My garden seems to be persevering despite the odd weather we’ve had the past few weeks. The daffodils showed up in February which is really early for our Zone 5 temperatures. The warm weather was followed by a blast of cold and snow. I thought I might loose the blooms for this year, but everything is still pushing up out of the ground and greening (or in the case of the tulips bronzing) up. Our temps the past two days have been in the 60s, so I’d guess the plants are really confused.
I saw the first of the crocus today. The chipmunks have replanted them in odd places, so I get lovely surprises. I saw one blooming amidst the mounds of oregano and another in the front garden, both some distance from where they have been planted.
When I was filling the bird feeders earlier this week, I noticed that the chives, the oregano, and the feverfew were greening up. They are truly hardy plants and don’t let a little snow bother them once they feel the time is right to grow. I noticed the catnip that has transplanted itself around the north end of the house was adding leaves, too.
In the chat covered walkway of the herb garden, I have an invasion of lamb’s ears. While I was working on the filing this week, I came across a card that was an advertisement for one of those gardening “books” that you buy as a series of over-sized cards. This particular card was talking about a low maintenance garden, and lamb’s ears were one of the plants that had been used to make a striking border garden. Perhaps I need to trim the lamb’s ears back, and get them planted in other parts of my gardens!
I love spring! I’m ready to be doing some work outside!

I was out weeding today. I probably should have started earlier than I did, but the day was pretty reasonable until about 12:30. The gardens along the brick sidewalk to the house are one of the hotter areas to work.
I could post a picture of an area totally cleared that is about 4′ by 4′, but that seems sorta silly. Just envision it. From there I crossed the walk to the garage side of the gardens.

Having seen it from this perspective, I’ve decided to take out everything to the wall to the left of the downspout. The iris right next to the downspout have to be moved this week. I can’t decide whether I want to put them in the ground or try to winter them over in large pots. I think they might do better in the ground, but I’ll need to baby them for the rest of the growing season to get them settled for winter.
I moved up the walk toward the front door and cleared the area between the purple fountain grasses and the mum.

Below is a long shot of the garden. I wanted you to see the tomato plant that has taken over the west end of that garden. The chipmunks must not have liked my choice of plants. I’ve actually left it because it’s shading a coral bells that is planted in a too-sunny area. And, my Dad and Mother always seemed to have a stray tomato plant in their gardens. I suspect it was a private joke between them.

This is the pile of weeds that came out of these three small spaces:

After I weeded, I thoroughly watered. We had heavy rain on Saturday, but the gardens were bone dry. More to come later.

Oh, my……the gardens have gotten away from me once again.
It’s silly to think that they are going to behave while I spend a month indoors hiding from the heat. It was cool at the start of the day, so I went out to work in the long bed along the drive. I thought I just needed to pull about six tall weeds and cut out four shrubby starts. On the drive side the gardens weren’t too bad, but on the lawn side of the bed it’s nightmare. I did a quick and dirty cleanup of the center of the bed on the drive side, and cut down the shrubs. I’ll have put put hours in on the gardens every morning for the next month!
Johnson’s or who ever it is who makes “Off” is going to make a fortune off me because the mosquitoes are dreadful! The hard part about working in the cool of the morning is that the mosquitoes are still out in force. I wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a turtle neck and a hat, and all my clothes get sprayed. I add a little to my neck and ears, and do a lot of ducking from the ‘sketers that get past the Off.
I’ll have to make a note to myself to do before and after pictures.

We have reached the point of summer where I need to be careful of the heat and humidity and sunshine. When it gets too hot, I wilt, and there are too many things I want to do to be sitting on the sidelines recovering.
For years I’ve talked about working in the gardens a little every day, and this year seems to be my year to accomplish it! I’ve been getting up at 5:00 a.m. and putting in between 90 and 150 minutes on the gardens, almost every day. I was a lounge lizard on the Fourth, but I moved right along most of the week before, and returned to work today.
I have sternly forbidden myself from buying any plants until everything from the previous round of shopping was planted. I HATE loosing plants that succumb to heat. It’s awful to see them waste away. I feel bad about killing off perfectly good plants, and hate to waste the money. Limiting what I purchase to what I have a chance of getting planted has been a win-win situation all around.
This weekend I planted two scented geraniums, two spicy globe basils, and three lemon verbena in the herb garden. Along the front sidewalk, I planted two thirds a flat of white alyssum, and five red-violet petunias. I’ve been weeding in the gardens along the front of the house, over a period of about four days. I continued today digging up a patch of crabgrass, pruning the junipers and birch, and starting to clear a path for the meter readers around the corner of the house.
The south side of my home is edged with a bed of day lilies. Unfortunately, this bed is infested with a strange weed that propagates via very shallow runners. The plants grow up to five feet tall and are topped with a small yellow flower that looks rather like a dandelion. The good thing about this weed is that it is very easy to pull! I spent about 20 minutes this morning clearing all but the last six feet of the bed. I came to a screeching halt when I found very healthy poison ivy plants. I need a hazmat suit that I can wear to protect myself so I can pull out those plants.
I’ve left the weeds lying on the lawn, which is a no-no, but I’ll collect them tomorrow morning, and add a bit more of the evergreen to the wheelbarrow. I may have some teenaged assistance this weekend, so perhaps I can get some mulch down to prevent the return of the weeds. And, I hope to spread some cosmos and cleome seeds across the front of the house, so we may have some color later this season.
A little gardening each day seems to be the way to accomplish my goal. *S*

Between quilting and rainy days, I have not been in the gardens enough this spring. I had the pleasure of shopping for plants today, and hope to get some “dirt therapy” tomorrow.
The NW corner of the herb garden needs to be weeded and then I can plant the lemon verbena and scented geraniums. I’ll check on the seeds that I planted a few weeks ago. From the kitchen window I can see zinnias coming up, but I need to walk out to check the things I’ve planted in the veggie beds. I wasn’t good about keeping them watered, so I might have wasted seeds and time there.
I need more Homestead Purple verbena. I’d like carpets of it in two more parts of the gardens. I want to line the sidewalk with alyssum, and set out pots with lantana and ivy and ornamental peppers in a deep purple shade. I need to get a purple sweet potato vine, too.
I have TONS of weeding to do. Thank goodness we got a lot of rain this week. It will make things easier to pull. It’s time to begin working in the gardens between 5:30 and 7:30 in the morning. The heat will drive me inside, as it did earlier this week. Still, it’s nice to be able to play in the dirt again!

As I cleaned earlier this year, I came across little collections of seeds everywhere. I dedicated one little basket to the seeds, and it finally overflowed with packets. I sorted the seeds a few weeks ago and decided that I would put them in, as many as I could, this year.
I have no idea if they will all germinate. It’s possible that some of the seed it too old, but I’m planting it anyway!
I used a shovel to turn over the dirt in most of one arm of the herb garden. I broke up the clumps and took out old stems and new feverfew starts. (Feverfew is lovely, but it will take over your entire lot if you let it!). Once the bed was smoothed, I planted rows of giant State Fair zinnia. In front of that I planted a row of Giant Cactus zinnia, and in front of that a row of Cut and Come Again zinnia which are slightly smaller. Along the edge of the bed, I planted Nasturtiums. I didn’t soak or nick the seeds, so I’m not sure what kind of turn out I’ll have from the Nasturtiums.
Around the corner from the zinnias, I’ve planted a stand of Evening Sun sunflowers, with a row of Tithonia (Mexican Sunflowers) that should bloom in an orangey shade. When I clear the section between these two pods, I hope to plant Lemon Verbena and two scented geraniums.
The sky became threatening, but I ignored it to get the basil and parsley planted. I put in both curly and flat-leafed parsley, as usual. I still have to plant the basil at my kitchen sink, and the dill, but I’m moving right along.
I think the next area I’ll finish is the center of the center box. I need to re-seat the St. Francis statue. He lists a bit. While I’m at it, I hope to dig up some of the crab grass roots that infest that area of the garden. The roots like to hide under the chive plants.
Once that part of the bed is done, I’ll plant the miniature tomato plants, a Sweet 100 cherry, a yellow pear, and one new one that seems to be an orange/red version of the cherry tomato.
There are times when I drag my feet at the thought of going out to do this work. It isn’t always fun, but the more I get done before the heat hits, the easier it is to maintain the grounds through the summer. I think I have about two more days of work on the herb garden, and then I can resume working on things at the front of the house. The rain we are supposed to get the next few days will make things easier.
Yea, for dirt therapy!!

So much has happened since I last talked about my gardens that I hardly know where to start, so this may be a scrambled account.
The bleeding heart is beautiful this year, next to the last of the daffodils to open, a set that is all white. The peonies are doing well, and have pushed up through the wire supports. I’d guess that they are over two feet tall now. I need to move mulch to cover parts of the driveway garden…as soon as it stops raining!
The hostas have come up. I need to trim the spent flower stalks from last year. I hope this year the bunnies will leave me a few hosta leaves. I believe that I am going to try a cayenne spray to see if that will help!
The daffodils are mostly gone now, but the memory remains of one of the most beautiful displays they have ever given us. I need to dead head so that they will bloom beautifully next year. I know that many people dislike dealing with the daffodil leaves as they ripen, but I don’t mind leaving them into June. In some places other plants will cover them, but I just wait them out. It seems little enough to do in return for the pleasure they bring us.
The oldest lilac, one that was here when we built, is in bloom, and those that we planted should follow suit soon. Lombard, Illinois, has a lilac festival during May. I should drive over and take in the festival.
My chives are incredibly healthy, and almost ready to bloom. When the blooms have faded, I’ll cut the plants back to encourage new growth, and I’ll harvest that new growth and see if I can dry it. I am very seriously considering digging up the garlic chives. They insist on relocating, and once the little bulblette grows, they can be tough to weed out. I don’t use the plant enough to justify giving them garden space.
I trimmed back the clematis and added new twine supports to the arbor. I used the string trimmer around the herb garden and north side of the garage, and I managed to get baby romaine, spinach, two kinds of dill and sweet basil seeds planted. Mother Nature is overseeing the watering this weekend.
I have an infestation of grass and bunnies where I used to have a thyme bed. The thyme got disgusted and climbed over the side of the bed to grow in the chat walkway. I’m going to dig out an area about 3 x 4 feet, and sieve the dirt, and then replant more thyme. There’s also a salvia plant that I want to slip a support over, so that it doesn’t sprawl this summer.
I have one arm of the herb garden that I think I am going to dig and amend so that I can grow zinnias. Zinnias were one of my father’s favorite plants, and I’d like to see a riot of color in that corner.
I made my first trip to The Growing Place, and picked up parsley (flat and curled), Sweet basil starts, three kinds of tiny tomatoes (Sweet 100, pear and one new one whose name I can’t recall), a Roma tomato, four pots of purple fountain grass, three of Homestead purple verbena, and two scented geraniums. It’s time to start moving the geraniums that I wintered over outside, but I need to wait for it to warm up again.
The star magnolia and forsythia blooms are gone, and have been replaced by pear and apple blossoms. The air is filled with the petals of these plants as they near the end of their bloom season.
The honeysuckle, both the pink and the white/yellow versions are in bloom, and we are once again surrounded by the greenery of the shrubs and trees that give us the illusion of privacy in the midst of more than a quarter of a million people.
I love watching the changes, counting the passage of time by watching what’s in bloom. As usual, Spring has brought great joy to my life!