The 4 Tulip varieties I planted last November were a hit, so I will plant a few more of them this fall. I got these from a selection of bulbs at Halifax Seed that was organized according to bloom times. So they were staggered so I would have a different variety every 2 weeks.
I keep talking about my lack of success in planting Rainbow Rock Cress, but some of it was totally my fault. I realized I dug some up this spring that I planted last year as I mixed it up with other weedy things. Luckily this patch survived
Anyway, I do love my perennial groundcovers most. Thank you so much to friends for donations to the cause.
The bees and the birds love the garden. We haven’t seen any Hummers yet, but a number of butterflies have dropped by and butterfly season is just ramping up so it can only get better. Also, the two pollinator plants (Bee Balm and Butterfly Bush) I bought last year are not flowering yet but looking good and rooted well and survived the winter.
Hopefully they will be featured in the next installment of my garden diary.
I wait all year for the summer solstice. I think we all do as it marks the beginning of summer. For the past 13 years living here it has been the day the large perennials bloom. The only year it was late was 2019 and it was two weeks late! This year things were in full bloom starting on June 20th and the best show was on June 27th.
Things continue to bloom there is much more to come but that is the highlight each summer and a day I tend to spend at home each year to enjoy it.
Macy is just happy on the brief occasions I let her in my garden!
The less glamorous part of this year’s gardening has been spent trying to block the super invasive Goutweed from coming in from the adjoining yard. As a temporary solution I covered what was coming in on my side of the fence with plastic (cardboard does not work) and then covered the plastic with cedar mulch. Hoping that in time I can reclaim that space and simply remove the plastic and the mulch can stay. It’s an ugly mess and I have to find a way to deal with it that involves the help of the neighbors I guess. No way around it as it’s spreading like wildfire all along the fence-lines on our street, and I’m sure other people on the street will also appreciate help with the spread of this invasive. It’s amazing to me that people still plant this stuff and it’s spreading all over my street…a nightmare…ugghhh! It’s not very ethical of a garden center to sell that stuff, that’s for sure.
