plant swap!

** draft from 2015**

This was the *perfect* weekend to be outside in Chattanooga, and for me that meant working/playing in the yard.

Saturday was one of my favorite spring garden days - our 3rd annual plant swap + Belle's Garden sale at Green Thumbs Nursery! As always, I made out like a bandit.  From the plant swap I got black stemmed peppermint, white Japanese iris, early blooming daffodils, a jade plant, and ranunculus.  From the Belle, I got a 'winter wonder' hosta, a Japanese painted fern, 3 cantaloupe colored cone flowers, and some yellow hellebores. If you're a gardener in Chattanooga and want in on our plant swap, let me know, we have one in the fall too! It's a great way to get rid of your extra stuff, and acquire free plants that you know survive in our area.

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous, and I spent the day planting, mulching, burning brush, and even mowing the grass.  (I have so much shade, mowing the grass is something I do about twice a year.  It only takes 45 minutes, but it's a big deal.)  I worked all day, and I'm feeling it this morning! My calves and hamstrings are not happy. BUT my shade garden & fence gardens are coming along nicely, and my rock garden is getting the mulch it so desperately needed.  The soil is so bad, I feel like it eats mulch. I'm weeding as I go, so it's slow, but I'm about halfway done, and hope to finish up this week. 


For whatever reason, it feels like I haven't done too much in the yard this year.  I think I've worked in the yard two weekends, at most....with is not a lot for me.  Ever since I moved into my house, every spring has brought a huge garden project.  First there was clearing the ivy, then massive mulching of all the empty beds to improve the soil, and then working and planting in those beds (some of which were infested with tree roots btw).   This year there are no big projects, just maintenance and a few additions.  I've trimmed out the spent blackberry stems, and this weekend I filled in a few holes with new plants  All that is left is to finish the mulching, planting one or two more things, figuring out what is wrong with the boxwoods, and putting impatiens in my window boxes.  I'm not going to lie, it feels good to have things "under control".