Revisiting

Journal Entry No.8
A Gardenful

       I'm not going to make excuses for not updating in about a year, but since this is a personal blog and I doubt anyone is actually reading it, there's no need to explain really. I like to keep this blog for myself so I can keep track of my journey as a gardener and try to remember things that are easily forgotten. It's always the best moments that stand out in my memory, like how well the mystery hydrangea performed in the "courtyard" memorial bed (main photo). This hot pink hydrangea languished at my parents' house for several years, I plunked it in my side garden and it's absolutely flourishing! This was a nice surprise because I've been struggling with fussy hydrangeas for some time now. They usually want more sun but loathe the heat. At least two different hydrangeas were wilting in the sun last year and they required a beach umbrella for protection, which honestly feels excessive. I'm moving my one Wee Bit Grumpy, a memorial plant, to the back bed in hopes it might prefer the partial shade. The problem with that bed, however, is that it doesn't get so much sun that flowers will be plentiful and large. I have a Bloomstruck in there that does okay, it puts out blooms but always has a kind of skimpy look to it. I previously removed the Everlasting Revolution hydrangea from the shade bed to the courtyard garden in hopes that it will finally bloom again, it did not fair well in the back garden beds, even with a little dappled morning sunlight. These are all big leaf hydrangeas with varied tastes in lighting requirements, some are happy in one bed, others not so much, it feels like a game of musical chairs... and no, the nursery care tags are never accurate. 

    As for lighting requirements I'm also learning that my new rhododendron isn't particularly thrilled with it's bed and it will have to be shifted to the opposite side where it will get a whopping two hours more sunlight, although I'm not sure it will be enough to get it to flower. It's healthy, it didn't put out more than one bloom cluster, but there's plenty of new growth. The leaves, however, tend to cup downwards which usually indicates a lack of water but I know that's not the case so I'm assuming there's a need for more light. I wish I could keep it in the back bed as I like the height and look of it, and there aren't many shade friendly plants that are taller than two feet, at least not in any of my nurseries. 

    Spring was a welcome sight and I was thrilled, we had a dreadful winter with record breaking snow, every day I'd wake up anticipating the snow melting and snowdrops peeking through. Once the season shifted the temperatures weren't as high which permitted longer bloom times. I didn't have as many tulips or daffodils this time around and I'm assuming some have died off. Only one group out of my four mini narcissus plantings has survived. Otherwise, the garden foliage looked green and healthy, lawns looked lush, and the flowering trees held on a little longer than usual. We made our annual pilgrimage to a nearby town to enjoy the spring flowers in April and it was dreamy. I noticed with temperature fluctuations some plants bloomed earlier than usual whereas others, which normally came first, came later. The cool air also prevented me from planting seeds until much later than I have in the past. This might work out for my pumpkins, which I hope will evade the notorious squash vine borer! I swore I wouldn't plant pumpkins again because it was such a pain in the ass to deal with those dreaded maggots, but I loved the look of the small ornamental pumpkins hanging from the trellis. I hope it will be a good year for them.

    We're doing more vegetable gardening than before. We've planted roma tomatoes, carrots, strawberries, yukon gold potatoes, small striped pumpkins, jack-be-littles, chives and sage. Last year we only tried potatoes and they were mostly small and had scabbing (dehydration), we grew them in a large raised bed planter that apparently didn't get enough moisture. This year I'm trying again but with fewer starter potatoes and in a small planter so I can control the water levels better. I'm trying new fertilizer and composts in the planters and I hope this contributes to healthy growth. I don't consider myself a green thumb yet as I'm constantly learning new things about my garden and myself. Every year is a new adventure!

    We've been doing a lot of landscaping this year which will have to continue into the fall. The beds are quite high due to soil and debris build up so we have to get creative with our edging approaches, mostly we're building small retaining walls out of slate, river rock and cinderblocks. It's not easy to see but the Alice in Wonderland themed bed has a new retaining wall behind it where we also had to make a fence repair. I added weed barrier there and hope to prevent anymore bishops weed from crawling through. Another big project this year is that we'll be filling in the pond with soil. My husband discovered it's officially pooched and not worth investing in. We'll now be landscaping that area to be a walkway and we might put grass back in there or some kind of aggressive ground cover. Speaking of which, we are still fighting desperately against bishop's weed! I'm removing it from the back bed in the far left corner where the rhododendron will go, and eventually an extension of the brick paver patio will be made there which hopefully in itself prevents spreading. There's no hope that our new neighbor will eradicate the bishops weed behind the pond so I plan on planting tight compact and large plants, like hostas and ferns but also ground cover and maybe, just maybe that'll keep it at bay.

    Our newest additions to the garden this year are an eclipse hydrangea...not that I need more hydrangeas but I couldn't resist its black foliage; some more lamium, japanese forest grass, pulmonaria (twinkle toes, the same as before), and a fire island hosta which sadly doesn't stay hot yellow! Some nice surprises this year were that the pulmonaria and bleeding hearts are reproducing in droves, so there will be plenty of filler with the seedlings, and the overabundance of columbine, that I can use when landscaping the previously unused back left corner. Another nice surprise is that after four years my irises finally bloomed. I planted the orange and I believe the purple is my "black iris" that was thought doomed, the yellow iris is apparently original to the property. I love irises and was devastated that I could never get them to bloom, I'm not sure what did it, but I'm happy they've finally shown their beauty!

    Below are some pictures of the gardening beds which desperately need editing. In the Alice in Wonderland/Nori memorial bed, I've already pushed the corabelle to the back, but the columbine will have to come out of the front where it's seeded and be moved elsewhere. The balloon flowers will be shifted back, and more creeping phlox will be added to the front.

    In the other bed, which I simply refer to as the "back bed" I'll be pushing one of the bleeding hearts back, removing the rhododendron to the other bed, pushing some of the hostas further in and moving the white variegated hosta elsewhere. I'd like to transplant some painted ferns into this bed and find a taller plant to replace the rhododendron. 

    I've redone the "courtyard" side garden where Baba's memorial bed is. I'm trying natural mulch this year with our fallen leaves and thus far it's working well to inhibit weed growth and maintain moisture. I took the Bloomstruck out (pictured in front of the dragonfly) and I switched it with the Everlasting Revolution hydrangea. The soil has been amended so hopefully I get nice rich colorful blooms. I will take out the Wee Bit Grumpy in the fall, and I'll try propagating from it again because I'm happy to have more of this hydrangea. In its place I will be planting a Smoky Amethyst Sedum which also reminds me of my beloved cat. ♥

    

Happy Gardening!