Alliums popping up

I think I planted five our six, and here are three.

A couple of days ago, I noticed one of the evergreen huckleberries planted in Febuary in the north bed had a large portion snapped. I stuck it upright in the dirt nearby. So far, it looks fine, and is beginning to bud. Huh! It is the small one in the back. The good plant is on the left next to a daffodil (that was randomly placed there by the wildlife), and the broken-off part is a couple feet away on the right.

Can see the pink in the red flowering currant. I hope I don't miss the blooms while I'm gone. Really curious about these.

Planning for next year: snowdrops were nice, want to put in a ton more like this. Dying back now, picture just for reference for when I can't see them anymore.

March 20 catchup

Emporer I Japanese Maple - will have red leaves.

Osakazuki Japanese Maple - will have green leaves, which hopefully will turn orange in the fall. Not sure it will get enough light for the drama they're known for!

 

 Regent saskatoon serviceberries, two of them. One should grow to fill the bulk of the gap between the two maples, the other is the first down the path we're building. 

The serviceberries could go either way. I hear that they sucker and they're wild and make a thicket, and I hear that they're beautiful and even can be considered trees. Maybe it depends on the variety, I don't know. They sound like a good choice, they had these at the nursery, and here they are. I'll try another kind they had at Flower World if they still have them when we get out there next.

Two red flowering currants near the fence. Two red huckleberries, they have the green on the bottom. Two duke blueberries, closest to the maple.

The new rhodie has many dead buds. Not all, but a good number. I don't expect flowers this year - I needed a nice giant shrub - but I wonder, if it doesn't flower, can it even set the buds for NEXT year? Hmm.

Red Sunset maple planted last fall is budding. Come on, leaves!

 The hyacinths are still tiny, but starting to open. Daffodils are mostly in place, though this all appears much more spread-out than it was when we planted it. The moles and squirrels took out a lot of bulbs, and then piled up the unwanted daffodil bulbs. The dog has been sitting on some of them that she doesn't see popping up. Still don't know what will survive.

This hardy geranium is roaring back to life. It had pretty little purple flowers that vined up into the vine maple next to it last year. I also think I see a tiny patch of this several feet away -- wonder if it spreads that easily or if it will turn out to be something else? I'm amazed at how quickly it's growing this early in the year!

Perennials already blooming!

Brunnera are growing larger and two are already blooming! The jack fost nearest the house patio and the burnnera on the house-side of the path are both showing pretty blue flowers already. One of the hyacinths is open enough to show a tiny bit of blue. The crocuses continue to bloom, but most of the blooms get snapped off quickly. They are so spread out, it's hard to appreciate them (thank you moles and squirrels). Daffodils and hyanciths are growing taller quickly but no blooms yet.

Self-watering planter

So, I got a nice planter with my Molbak's coupon. But it doesn't have any drainage holes. And since it will sit on the deck, I don't really WANT it to drain much. Decided to make it self-watering.

Discussed a few ways to do it with B. What we wound up doing:

4" diameter PVC pipe in the bottom - 4 one-foot lengths. 2 side-by-side in one half, a gap, then 2 more. Wrapped these in nylon stockings, so they won't fill with dirt. They should hold the water.

The dirt that falls down around them should stay wet, when there's water down there. But that's at the bottom of the planter only.

Drilled a hole in the side of the planter, at the height of the top of the PVC pipe.

Filled it with dirt and planted some nandina and primroses (it's march yet). The nandina came from Flower world. They're pretty thin; I hope they thicken up to make a better screen.

We've had a lot of rain and it's definitely weeping from that little hole, and doesn't seem to be saturated at the top, so I think it's working! I hope the container overall is tall enough that using the bottom few inches for water storage isn't a big deal. We'll find out. The nandina was inexpensive, at least, only $8 a plant.

Planted 11 shrubs

- Planted Ocean Spray (holodiscus discolor) along east fence, south of maple. No sign of budding. Purchased at Gray Barn. (pictured)

- Moved two Toro blueberries along east fence, south of maple. Starting to bud. Purchased at Gray Barn last fall, spent winter neglected in containers, originally planted in February. (pictured)

- Move two Duke blueberries along east fence, north of maple. Starting to bud. Purchased at Gray Barn last fall, spent winter neglected in containers, originally planted in February.

- Planted two red huckleberries along east fence, north of maple. Bushiness in bottom halves, straight twigs at top, starting to bud a tiny bit.Purchased at Gray Barn.

- Planted 2 King Edward VII red flowering currants along east fence, north of maple/near patio. Dirt fell off roots, planted as bare-root. Leaves are budding, as are leaves on other red flowering currant along west fence. Purchased at Gray Barn.

- Planted 2 serviceberries (regent saskatoon), one between japanese maples near back patio, other near path leading from patio. Purchased at Gray Barn.

Added hellebore

Added one more hellebore in front of the new rhodie. Bed changeup left an empty spot. Flowers should be peach colored... of course I buried the tag.

New large rhodie, japanese maples!

Big day! Scott was here and:
- built up the bed along the west fence and planted the new large rhodie. Cost $75, and it's big - about 6' tall - but anemic. Hopeful that in time it will look as happy as the back rhodie we put in last year looks. This rhodie is placed so that from the hammock, you can't see the Croy's bedroom window anymore. Little bit more private.
- adjusted the hellebores and evergreen huckleberry that are in this bed near the new rhodie
- removed and took with him the little henry sweetspire. I didn't like it in that spot and don't have another home for it. That is one seriously water-hungry plant, so it went.

- planted the two new Japanese maples! One is an Emporer I and the other is an Osakazuki.
- built out the bed around the back patio for a better curve and room for the japanese maples to breathe

- refreshed the cedar play chips. That looks SO MUCH BETTER. Smells good too.