garden to do list - spring 2024

 So much to do, so little time.  I have one more weekend left before the burn ban goes into effect, and then I can turn my attention to the garden.  Spring is almost the only time I have flowers blooming, thanks to my seemingly epic amounts of shade, and clay soil.  I am determined to do something about that this year.

Here are my plans...some of these will be for the fall or next spring, after we're finished with the back hoe work, but here is the wish list:

• impatiens in the window boxes
• flowers in pots on the porch
• bring out the houseplants to the porch
• small herb garden by the back door
• cutting garden - zinnias
• fertilize azaleas & rhododendron
• fertilize boxwoods 
• another raised bed
• replace camelia
• replace gardenia
• move peony
• new peony
• move Cramoisi Superieur rose
• butterfly bush?
• design & plant new hydrangeas and possibly boxwood
• Clean out back garden
• treat all hemlocks
• creeping phlox
• transplant some rock iris
• transplant some hosta
• make garden spaces to the right side of wooded path

new plants 2019 / 2020

SURPRISE! I bet you didn't expect to see me here again.  Spring is the time that I most miss my blog, and this year, after conversation with Dava (@davastewart), who I first met at a Chattanooga Blogger's meetup years ago, I got nostalgic.  I miss the blogging community and really getting to know people online in a way that doesn't translate on 'social media platforms'.  It's also really nice to be able to have an archive to dust the cobwebs of your memories.  I was nostalgic enough to say to myself, well, I do have a couple of things I could blog about....so let's see if I can do this again.   

My conversation with Dava got me thinking about 2 things I loved about blogging... being able to look back on how far my house/garden have come, and getting to know some of the amazing people in the blogging community.   I'm hoping to bring those both back into my life.  If the pandemic has taught me anything, its to put my needs first, and that good online relationships are just as nice as in person ones.

So even though this post is supposed to be about plants, I have to acknowledge 2020 as the year that will go down in history as quite the year.  I spent the spring dealing with the aftermath of a tornado and adjusting to pandemic life.   My mom had a hip replacement just before Covid, and my grandfather passed away in May at age 93.  As soon as I was ready to turn my attention outside to something normal  - maintenance and garden work.... I herniated 2 disks in my neck.  Plans were interrupted, and much of the heavy garden work was put on hold.  I picked up a few houseplants, and started propagating some of my grandmother's houseplants (mistletoe cactus and spider plant, both 40+ years old), but that was it.  

The biggest project was a May 2020 unplanned mowing of the underbrush in my front yard.  It more than doubled the size of my front yard, and makes me anxious to complete my dream project of being able to see the whole pond from my front porch. 

Looking back past 2020 to 2019 is hard.  2019 a blurry and distant memory.  I can't remember much of what I planted.  I know I was gifted a peony by my sister that bloomed from a large pot on my front porch this year.   My Instagram tells me that 2019 was a maintenance year. I cut back ivy and laid pine needles on the front steps to the pond, mulched, pressure washed, and cut back "volunteer" bushes.   It's nice to look back and see how nice it looked, but it's crazy to see how quickly things grow back after even one year off.  2019 was also the year I re-discovered embroidery.....more on that another day.    😊

New plants 2019/2020

• Peony, from my sister
• Mistletoe Cactus, cuttings from Grandmother
• Spider plant, cuttings from Grandmother
• Baby Jade
• Mini Orchid
• Wandering Jew, from Clemson
• Ponytail Palm
• Monstera, from my sister
• Snake Plants, from Clemson

march bloom day 2016

This is one of those springs where it's mid March, and we've already seen 80 degree temperatures multiple times.  It makes me happy, but the daffodils are not fans of the heat.  I wasn't smart enough to cut the daffodils so I could prolong their lives inside.  Oh well.

Anywho, this is what was blooming in my yard on Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, the 15th of the month!

Front Walk:

Vinca Minor

Daffodils:

 The heat got to these just before I took my pictures.  This wide shot does not do my rock wall justice.

 

 Hellebores:

 Midnight Ruffles is my first 'fancy' hellebore to bloom.

 The rest of the hellebores are standing tall and taking the heat pretty well.

 

  Wildflowers: 

 

 Bloodroot, trillium, and bluets.  

The spiderwart below doesn't count as a wildflower on most lists, but I didn't plant it, and it comes up everywhere on its own.

 Azaleas:

My first azalea bloom of the year!

july bloom day

Here they are, July blooms!   I don't have a lot going on, but I'm going to play along with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day anyway.

The stars of the garden right now are the Black Eyed Susans.  Most of these are wild, and were here when I moved in.  Since I don't mow my super shady lawn very often, they have gone to seed and have started to spread.  They dot my walkway, and show up wherever they please.  They're hardy little guys, and I plan on adding more in the future.

Another cute little wildflower that is blooming right now is this wild sweet pea. 

The impatiens in my new window boxes are looking great, and this Creeping Jenny from a plant swap is pretty happy too.

My transplanted ditch lilies haven't been very showy this year, but the Australian & Tiger Lilies I got from my grandparents are blooming.  

Some of you may know that I tried my hand at starting plants from seed this year. I started my zinnias late, but they are finally starting to bloom, and the colors are bright and happy.

My asters are cute, but not nearly what I thought they were going to be.  They are supposed to be tall and have 3" blooms, but they're short and the blooms are about 1" wide.  They're cute, but I guess I have a ways to go amending the soil in this area.

 

So there you have it, a look at what's blooming in my yard.  It's not where I want it to be, but it's growing and not dying, so I'll take it! 

first day lily 2014

The day lilies have started blooming!  The first ones to bloom are 'my' day lilies, not my great grandmother's.  They came from my parents house, and lived on my patio one summer when I was in an apartment.  That summer they had lots of sun, and lots of miracle grow.  That summer of miracle grow paid off, because they are healthier than the rest of my liles, and they are the first to bloom.  woo-hoo!

april bloom day 2014

It may be raining, but I have flowers!  That is my #1 garden goal this year, and I'm excited about what all we've done, and the things I have found, so far. I knew the weather was going to be a mess this morning, so I took my pictures this weekend.  I hope you'll forgive me.

When you turn in my driveway the first thing you'll notice are the Dogwoods.  They are especially white this year, and dot the woods all through the property.

If you take a walk in my woods you will see a lot more wild azaleas than I have noticed before.  I thought I had two or three, but they number more than 30, and are in a couple of different spots.  Some are taller than I am, and some are just babies.  We cleared underbrush last year, and I think that's helping them bloom.  I spent the weekend clearing out around the newly discovered azaleas, so the show should be even better next year.  The white azaleas are are first to bloom, and the pink ones are just starting to open up.

Also in the woods is a thicket of Carolina Sweet Shrubs/ Allspice.  Seriously, a thicket. Most range 4'-5' tall, with a few closer to 6' or 7'.  They have really cool blooms, and I transplanted a few small plants near the house. They are pretty much in my ideal category of plants - plants that thrived on their own through 20+ years of neglect.

When you get to my house you will notice that the yard is covered in little purple flowers called Blue Its.  I don't mow my grass very often, so these flowers have really taken off and spread since I've lived here.  I love them.

I have later blooming daffodils blooming in scattered spots around the yard and woods.  I love how haphazard their placement is (before my time here).

The hellebores are still going strong, and a few of the earlier blooms have started to go to seed.  Looks like I will have more baby hellebores next year.

The Bird's Foot Voilets (Viola Pedata) are really happy this year.  I have 4 that come up in my kitchen garden, and they seem to be growing some this year.

I also have this giant bush/small tree that was must have been planted by my great grandmother 30-50 years ago.  It has a huge trunk, and arching branches that have taken over a walkway.  It is a survivor, but I don't remember it blooming since I've been here.  I cleared out some small trees around it last fall, and it's got a few blooms.  It's not very showy, it's hard to see the white trumpeted flowers against the silver leaves, but the bees are happy.

The bees are also happy with the spiderwart and this purple ground cover that everyone loves, but I kind of hate.  It's pretty when it blooms, but the other 11 months out of the year I think it looks awful in my driveway.  I'm sure it is nice in the right setting, but my driveway is not it.

Moving on to my oh-so-cleverly-named 'Shade Garden', this is one of the areas where I said "I will have flowers damn it".  It's undergone a small transformation, moving the wild huckleberries, a holly tree, and Hearts-A-Bursting back from the one thing of interest, the azalea.  And man the azalea is happy now.  I don't think it's received much attention since it was planted, so it is thrilled to have two years of fertilizer, pine mulch, and one year of extra watering under its belt.  It's like the plant version of spa treatment. 

This bed is now home to two of my seven $2 alazeas.  The pink ones have been re-potted and are blooming, and the two purple ones in the ground are right behind the pink one above.  I haven't decided where the other 5 will go, but I have a few ideas.  Side note, I'm not sure when 'hot pink' became 'pink', but these pink azaleas look nothing like my mom's pastel pink ones.

There is also a columbine from last year that is about to bloom.

A few weeks ago I picked up some plants from family, and the wild geraniums and trillium found homes in the shade garden.  They look pretty happy so far.

I also picked up a native columbine that is blooming in the also-cleverly-named 'Mini Shade Garden'.  It sits behind a group of Lily of the Valley, that just put out it's first flowers yesterday.

Let's see, what else.  The vica minor is still going strong, and I have a little bit of thrift that survived an accidental roundup treatment when I first moved in and was tackling some nasty ivy in a rock wall.  The Little Brown Jugs have jugs, and the violets I got from family are doing nicely in the cracks of my rock walkway, even though it's mostly clay.  I know most people think they are weeds, but I like them, and these are really unique.

So look, FLOWERS!!  It's a really nice start to having established gardens, and the project for this week is digging out 3 old beds around the house so I can plant some hostas, bloodroot, and my new roses, and clearing 2 new paths in the woods.  Not overly ambitious at all. :)

This post is part of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Check it out!!