I thought I’d give you an update on what’s been going on in our gardens. Looking back on the last twelve months, it’s easy to conclude the seasons are all mixed up. Last summer, we had nearly daily rain – until we didn’t. Fall seemed like it was never going to get here, then decided to linger into winter. Winter was pretty lazy with temperatures getting down to 10 degrees for only a week or so, then it seemed like summer in February. Spring has taken its own sweet time getting here and doesn’t seem to want to leave.

The last four weekends, we’ve had only two days without rain that we could get outside and garden. This Memorial Day weekend looks as if it will be raining all three days. It’s frustrating.

Still the flowers know when to grow and when to bloom. The daffodils have blossomed and gone dormant. The iris are just about done. I couldn’t resist picking few for the house (see photo of irises and the Ol’ B rose blossoms). The Amethyst Falls wisteria bloomed for the first time and was beautiful – I just wish the blooms lasted longer. The Oriental lilies have big, fat buds on them, they’ll pop open any day now.

Ol’B Rose

My Ol’ B rose scared me last year – it looked as if it was going to die. I dug it up, cut off the dead roots, and replanted it in what I hoped would be a better place. This spring, I sprinkled Osmocote around it and it has bloomed more and longer than in the past. Its fragrance is so sweet and intense, the full pink blossoms are charming in an old fashioned way – it’s worth getting stuck with those backward hooked thorns for the scent and the beauty. This fall, I’m going to try propagating it so that even if the parent rose dies, I’ll have replacements. Ol’ B has been handed down from generation to generation in my family and I may be the last person who still has it. It needs to live on after I’m gone.

Weeds

With all the rain, the weeds have been winning the war. I had sprinkled on Preen pre-emergent herbicide, but it may have gotten washed away – there are thousands of tiny sweet gum and tulip poplar seedlings popping up where I can’t let them grow. They are easy enough to pull out, but after a few hours of picking, my back reminds me that I’m going to really hurt the next day.

I had let a few tulip poplar seedlings grow and also had an Ohio buckeye and two red buckeye seedlings. Last weekend, I dug them up and took them to the city’s tree nursery. I can testify that they had some really deep taproots! I hope they grow well and prosper in their new home.

A box from Breck’s had arrived last week containing six daylily starts. I honestly didn’t remember ordering them, but that didn’t stop me from planting them this past Sunday!

We had constructed two “raised” beds when we first moved out here and had, I’m ashamed to admit, pretty much ignored them. I got ambitious and transplanted all the plants that I wanted to save and my next step with be cleaning out what’s left. I’m thinking about re-doing the beds, adding more organic matter, increasing the bed height and perhaps making a small kitchen / herb garden. Maybe plant some asparagus, basil, parsley, thyme, green onions, with room for a tomato plant or two. With luck, I will have the beds ready for spring planting by this fall.

I hope your gardening is going well. Here’s a brand new Irish blessing (which I just made up): May the sun shine on Saturday and Sunday; May the rain fall on Monday, May the weeds be slow to grow, and the blooms be slow to fade. Stay Green, good friends.