Chapters of Bloom

         

      I have been being a bit sluggish myself but the garden is coming along apace despite me. In the amazing resurrection chapter, my hardy hibiscus is coming up (the one from last year. Nothing on the new one, so far) and my tiny white rhododendron (either Sugar Puff or Milky Way, curse my terrible memory and record-keeping) in the shade garden, eaten up by bugs last year, is coming back! I don't seem to have recorded when I planted it or ever photographed it in bloom (though before being eaten last year it was covered in buds) so I feel I must lavish attention on it.

        In the finally-decided-on-a-location chapter, my Rheum palmatum from the Veseys spring sale,  beside my faithful Japanese peony and in front of the rose/clematis trellis. I wanted a showy spot and I hope this is it. I popped in a lot of other things from the sale to the right of this, including the Amsonia "Storm Cloud" and a pink coreopsis (berry chiffon), hardy hibiscus Vintage Wine, as well as a number of Centaurea and rose campions. No bloom on any of the fancy peonies in the back yet, though one on the very right-hand edge is showing two buds, and they are the same shape (though smaller) as the tree peonies. Anne has the same and she says it is Garden Treasure, a peachy-yellow Itoh. I hope so! It will be the first of the Itohs to bloom.

        In the Oh-my-goodness it worked chapter, the ajuga "bed" around the maple tree with alliums rising up above the foliage, just as I imagined it. I am super pleased. There's a bit of grass and the ajuga is starting to bloom, curse it, but otherwise it's perfect. Or as perfect as ajuga can be made to be.
      

  In the bloomed-before-but-I'm-still-thrilled chapter are Clematis Elsa Spath, not far from the Itoh, the variegated wiegela, and the dark red tree peony, doing some funny thing with the colour of the outside petals. Each of the tree peonies has five blooms, and the red one is quite a bit later than the white this year, perhaps because the red is in more shade.

       And blooming-under-extreme-difficulty is my Minnetonka rhododendron, planted last August and looking splendid coming out of the snow, then badly burned by spring winds on its north side. But the south side has buds, and is starting to bloom, and the north side is putting on new growth, so perhaps all will be well.
    Now I must get out and construct a cage over  my hardy bush cherries, if I intend to save any of them from the birds this year. I bought 10-foot pieces of pvc conduit yesterday, thinking they would be long enough, but I think the bushes are more like 15 feet, end-to-end. Must get out the hacksaw and get cutting.  

Finally catching up

        Blooming has begun, with my first rose (Fru Dagmar Hartrup) out yesterday evening, along with the tree peony "Flight of Cranes", only 5 blooms this year but I love every one of them. The tree peony plant has put on substantial growth as well, and is looking very healthy.
        Because I'm retired now, I have been working hard on improving the many unimproved or even "no go" areas in the garden. This includes three cold compost piles, which I am harvesting. I have also installed four hardware cloth bins in different locations, as per my composting guide, which recommends that you'll be much likelier to compost if you don't have to lug stuff for miles. I also made a compost sling for moving loads of dry browns which I raked in the spring. It's not so useful now, but will come in handy when it comes time to turn the hardware cloth bins. Another "tidying up" thing I'm trying, is building some 'hugelcultur" mounds, with some of the many branches and tree trunks which we otherwise have to try to burn. The mounds are covered with sods and eventually break down the wood underneath, and in the interim can be used for planting. I will probably just plant trees and shrubs on them, as they are in the shade areas. I have made two on the north side, and am going to use them to bolster our wind protection on that side.

         This week I have been trying to get things planted. Vegetables and flowers. We had our usual bonanza at the Veseys bulb sale (June 2 this year) and I have mainly potted up the rooted things rather than trusting them to the ground and hoping. I have finally created my "Hot" bed, hot colours, that is, and, contrary to what I just said, put quite a few crocosmia bulbs in there, of which there is still no sign. Ah well. I am putting in a few blue things as well, for contrast with the yellows & oranges. I put in two dark blue salvias, doing well, and I have still got a Veseys Amsonia to go there, but I want it to get a bit more established in the pot before it goes out.

            In my shade garden I have added quite a few things, including six more hellebores, the ones originally from Veseys and grown on by Van Kampens. 4 French Kiss, one each Rio Carnival and True Love. Looking forward to spring! My little rhododendron which bloomed so well in the shade last year was attacked by bugs in the late summer, and has not come back. Very disappointing. Oh well. I still have two others, larger ones, there, and the white one is blooming well, though the pink one lost all its leaves and, while the leaves have grown back it just has a couple of blooms. it is doing its best, poor thing. I shall go around with some of this great compost I've been mining, and give them a boost.

         Must get back out there. Before I go, I want to claim success with my allium/ajuga bed, however. I lost quite a few alliums to that whatever-it-is that makes the stems go weak and fall over (and I tried splints. They just fall over again in a different place) but because I had planted so MANY I still have a nice show - and it looks like they will go on for while yet. Result.

My Garden Right Now, Take 2

           In the wake of Chelsea the gardeners of the world are taking stock again, so here I am. As before, I am very behind British gardens, with very little in bloom yet, but there is much potential. I shall be caught up in no time.

       This is the same view from March, with the raspberries leafing out and the vegetable garden going in, first bed is kale, beets, peas and carrots, just coming up. Second bed was tomatoes last year, so will be other things - probably zucchini and butternut squashes, cucumbers, etc. plus pole beans and maybe second sowings. Under the carpet is the new tomato patch, plus leeks, beyond that is onions and garlic, and then potatoes. There is a mixture of early tomatoes and flowers in the 6th bed. Espaliered apple is blooming!

On the other side of the lilac hedge. Again, not a lot of bloom, though the lilacs are on the verge, and the Solomon's Seal is doing well. I like the colours and textures of this view, though, and I can't wait for my purple-leaf birch in the foreground to come into full leaf. There will be many roses out soon just to the left, and the hydrangea peteolaris around the corner is about to bloom too.  In a couple of weeks you won't know the place!

         Today I finished edging "Primuland", where there are quite a few blooming things. It is looking well, and I am sure that it will be terrific when the primulas and other things fill out a bit more. I am building an associated "hot" bed next to it, where I shall put the yellow and orange flowers I've been finding jarring in the regular, pink-and-white-and blue beds. I think there will be blue in the hot bed as well, though, for contrast. I am not a hosta-lover, so my one and only hosta is at the very bottom of this bed - a little cutie called mouse ears.