The spring days grow longer and warmer. Of course, it’s welcomed. Still, the precious bit of time at the end of the work day that I can spend watering, weeding, moving plants, starting new plants, potting up containers, is never enough. I have big plans for the summer of 2010. Where will I find the time? And the energy?
The side garden near the chicken coop—where we sit on the bright green Swedish bench to watch Chicken TV—is a major project. It was a long-neglected area that we once referred to as Winifred’s Poop Garden because of its liberal use by our now-deceased Belgian Malinois.
Last year I divided variegated hostas and supplemented them with ‘Sun and Substance’ and a couple of ‘Blue Angel’ hostas. The slugs love the variegated hostas, so they’ll slowly be replaced with other plants. Several tiarella, or foam flowers, have gone in. Twenty more are on the way. I’m keeping my eyes open for more dramatic, thick-leafed hostas that Mr. McGregor’s Daughter tells me will be more slug-resistant so I can toss the variegated slug bait to the chickens.
Trying to establish a little green bit of lawn in front of the bench where the two little Papillons can lounge has been a struggle. It was looking pretty good last summer, but the snow plows did severe damage as they piled 5-foot tall walls of snow in the area this winter. The chickens are attracted to the fresh soil when they’re on walkabout and have managed to dig up the tiny grass seedlings I’ve been nursing. Now I’m thinking I’ll transplant more of the creeping Jenny from other parts of the yard to create a different kind of ground cover.
In the front of the house—a shady, north-facing exposure, the ‘Encore’ azaleas are blooming despite severe damage from the heavy snow. The hellebores have been casting off seedlings for a couple of years now and I will be moving them over to the woodland garden sometime this summer.
In the potager, the angelica anemones are blooming. I must figure out a plan for them, as they re-seed prolifically and clog up my garden paths. I feel guilty pulling them up like weeds, but what is a gardener to do? One must have paths!
I continue to be amazed by the simple little yellow pansies that I had planted in window boxes last fall. They hibernated under a couple of feet of snow and snuck out small blossoms despite the cold. Now they’ve roared back to life. I need to re-plant the window boxes, but the pansies look so vibrant and healthy, I’m temporarily relocating some of them into other containers.
I continue to tell myself to put one foot in front of the other and to stop to enjoy the sound of the birds and the beauty of spring. After all, the work is for a reason. Right?
Robin
April 20th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Thanks for the link love! I’ve ripped out all of the Anemone like yours as it was choking out other plants and started seeding into the lawn. Pretty, but it needed to be stopped. I wish I could remember who had a double form that was sterile. That might be the answer.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter´s last blog ..The Squirrelhaven Springtime Blues
April 20th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Excellent advice… one foot in front of the other and soon it’s a beautiful garden you can be proud of. I have the same problem w/ flower seedlings. I hate to treat them as weeds, but you can’t let them take over a garden (or the paths) either.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..Garden Design Update: A Guest Post From the Garden Fairies
April 20th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I feel the same way like can’t keep up. Your garden looks lovely. Don’t worry about pulling up anemones. They are prolific.~~Dee
Dee/reddirtramblings´s last blog ..New to me
April 20th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
So much to tend to. It is true. Your garden already looks lovely. All those new plants will be spectacular.
April 20th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Lovely pictures of what’s blooming in your garden. Would like to know how the small fountain in the birdbath works, is it a pump inside the bath or one that sits on the side.
April 20th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Watching chicken TV would be such fun on that bench in those surroundings!
Leslie´s last blog ..Garden Blogger Bloom Day April 2010
April 21st, 2010 at 7:03 am
The fountain has an internal pump as well as a water line to automatically re-fill the 5-gallon reservoir, as needed. I find the cut-off of the reservoir mechanism a bit finicky though, so it’s not currently connected. I’m outside watering the container plants all the time anyway, so I just make sure it’s filled when I’m watering.
Thanks for visiting and for the comment!
Robin
April 21st, 2010 at 9:52 am
I know exactly what you mean by putting one foot in front of the other. Your garden is coming along very nicely.
keewee´s last blog ..Walls O Water
April 21st, 2010 at 9:12 pm
I love your bench and the foamflowers. Chickens can do a lot of damage with their scratching.
Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening´s last blog ..Branches Bench in the Secret Garden
April 22nd, 2010 at 7:17 pm
It is great to see the foam flowers. I just picked some up for the woodland area. I am putting one foot in front of the other also. The garden looks glorious.
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Just found your blog…new fan!
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Robin, Your garden looks lovely~and adding more tiarella sounds lovely…If you’re taking recommendations~Look at Heuchera villosa “Autumn Bride’ a wonderful apple green big leaf alum that blooms in the late summer. Evergreen in my garden. Every time you said 5 feet of snow, or snow piled up on plants …I thought, Whew, we were sure lucky to not get the weather you all got!
Gail
Gail´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday~Purple Sensation
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:26 am
I love those pansies, wimpy name, amazing flower!
Carrie´s last blog ..Let’s take a stroll around the garden…
April 24th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
A tip on slugs, if you are up for more poultry (they would need separate quarters) try ducks. They devour them. I had them for two years until we acquired a lab puppy (the two don’t mix as you can imagine), and I had to re-home them. It was a couple of years before I started having slug issues again, and I live in the northwest on moist forested property. I would love to have ducks again they are very efficient and eco-friendly.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Another tip on slugs. Put egg shells around the hostas.
It’s so nice to acknowledge an area that has been neglected. So little is needed to spruce it up. The hostas look great.
Annelie´s last blog ..A spring quote
April 29th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Every winter I dream about all the things I want to do in the vegetable and flower beds. But when spring arrives, I can’t seem to get it all done. I have to force myself just to stand still sometimes and take in the view.
Suzanne
Window On The Prairie´s last blog ..Six Hours In Omaha
May 1st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I love your woodland garden… all your plants look perfectly happy. And those pansys in the pot are adorable! Fragrant too I bet…
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Robin, everything looks beautiful!
Shannon´s last blog ..A Garden Tour
May 4th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Eww slugs. I have not had many yet this year but I am sure they are coming. Have you ever thought of getting some ducks? They actually EAT slugs, it is totally gross but they do keep the slug population down. We had ducks when I was a kid.
May 5th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Exceptional!
The garden looks lovely.
MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Summer Crops – Part III
May 8th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Will the pansies make it all summer? I’ve had some of my superhero pansies make it through the winter as well. It is such a nice surprise.
Amy´s last blog ..Compost Happens
May 12th, 2010 at 10:33 am
The garden is beautiful. The reason, one reason, my garden is so lacking in good design is because I have so much trouble removing thugs, proper pruning, and removing plants that no longer enchant. A hard lesson, but it must be learned.
commonweeder´s last blog ..Local Lunch at The Academy
May 14th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Lovely! We’re trying to resurrect some old flower gardens that existed here at some time in the past. I was surprised to find so many tulips, irises and daffodils fighting their way through at least two years of neglect (the period of time this property sat vacant before we purchased). Hoping it will one day be as peaceful a retreat as yours appears to be!
Dana´s last blog ..The Carnival of Homeschooling is up!