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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Decreasing the yuck factor

Where is this fall going? I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. I promise I haven't been laying around, doing nothing. I just haven't been doing a lot of garden activities.

One thing I have made some progress on, however, is getting rid of the nasty yuccas in my future herb garden.

Future herb garden - September 5th
I was dreading the fight, but I finally dove in with spade and loppers.




Since I still don't have a compost pile, I was dumping the pieces in my yard waste can. At this point, I'd filled it so full that I had to stop until another day.

I didn't quite finish the job on my second attempt, but now there's only one giant yucca clump standing.



I know I'll be pulling yucca shoots for years, but at least there is a lot of empty space in that bed now. I have visions of basil, rosemary and thyme right outside my kitchen window. Maybe even some parsley.

Friday, October 9, 2015

More flowers

About the only thing I'm getting done in the garden category is planting flowers. I ordered some perennials online and picked up some more at local garden centers.

I planted a couple "Magnus" coneflowers, which are pinkish purple.


I also planted a couple "Oranges and Lemons" gaillardia. These poor things were so wet when I took them out of the shipping box that the leaves were slimy. They never really recovered, but I planted them anyway.


We'll see what happens. I know there are a lot of gaillardia varieties, but I really like Oranges and Lemons because of the orange-ness. They were pretty hard to find this year. It seems like everyone has moved on to other varieties. Maybe O&L isn't turning out to be a good grower. One more shot with these and then I'll try something else. I'm used to fighting for my orange flowers, but even I won't waste too much time trying to grow something that won't grow (don't ask me how many orange butterfly weeds I planted at the old house - I lost count).

I also planted a good-sized New England Aster. I've never had one of these before, but the purple area has opened up some new possibilities for me. You can see the stumpy remains of one of the ugly shrubs in the foreground.


For what it's worth, this nice-sized specimen cost only a couple more dollars at a local garden center than those too-wet gaillardia cost me from a catalog retailer. I need to remember that in the future.

Lastly, I planted a yellow yarrow.


I got it at another local garden center, and it was 50% off.

I can actually show some progress.

before

after
September 1st
October 9th
The tree is still there, I just zoomed in for the second photo.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Still here!

And I finally did something that involved the garden.


I planted tulips in the front flower bed tonight.


There really aren't a lot of things to take pictures of when you're planting tulips, but without pictures, I don't have a blog post.

It feels so good to plant something and take even one little step towards the gardens I'm envisioning at this new house. I bought a few perennials, too, and I'll be planting those tomorrow.

In other news, I finally have some birds coming to my feeders, and the blue jays have learned that I put out peanuts.


Excuse the horrible picture. Apparently, my windows are dirty.

Between the birds and the flowers, it is definitely feeling more and more like home here.