FROST!

Hearts on a String...
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

There is a call for frost tonight...

It has gotten rather cold here and tonight there is a possibility of frost. My bleeding hearts with their watery stems are especially vulnerable. So soon I will go outside to cover them up.

Digging & Mulching...

Busy Friday evening and Saturday.

Finished digging out around the patio and hemlock and mulching... now the bed outside the back sidewalk continues around the patio and hemlock and joins up with the front flower bed! The mulch pile is going down quickly.

I also did some weeding of the sweet woodruff in the hopes that i can control it.
Transplanted two stella d'oro day lilies to bed near patio.

New in bloom:

• Forsythia
• Bleeding Heart
• Veronica (creeping)
• Creeping Phlox
  

Weeding & Mulching...

Today i spent a good deal of time digging out dandelions from the main flower bed. Still have plenty of dandelions to remove from the sidewalk bed. The phlox are starting to bloom and look wonderful. Still have an ongoing abundance of daffodils of many varieties. I think there are some new ones that Mom gave me bulbs for last year. I don't recognize them... Currently in bloom:

• Daffodils
• Dog-tooth Violets
• Freckles Viola
• Violets (wild purple)
  
• Frittalaria (only 1)
• Grape Hyacinth
• Blue & White Hyacinth
• Tulips (just starting)
• Phlox (creeping)
• Quince
• Veronica
• Hyacinth
• Scilla Sibirica
• Puschkinia
  

I made a dent in the mulch pile by mulching the "butterfly bed". I'm hoping this year to carve out the front flower bed on the living room side of the house... and also around the back patio. I'm hoping to get some creeping thyme started out there near the hemlock.
In anticipation of tomorrow's rain, i put out the large rain barrel.

Red Gazing Globe

Red Gazing Globe
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Leaving the brown behind...

Leaving the brown behind...
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

I must remember to divide these hyacinth!

A Day in the Garden

Looking out...
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

I managed to get a work day in the garden yesterday... before the cold weather and rain came to town.

I moved a lot of "freckles" viola that had reseeded themselves with reckless abandon. They were taking over the path through the garden and getting stepped on frequently. I moved them to other spots in the main garden, near the back patio, under the crab apple and under both birch trees. I moved at least 20 little plants and have a bunch more that will probably need moved soon.

After all those transplanting duties, i started in the dandelion pulling task. The soil was damp so it made the task much easier.

Graceful Blue

Graceful Blue
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The vivid blue of the Scilla ads a nice touch of contrast for the miniature daffodils.

Repellent

I decided to try a spray deer & rabbit repellent on my main flower bed. I got tired of chicken wire cages everywhere. I'm hopeful that the really stinky stuff will do the trick... it had my gag reflexes going! I also sprayed the azaleas out front. So we'll see if it works.

After work today i removed the turf and mulched around the paperbark maple.

Miniature Daffodils

Morning sunshine
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Today was a warm springlike day. So I spent a good deal of time attending to the garden. Raking up leaves and debris... loosening the soil. I have an abundance of miniature daffodils and they are a delight with their bursts of yellow in the garden. I also noticed that the grape hyacinth are close to blooming.
I noticed that california poppies are starting to appear as are the bleeding hearts, viola, violet, daylily and other assorted plants. I'm delighted that the stella d'oro daylilies that i transplanted to the outter edge of the sidewalk are coming up nicely. The quince is also happy in its new home.