I've been spending extra time at work trying to get ready for the roadeo. Cleaning buses and studying the manual and reg. book but not a lot of extra driving. My turns are tight, I've got the RR crosiings down pat, I keep just missing on the stop lines and I'm having a terrible time with getting my back wheel close enough to the curb. Hopefully I'll do well with the other parts of the course. One week to go.
I've been over to Bean's house a little bit but she really seems to have everything under control. Twig is already 7.5 lbs! Sunny is quite good with him except when he is nursing.
So the garden. When I've been home I've been trying to get as much done as I can before my back won't let me do any more. It's coming slowly. You can not dig anywhere without digging up stones and trash. Today I dug up a chain saw blade, old truck parts, charcoal, legos, cigarettte packs, glass and things I can't identify. The bugs are terrible; I have bites all over. Off doesn't seem to phase them a bit. John helped with the digging today and moved the old mulch for me so I got a lot done in the six hours that we worked. I put out the crimson clover seed around the poles by the road and I think some of it washed away in the rain. The red Astilbe Fanal came Thursday and I got it planted right away. The two new hostas have been planted too. I really don't have a plan for the front border; I'm just putting things in as I get them where ever seems like a good place at the moment. I guess I can move them later if I don't like where they end up.
Early last month I pulled all of the weeds around the two rhododendrons that Bean had ripped out of her garden. Some of the leaves are brown but there is new growth and the flowers are going to bloom so I think that they will make it. I moved the one that she bought for me last mother's day in between them. Mike helped me add the mulch. The old crib springs had lain out at the edge of the road in town all winter so I picked it up to use as a trellis for sweet peas. My family thinks I'm nuts but I think it will be very pretty in July. I planted the seeds last Monday. The pine straw is coving some old grass seed that I put out too early. I'll have to pick up some more.
On Wednesday we had Mike and Alex. (Nikki & Lizzie canceled on us.) During the day John and I managed to find 5 limbs out in the woods to make a teepee. We got it set up before I had to go back to work and he cut off some of the ends for me while I was gone. After work I tied some twine around and then helped the boys plant the morning glory seedlings that we started a few weeks ago. They think it's a great idea. I'm going to line the ground inside with the green tarp and hopefully they'll have a neat little play house. In the background you can see the irises.
The butterfly garden starts at the back steps. Those are black eyed susans on the far left that I'd like to divide and make into a larger patch. Got them from Bean in 2004. To the right, by the hose, is one of the peonies that Mom let me dig out last fall.
I was quite pleased with the curve. I laid the hose out and that worked quite well. I moved the daylilies out from next to the house to form a clump around the wire to the pole. I was sure that I had killed them! John kept saying they'd be fine and several gallons of water later they're starting to look good again.
Here you can see both sides of the garden. We left a 3 1/2 foot walkway down the middle. A curved path would have been prettier but this is Snowville, so we decided that snowblowing would be easier if we kept it straight. I need to put in something to act as a hose guide for the kero and propane deliveries. I'm thinking some kind of stakes with rope strung between them. You can see that I still have a ton of grass and weeds to dig out. As you look from the pole to the house there is an odd shaped triangular area where we can't dig due to the undergound wires. I've marked it off with newspaper covered with mulch. For now I'll put some pots and sunning stones there and hope that eventually that the perennials fill into the area.
The azalea started blooming Thursday. The green clump is more black eyed susans. In the front are pincushion flowers. The round thing is a butterfly puddle. On one of my trips out back to pick up more of the trash that a previous owner dumped, I found the top of an old grill. (What they couldn't burn and didn't just drop in the yard they simply dumped into the gully in the woods. I'm slowly cleaning it up. It will take literally years unless I pay for a roll off and get lots of help! We take our trash to the transfer station but can only take so much at a time.) John covered the vent hole with duct tape and we filled the bottom with some of the rocks we've dug up and finished filling it with dirt. Butterflies are supposed to congregate at sunny mud puddles.
The seedlings are still doing well and I hope that most of them survive being transplanted outside. I have several more plants coming from Michigan Bulb. The astilbe were OK so I'm crossing my fingers. I have several packets of seeds to start outside. I want to pick up some more of the pincushion flowers at Wally's World. I'd never seen them before. I've already had some Eastern Tailed Blues visit them. There was a little yellow butterfly today but I haven't figured out what it is yet.
I need to get the wildflower bed out front edged and weeded so I can get the seeds started. I doubt I'll get to it before the Memorial Day weekend; I'll have five days off. I'm sure I'll enjoy the flowers and the butterflies when all is said and done but I'm sore and tired everyday now.
For plants that aren't supposed to transplant well and shouldn't be planted in full sun, these are doing fabulously! Bean ripped the two end plants out of her garden last year. They were planted in a very dark corner and took on the shape. She bought me the one in the center and I've moved it twice now. The sweet peas are coming up and will hopefully cover my "trellis" soon.
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