Monday, February 29, 2016

In bloom this week: Feb. 29, 2016

Hyacinth
Now it's really feeling like spring! Hyacinth are newly in bloom this week in my yard. There are also little babies from bulbs that have multiplied, which are pretty cute.

Hyacinth, with babies

Ranunculus, although this may be cheating because I bought them already in bloom at a nursery last week.
Ranunculus

Most of my daffodils are now blooming, I love how cheerful they are.
Daffodil
Here's something different: red blooms on a cedar tree. Maybe what my husband has been allergic to recently...
Cedar

And my flowering currant bushes continue to have a few flowers out, still not in full bloom but closer every day. Maybe next week!

Flowering currant, taking it's time

Friday, February 26, 2016

A hillside of work


Lower hillside, facing south
This north half of the lower hillside is my third area to focus on this year, along with the rose garden and the southeast corner (which is visible in the back of the above photo). Ignore the cardboard, it's a temporary attempt to keep the grass and weeds from growing too much before I have time to deal with them.

The first spring after we bought the house, we planted a multitude of fruit and berries: four blueberries on the hillside, two dwarf apples, raspberries on the near side of the trellis, two grapes behind them, and three hardy kiwi on the far end of the trellis. Thirteen years later, the grapes grow amazingly well and completely shade out the raspberries. We need to re-do the trellis (maybe this year, maybe not) for the grapes, and take out the original raspberries - which have probably reached the end of their productive lifespan anyway.

Instead, I want to plant a shorter row of raspberries down the hillside, with wire on metal fence posts to support them. That'll be less solid than the current trellis, but the everbearing type that I like really don't need much support. I also want some type of stepping stones up the hill on either side of the raspberries, because the slope is steeper than it looks and it's easy to slip.

Lower hillside, facing west
The blueberries have grown fairly well, but they'd be happier if I keep the grass and creeping buttercup out. I dug out a big circle of grass around all four bushes last year, and a lot of it has come right back again. I've been researching companion plants for blueberries and there are a lot of options as long as I keep them from directly competing with the blueberries's shallow roots.

All of the grass from the blueberries to the bushes on the south half of the slope (flowering currant, Oregon grape and hazelnuts) needs to come out. It's too hard to mow across the slope, and will be even harder when the new raspberries are planted. This side of the hill gets full sun for most of the day, so I've been looking at some of the native carex grasses. Maybe sedum also, and plumbago might look good with the blueberry stems in the fall. I'm still looking for ideas of what would grow well with full sun and no extra water. I have a drip line on the berries, but I don't plan to water anything else after the new plants are established.

The bottom of the hillside gets very wet in the winter and I'm thinking about planting Siberian irises along the edge of the slope. But not sure if that will be in this project or not!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

In bloom this week: Feb. 23, 2016

Daffodils

Daffodils! Mine actually bloom a little later than others in the neighborhood, so I'm always eagerly watching them. I have them planted in quite a few areas in the yard now and they spread on their own in this climate so there are more every year. The bright blooms are quite cheerful for late winter!

Forsythia and pieris japonica
Forsythia

Similarly, both of my forsythia bushes are just starting to bloom while others have been in full bloom for a week. I'm sure I have some flowers that bloom earlier than my neighbors, but apparently not the early spring bloomers.

Anemone

I have a few very small anemones planted along the front fence and found the first bloom today too.

Although I've been watching the flowering currant and Oregon grape since January, they are both still barely blooming. There are a few small flowers and tons of buds that aren't in a hurry to open.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Time to start seeds for real


Seed starts will soon be sprouting (I hope)

Now it is late enough to truly start seeds! I took the lavender, columbine and poppy starts out of the fridge on Saturday and put them in my large bay window area. That was just short of three weeks because Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day and I didn't want to wait until Monday. I planted the exact same combo of seeds in another starter kit, so I can compare whether the fridge time had any effect.

I'm also waiting for seeds in the mail from Swallowtail Garden Seeds, just ordered this weekend: calamintha "Marvelette Blue" and "Marvelette White", which should be smaller than most calamint; nepeta nervosa "Pink Cat", a dwarf pink catmint; creeping thyme; and veronica hybrida "Blue Bouquet".

Full bay window, plenty of room for more seeds

I don't usually do any seed starting because it's so easy to buy vegetable starts from local nurseries, or just plant vegetable seeds outdoors. A lot of gardeners in the Pacific Northwest grow large trays of seeds each spring, but I've just never had the patience for that. But I'll need a lot of perennials for the rose garden, so I thought it was worth trying to start some myself - and I think I'm less likely to find some of these shorter varieties anywhere local. And I have plenty of room in the bay window area!

I'm ready to plant peas outdoors too, but waiting for another sunny day, which should happen this week. The ground was very soggy even on Saturday when it was sunny all day. It's certainly warm enough to plant peas, just a little wetter than I'd like; I have had problems in the past with peas not coming up if I plant them when it's really wet.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Reclaiming space from the knotweed

Southeast corner now (facing south)

The southeast corner is the second of three areas that I'm focusing on this year (the first is the rose beds). When we bought our house, this corner - the furthest from the house - had a couple of old plum trees, a few shrubs, and some weedy but nicely trimmed grass. Obviously the previous owners had a landscaping crew chop everything down before putting the house up for sale, because it soon turned into a wild mess of noxious weeds.

The worst was Japanese (or possibly giant) knotweed, spread from the neighbor to the south. At one point, their entire back yard was filled with knotweed, which grew 12-14 feet tall each summer and loomed over our fence, shading the entire south side of our back yard. In our corner, the knotweed mixed with blackberry, English ivy, and plum shoots to become an impenetrable maze.

Then the neighboring house sold, the new owners cleaned up their yard, and one of our plum trees fell over in an ice storm. The remaining plum tree was in danger of falling and taking out the fence, so we had it cut down and then chopped out everything else that was growing around it. Last spring, I covered the whole area with cardboard and as much mulch as I had available, planted a wildflower mix as temporary cover - and then spent the summer chasing after knotweed, plum shoots and blackberries.

In the fall, I planted bulbs along the side of the lawn (in the foreground of the picture above): daffodils, bluebells, muscari and anemones. Then I replanted after the squirrels (or raccoons?) dug them up, and sprinkled stinky cat litter on top. That seemed to keep the animals out, and the bulbs are coming up nicely now, but I don't know what got eaten - the daffodils at least did not.

Daffodils!

As soon as it warms up, I will plant hazelnuts along the east and south fence lines, to meet the existing hazelnuts further up the south fence line. That'll eventually screen the back alley and the neighbor's parking spot. I'd also like to plant a larger tree, maybe a cherry or fig, but not until the knotweed is completely gone.

My main work this year will be maintenance - continuing to pull out the knotweed as it comes up, poison it only if I have to, and pull out any other noxious weeds that try to grow. I scattered more wildflower seed mix this weekend, but I don't care too much what grows there this year as long as it's easy to mow down.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - February 2016

The very first flowering currant bloom for 2016

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I always like to check out what else is in bloom around the world!

Finally, my flowering currant bushes are starting to bloom! This is my favorite native bush, I remember walking home from school as a kid and seeing it bloom along our driveway, just at the edge of the woods. It seems like they bloomed earlier last year, but last winter was quite warm here, so this is probably typical.

Flowering currant, almost blooming

The Oregon grape bushes are almost blooming, but haven't progressed much in the last two weeks. I think they fool me every year!

Oregon grape

My forsythia is so close, but not quite blooming. Those are blooms on the lily-of-the-valley shrub behind it though.

Forsythia

Something likes to eat my crocuses, and the one that was blooming was gone the next day. Daffodils grow bigger every day, and I have a lot of varieties, but none are quite in bloom yet. Spring is coming, but not in a huge hurry!

Friday, February 12, 2016

Progress in the rose garden


Rose bed, facing north
I dug out a wider border around the roses this week and that was just as much work as I expected (ouch!). I also took out two roses that were growing from the rootstock, which seemed to be some type of climbing rose, much too large for the bed. I'm sore now and have to sneak grass clumps into the yard waste can for a few weeks (too heavy to put in all at once) but the area looks much better than two weeks ago.

Rose bed, facing east

The rose beds are now an even four feet wide, with a temporary border of leftover composite decking. That will, hopefully, keep the grass out until perennials have time to grow and I can decide if this is the final size.

I'm still mulling over what to plant with the roses, trying not to order too many plants or make impulse buys at the nursery until I have a plan. I'm planning a border along the lawn, which will be partially lavender, but that's 19 feet on the north and 14.5 feet on the east so I want a little variety. I was thinking of mixing it with catmint (nepeta), but I've read that will grow larger than expected, so I don't want too much of it. Now trying to find another plant to intermix with lavender.

For groundcover, I'm looking at creeping thyme, veronica and lambs ear. Maybe some type of sedum? I don't water my roses much unless it's really hot out, but it's not a "rock garden" type of environment either. I can't find anything native that likes that much sun. I'll need a lot of groundcover plants to fill in as much space as possible, except right around the base of the roses.

Next up is the annual massacre... I mean, time to prune the roses. In the past, we've done that as early as Presidents' Day and as late as mid-March, mostly depending on when we had a dry weekend and energy to get it done. We're trying to follow the "when the forsythia blooms" rule now, and that will be very soon.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

In bloom this week: Feb. 9, 2016


First crocus!
We went away for a few days to play in the mountains, came home this afternoon and this crocus caught my eye as we pulled into the driveway. It could be the only crocus in my yard right now. Reminder: plant more crocuses!

I walk past this lily-of-the-valley shrub every day without noticing, I'm so used to it being completely overgrown by wisteria in the summer. But it is a nice looking shrub in the winter, and hopefully will be more visible all year now that I've cut the wisteria back.

Lily-of-the-valley shrub

The hairy bitter cress is blooming nicely, of course. I'm fairly certain that's what this is, not chickweed, because the dried seeds will explode all over when you touch them. It will grow pretty much everywhere in my yard, so I just try to keep it out of the planned beds. I'm trying to adjust my perception of what a weed is, and have to admit this is kind of pretty in the lawn.

Hairy bitter cress in the lawn
Otherwise, February fools me - as usual. The month starts with such hope for spring, which takes it's own sweet time to arrive. The Oregon grape bushes are still not quite in bloom, the forsythia has buds but no yellow visible, the daffodils look like they could bloom - any day now. Is there a saying about watched buds not blooming?

Friday, February 5, 2016

Too early to start seeds

Lavender and daisies, last summer

It's too early to start seeds, except maybe peas, which I have never had any luck starting indoors. In fact, I pretty much gave up on starting any seeds indoors a few years ago. So why do I have a tray of seeds carefully placed in little planting pellets... in the back of my fridge?

My plans for the rose garden are going to take a lot of plants, especially along the border with the lawn. I'm ordering what I can find on sale, but I want to try growing some from seed too.

My husband gave me a packet of "True English" lavender at the winter holiday (Christmas, Solstice or whatever you celebrate). Lavender is apparently difficult to plant from seed, and does better if it is chilled for a few weeks. I bought columbine seeds, because the varieties I wanted weren't available as plants, and those also recommend chilling. And I've had annual poppy seeds in the fridge for years, collected from someone's garden and forgotten until I found the little film can buried behind condiments.

I planted some of each of those into a tray of plant pellets on Monday (Feb. 1), and will keep them in the fridge for about 3 weeks, checking occasionally to make sure they stay moist. The theory is that the moisture helps them germinate better than just putting the package of seeds in the fridge. I will direct sow the same types of seeds in the garden about the same time that I pull these out of the fridge - and see what I end up with.

I think my mistake in the past was trying to start seeds in the kitchen, which seems bright enough but probably isn't in the winter. Once they come out of the fridge, I'll try putting the seed tray in our very large bay window area, which should get plenty of light. The tray has a lid to keep in heat too. Hopefully the cats will leave it alone!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

In bloom this week: Feb. 2, 2016


Contorted hazelnut in the park

The groundhog would have seen his shadow here today, but apparently Pennsylvania is what counts. I won't complain if we do have an early spring this year, even if I am still hoping for snow.

The first spring after we moved in, 13 years ago, we planted a lot of edibles including four native hazelnuts (corylus cornuta) along the bottom of the south fence line. They grew slowly but eventually took off and are now exactly what we had imagined - for once!
The male catkins on the hazelnuts have been out for months, which is always a nice bit of winter interest, along with the red branches. I've never watched for the female flowers, I didn't even know what to look for. But I do now, and found them in bloom on a different variety of hazelnut in the park just down the street (picture above). I'm watching my trees closely now!.

Hazelnut catkin in my yard
Some years later, we got sick of mowing the hillside next to the hazelnuts and planted Oregon grape and flowering currant bushes. They could use some pruning now, they've grown far larger than I expected, but these are two of my favorite types of flowering bushes. I love how vivid the flowers are when not much else is growing yet. It's too early for the currant to bloom, but the Oregon grape are so very close - see the hint of petals opening on the right side?

Oregon grape, buds just starting to open


The wintersweet and rosemary continue to bloom, as discussed last week.