Garden Diary - April 20

It's been unseasonably warm, so things are growing fast! This past weekend I worked on pruning the hedge in the backyard (which seemed alarmingly huge last year once it leafed out), moving rocks from the back beds to the front (I hardly noticed them lining the beds; they look much more impressive massed together, and will hopefully help hold back the mint), and moved the hollyhocks from the front to the back (they're too tall for my bungalow - they were almost as high as the roof; they should be in better scale in back by the raspberry bush). The clematis in front and back are developing leaves, which seemed unlikely even a week ago. The raspberry bushes are also greening up nicely; I didn't know much about pruning them when I cut them back last fall, so hopefully I will still get fruit on them. The crocuses are past blooming, hyacinths in full bloom, and daffodils and tulips still to come. The forsythia in front is blooming (a bit earlier than the one in back, which doesn't get quite as much sun, or warmth from the house).

Since I haven't posted photos of the back before, the plant inventory is:
Bed at the back, left to right: rhubarb, clematis, lily of the valley, purple leaf sandcherry, daffodils
Bed at the side, left to right: large lilac, mystery bush, mystery bush, mystery plant, Easter lily and two purple hyacinths (just planted from potted flowers; will hopefully come up next year), crocuses, raspberry bush, hollyhocks (most of them transplanted from the front), sage bush, chives (which I started digging up, thinking it was weedy grass, until I smelled the delicious smell), and a forsythia bush.

Garden Diary - April 9

I've decided to keep a photographic garden diary, to help me remember what grew where, and when. I wish I'd done this last year - I only have a vague idea of what plants I have.

In the large front bed by the house I have (from left to right) a forsythia bush, hyacinths (not yet blooming), hollyhocks, crocuses (purple and yellow), a peony, a rosebush, daffodils, more crocuses (purple), and a clematis up against the porch. I'm hoping I've done the right thing by pruning the clematis, but it feels very fragile and dry. And I can see the beginnings of mint carpeting all of the bed.

In the smaller front bed by the driveway I have (from left to right) tulips, a purple-leaf sandcherry bush, and some perennials (I think I remember black-eyed Susans and white Shasta daisies; maybe some purple echinacea?). There are also some nice rocks.

Garden Plan

2008 will be the year of the garden! My friend Laurie Kallis has created a plan for my front yard which eliminates all of the grass - something I want to do for both time management reasons (it's too much work to maintain a perfect lawn) and environmental reasons (why use so much water and fertilizer when I could plant perennials better adapted to the hot and dry conditions of my south-facing yard?). Until this plan gets underway, I'll be figuring out where to move the existing perennials, and working at getting the run-away mint under control.

Bamboo

I got a little tired of seeing snowflakes after our long winter, so made some bamboo for the windows in March - a dream of growing things to come...