Yesterday in the Garden

Yesterday was a day of many minor accomplishments. The sky was overcast but no rain came down while I worked out in the yard. I managed to attack several nagging chores that needed done. While I work I always try to look around and take some mental notes of things that need done and what’s happening in the garden. Here’s what I did along with some of my observations of the day.

• I planted about 10-12 Japanese Dappled Willow cuttings that I had started last fall. Salix integra is noted for its dappled foliage that has some reddish tints toward the tips of the leaves. It is a shrub and will max out at around 8-10 feet tall. These plants grow fast and will hopefully make a nice deciduous privacy screen for the spring through autumn months. They are extremely easy to propagate like most willows.
• I staked out our green weeping willow so it wouldn’t lean too far to one side. It has leafed out pretty good so far.
• I planted a red maple toward the back of our property. Maples are one of my favorite trees. Acer rubrum will have some nice fall color and provide some good summer shade!
• I observed the Red Sunset maple we planted last spring is already starting to produce samaras. Samaras are the little winged seeds the flutter to the ground like little helicopters and make new maples to enjoy.
• I stopped by the compost bin to turn it and found what appeared to be a cabbage growing out of the pile. I picked it up and put it in one of the garden beds that I filled Saturday to see what may come of it.
• Oh, I forgot to mention that I finally filled the garden beds on Saturday! I can check that off my to-do list. I’ll show some pictures later!
• I cleared a bunch of weeds from beds. I think I pulled enough of them that I can stay ahead of them. The corner bed with my Heuchera is getting overtaken by wild strawberry so I need to intervene soon!
• I noticed that my ‘Purple Homestead’ Verbena is about to bloom. That’s very early, but with it’s proximity to paved surfaces it is probably getting some good heat to keep it warm over-night. That’s why gravel can make a good mulch, it will retain the heat of the sun and release it at night.
• I noticed that a spirea I propagated last year that I thought was dead is in fact alive! That was a nice find.
• My ‘Stella de Oro’ daylilies are growing fast. I divided one clump into 13 smaller clumps in the fall. We should have some nice color this year!
• Some liriope (monkey grass) I divided last week is thriving. A huge clump was left by the previous owners that I divided into 30 plants. It is now serving as an edging to a bed of daylilies.
• My Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is leafing out. I can’t wait to take some cuttings off of them. I’m hoping that their fragrant leaves will be a deterrent to bunnies and deer when I plant it around my garden.
• I discovered that my yellow leather work gloves will stain my fingers yellow.
• The Yoshino Cherry I planted a few weeks ago will actually have some blooms this year. The buds are very close to breaking. This is one of my favorite flowering trees so you can be sure it will make an appearance on this blog!
• I put in some daylily divisions in the rain garden. I know I should probably have waited a couple weeks but they wanted to be planted so badly I couldn’t resist. These daylilies are an orange-yellow kind that I picked up from my mother-in-law’s house. They were already sprouting last weekend at their house. They should be fine.
• I noticed that my Euonymous fortunei cuttings are showing new growth. wasn’t sure that they would make it through the winter.
• I transplanted my 8 butterfly bush cuttings into one large pot to grow for a couple more weeks indoors. One of them had actually flowered! I’ll be able to move them outside after the last frost date which is usually around mid-April.
• The War of the Weeds is not over. I sighted some ragweed invaders that will need squashing.
• My viburnums are beginning to show some foliage. They were some discount plants I found last fall for about $1-$2 each. One is a ‘Shasta’ and the other two are snow ball types.
• My Arbor Day forsythias are showing some good green growth but no flowers. They were too small last fall to have developed any buds. I’ll do some pruning on them this year to encourage some good branching.
• The Bradford Pears have lost most of their blossoms by now. That reminds me, I still need to do my “Why You Shouldn’t Plant A Bradford Pear Tree But Some People Do Anyway” post. Catchy title don’t you think?
• My little redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) are starting to make leaves. They probably won’t flower this year, but I’m just happy they made it through the winter. Their root systems were rather small when I planted them.
• The Campanella ‘Canterbury Bells’, Bells of Ireland, and ‘Grandpa Ott’s’ Morning Glory have all sprouted. Grandpa is growing fast!
• I noticed that this list is getting very long…
• My other seeds in the garage are doing well. I should have plenty of tomatoes this year.
• Even though I did this last Thursday I did finally fix my deck rail. It will probably break again since some serious work needs done on our deck, but a temporary patch will help us get by for now.
• I noticed that spell checkers can’t decipher botanical names. Something needs to be done about that.

Well that should do for now for my list of things I did or noticed yesterday. I’m sure I forgot something but it can wait. My next door neighbor came by to ask me about building raised beds for their garden. After I built mine his neighbors on the other side of him built two raised beds. It seems that gardening is contagious! It just reaffirms to me how great raised beds are for vegetable gardening.