The (nearly) everblooming Double Knockout Rose is off to an energetic start this year.
This is the first time since planting that I’ve seen multiple blooms on the Mountain Flame delosperma.
Tiny but mighty pink blooms on this groundcover thyme. (Can’t remember which thyme this is…Elfin? Woolly?)
Betony, salvia and Autumn Lily Azalea:
The bulbs are blooming!
Planter purchases:
We covered a lot of ground in the first weekend of March, literally speaking. From Chambersville Tree Farms to Covington’s Nursery, we amassed a truck-bed full of plants. So many in fact, that one resourceful canine thought we could do without one. I’ll tag them for now and call out some of our plant selections in future posts.
After determining that he needed to set the flagstone differently, (in sand as I had originally argued) the man began the arduous task of digging up/destroying all the topsoil and weed mat we had already laid down the previous weekend, breaking a few of the stone in the process. A frustrating outcome to be sure as we had initially paid for the labor to remove the sod the first time around. To redo that work seems such a waste!
Unfortunately, all our plans were stymied by week-long rain. It’s evident that we probably won’t be able to return to the yard crash until the following Sunday or Monday at the earliest. This also disrupts any plans to visit more nurseries in search of our focal tree (Metro Maples in Ft Worth is at the top of our list).
I invested in a garden planning app to get my fix in the mean time. Garden Puzzle is a decent enough desktop application with a solid database of flora. I found it by way of Better Homes and Gardens’ online design app. Interestingly enough, I can also import plant designs that I worked over with Photoshop to fill out what is missing from the GP desktop database.
Early April blooms! Tulipa clusiana Tubergen’s Gem makes a surprise reappearance. Look at those crazy columbines! Evidence of the Dahlberg daisies amongst the verbena. The Emerald Snow lorapetalum is drenched in white. The begonias in the sidewalk bed are also making a comeback. The Mardi Gras abelia is making some vertical leaps. And my new Hort Couture Lion Fish coleus and Sunset Velvet Oxalis from Calloways are getting comfortable in their new home.
Finally, a single blue bloom on our rosemary shrub!
In contrast, a flat of multicolor verbena and variegated oregano waiting in its shadow, waiting to be planted.
Temperatures peaked in the low 80s on Saturday, prompting a flurry of gardening excitement and run to the nearby nurseries. Strong’s and Home Depot are represented in this wagonload of plants. (By the way, this is a great idea to showcase small, planter-sized plants–I may have to shop around for a metal wagon to add to the garden decor!)
On the wagon name list: zonal geranium American White Splash, hybrid verbena (multi-color), verbena “Superbena Royale” Peachy Keen. Homestead Purple verbena, Limemound Spirea, Lemon Chiffon Coral Bells, multi-colored thrift, licorice plants, and boxwood basil.
Another impulse buy at Strong’s which I hope I won’t regret are these beautiful Songbird Bluebird columbines which I will plant in the blue bed and heavily mulch.
We accomplished plenty this Saturday. Weeds were pulled, much of last year’s debris cleared. Our compost bin got a good turning. Lawn got a good low cutting, and we plan on getting some weedkiller down this week. Many of the plants we bought previously finally got planted in their respective spaces and we even discovered some oldies making a comeback. More on this subject later.
Limemound spirea, thrift (armeria unidentified cultivar), licorice plants went into the front azalea bed. Lemon Chiffon Coral Bells and Curcuma roots went into the front shade bed. Asparagus and boxwood basil into the veggie garden bed (I had emptied spinach, cilantro, arugula and gai lan packets into this bed earlier in the week). Various thyme plants made it into the cinderblock wall; however, I failed to care for the Pesto Perpetuo basil plants which perished when I put them into the leek row. Hot and spicy oregano cuttings also made it into the cinderblock wall.
