Gardening

[cricketeen]

Thanks everyone for the advice on the butterfly bushes. I can see where the owners had cut them back two years ago, but not this past fall - the old growth is still there. I'll give them a bit more time to come back, then try planting new ones if they don't. After reading your posts I'm thinking the extra cold winter we just had may have done them in, hopefully it's not because of the spot where they were planted.
Oddly enough, it's the blue/purple shrubs that died off. I also lost two lavendar and two russian sage - they were planted in a different spot.

[Gutmutter]

I've definitely had sage and lavender that came back several years and then died when it got too cold. Someone once told me that when something dies in the garden, it's an opportunity to plant something new. That fits with my Pollyanna view of life.

[cricketeen]

Someone once told me that when something dies in the garden, it's an opportunity to plant something new. That fits with my Pollyanna view of life.

Mine, too! I filled the spot with pincushion flowers and bright pink dianthus.

[Gutmutter]

Ooooh. I love dianthus. I did a lot of work in the garden this weekend. This year I'm focussing on the perennial garden that is outside the sliding glass door by my favorite chair in the living room. I had my son drag a round garden table up from the barn basement. There's all kinds of stuff that was here when I bought the house and that was one. I'm hoping to get in the habit of sitting out by the garden for a cup of tea in the afternoon.

[cricketeen]

That sounds peaceful.
The former owners of this house had perennials professionally installed a few years ago, mostly in the front, so I plan to be parked there in the evenings. They were gracious enough to make up laminated "maps" of the plantings so we'd know what was what. It's exciting to see the plants coming up. I have a book on perennials and refer to it almost daily just to see what the flowers will look like (and to make sure I don't weed the wrong things).

[Beccarella]

That sounds peaceful.
The former owners of this house had perennials professionally installed a few years ago, mostly in the front, so I plan to be parked there in the evenings. They were gracious enough to make up laminated "maps" of the plantings so we'd know what was what. It's exciting to see the plants coming up. I have a book on perennials and refer to it almost daily just to see what the flowers will look like (and to make sure I don't weed the wrong things).

Holy Smokes! I would never have thought of doing that in a million years! I had done something similar when I left my favorite house with paints & wall coverings (because I would want to know if someone used oil based or latex paints, etc.) but it never occurred to me to do that with my plants! I have saved the plant stakes from plant purchases with the names/instructions on them out in my potting shed...that's a wonderful idea!
When we built this house we were given a nice book with all the paint/woodwork/doors, cabinet, etc. colors in it...wouldn't that be nice to add a garden book since I LOVE my wonderful gardens!! They're always a work in progress and they give me so much pleasure. Brilliant! Thanks!!

[Gutmutter]

I spent mother's day putting in a garden pond. An elderly neighbor gave me her pond form when she went into a nursing home and I started digging a hole for it before I got cancer and never finished. It is in the same side yard as my perennial garden, just outside the sliding glass doors of my living room. I finished digging the hole to the exact shape of the form, lined it with pond liner, and edged it with rocks. I had gotten a little fountain and upon reading the instructions discovered it was a fountain and/or waterfall. Well, the mound of dirt from the original hole was all grassed over, so I went for both, dragging more rocks over to make the fall. My daughter and I went to get 12 "feeder" goldfish (6/$1) and then to get plants to put around it. We ended up with some dark blue/green hostas, yellow begonias, two elephant ear bulbs the size of softballs, and nasturtium and lavender seeds. She picked out some purple flowers that turned out to be hollyhocks when I got them home and looked closer, so those were too tall. I put them in my perennial garden. I think they self-seed if you're lucky. I have a garden table across from it in the shade of the house and it is my greatest pleasure to sit with a cup of tea or compari and enjoy the garden. The cat loves to sit on the big rocks or cool earth of the garden which I shouldn't let her do, but she adds so much to the picture (pure white). Ahhhhhhhhh.

[waywyrd]

That sounds just beautiful...any pictures you can share?

I put those cheapo feeder goldfish in my small pond, also. One of them is now about five inches long! They've been out there for over four years...tough little fish. And a lot cheaper than koi!

[veejer]

I put those cheapo feeder goldfish in my small pond, also. One of them is now about five inches long! They've been out there for over four years...tough little fish. And a lot cheaper than koi!

How cold do your winters get waywyrd?

[roseskid]

That sounds just beautiful...any pictures you can share?

Good for you, Gut, and I immediately thought you should post pictures, too. There's nothing more calming than the sound of water, as long as it's not a leaky pipe, that is.

I put those cheapo feeder goldfish in my small pond, also. One of them is now about five inches long! They've been out there for over four years...tough little fish. And a lot cheaper than koi!

How fun to have hardy, cheap fish - is it true their size depends on how big a tank/container is? I was at the koi pond at Golden Gate Park once at feeding time. The caretaker walked around the perimeter of the pond ringing a bell, and the fish came running, er, swimming from all over. I got some beautiful pictures of the frenzied colorful fish.

For Mother's Day, I got my MIL little pots of chives, thyme, basil, etc. and now I'm ready to get our summer garden ready for planting. Our daughter returns to school on Saturday, so we're talking about getting started on Sunday.