Biding my time…

How dry my Deck Garden is!

In my last post, “Resisting the Urge,” my growing impatience to get growing emerged. There were “Oregon Giant” snow peas planted on one of the potager’s trellises, but then planting was halted. The ground is so very dry, and the forecast had changed overnight calling for colder temperatures and winds. My common sense prevailed. The rest will wait until the first daffodil opens.

North half of potager’s East Interior Border, before tidying.

Instead of planting, I decided to clean the potager’s interior border, beginning with the north half of the East Interior Border. This is the section I walk past nearly every day, going from the potager’s front gate to the Lady Cottage door. It is also the section that has spring bulbs planted, as well as a selection of edible flowers and herbs. It was looking pretty ugly with tall dead stalks of anise hyssop and blue sage that really don’t show much in the photo, but a few minutes’ work and it was much improved. I was happy to see some baby cilantro seedling popping up, but still no sign of the lettuce seed that was sprinkled back in February. Maybe they will pop if we get some rain….

And now one can see the flowers!

All the dead foliage and old stems are out, and the herbs in the triangular beds at far left have been cut back. Once I get some potting soil, several of those excess volunteer feverfew plants will be potted up for our garden club’s plant sale. Yes, we had our first meeting in over a year last week, and voted to have our “annual” sale. It was wonderful to see everyone again, even with masks and social distancing (even though we’re all fully vaccinated!)

The Front Garden’s first flowers are readily visible now.

While I was feeling so ambitious The Front Garden got a tidy. Our mail lady had walked by it that morning to bring a birthday package for D, and after she left I realized how messy the garden looked. So, all the dead mum stalks, the dried daylily foliage, the brown rudbeckia stems and blown-in corn stalks were removed, making the crocus and dwarf iris visible. There are hardly any tulip leaves poking through, which makes me wonder, but maybe a little rain will bring them soon. Next was the small area under the elder, where the winter aconites are now popping through.

Notice the small clumps of Iris reticulata…which much have been planted by the squirrels because I didn’t!

I’m thrilled to know that planting the water-loving coleus over the aconite bulbs during the summer apparently didn’t harm them at all, because there are more plants than I planted bulbs already, with more popping through the ground. I hope they fill in that entire area. This area is a bit more moist, because the driveway water runs off and down the slope, which is why the elder is so happy there. Every garden needs a good edging and a layer of mulch, but my winter-softened body had met its limit. Back indoors with a cup of tea, I stopped to admire the first “Terra Cotta Star” amaryllis.

Four big blooms, and another bulb stalk just now appearing!

I love the compact stem on this bulb. Maybe it’s because it was planted much later than the earlier ones, and there was more sunshine and day-length so the stem didn’t stretch. I do like the color and bloom size immensely. And now, accompanied by the tapping of ice pellets on the windows mixed with snowflakes, I’m rewarding myself with a new book, which I’ve nearly finished and have thoroughly enjoyed. I rather hate to reach the end…..

What a fun, fun, but emotional book…happy ending is worth every tear!

Advertisement