April End of Month Views

Hello, friends!

I'm linking up to Helen's End of Month view meme, which can be found here:

https://patientgardener.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/end-of-month-view-april-2015/ 

 

Let's get started, shall we?

 

Back Flowerbed

 

Tulips are providing nearly all the color at this point with the mockorange giving some needed height.

 

Looking down toward the deck.

 

L-R: mockorange, 'Mariette' tulips, rose

Oh, and one random iris in front.

Geum is big and bushy.

More tulips surrounding mockorange bush.

Tulip distribution is a bit uneven, so that's something I would like to work on for next spring.

 

Vegetable Garden

overview

The bottom terrace is completely planted with spring veggies.

Obviously, nothing has come up yet.

The bright green on the bottom is oregano.

 Greenery on top are strawberries.

 

Pea sticks!

I planted some "Pole Sugar Snap Peas" this year, so I thought I would give pea sticks a try.

Those are dead aspen branches stuck into the ground for a trellis.

If the aspens come alive again and start growing in my garden, I'm going to be mad!

 (Knowing aspens like I do, I wouldn't put it past them!)

 

Shade Bed

 

It's all columbines and heucheras in the shade bed these days.

I haven't seen any sign of the hostas that used to be in here too.

Maybe they'll still come later...

 



 

 

Raspberries

 

Starting to fill out.

I need to get back over there to compost and weed.

 

 

Front Flowerbeds

 

Overview

 

Front: Middle Terrace (where most of the flowers are)

 



Tulips again giving most of the color.

If I can, I want to dig up the lighter-colored ones to put elsewhere, and get a few more of the vibrantly-colored ones.

The bright green on the left is a new delphinium I put in, to replace the phlox that was mostly dead.

I put in 3 and they're all in this middle terrace.

I'll try to point them out in the pictures.

They are all 'Blue Mirror' variety.

 

The tulips almost seem to glow in this picture, don't they?

On the right is one of my new 'William Shakespeare' English roses that I put in place of the daisies.

This photo should be named "Second Chances."

Those little spots of green in front are the hydrangea from the bottom front terrace, which I thought was completely dead until about 2 weeks ago. This spot gets more shade than the former, so maybe that will help it perk up.

The peony growing in back was transplanted from a friend's yard in the middle of last summer and pretty much looked dead the whole rest of the year. Surprise!

I will be really surprised if it blooms this year.

 

A few different varieties of muscari with phlox in the background.

Still on the middle terrace.

 

Sem False Spirea, with columbine, salvia, and of course tulips.

This lovely little shrub brightens up the shady corner here beautifully.

 

Front: Bottom Terrace

 

Grape holly (Mahonia aquifolium)

This is thriving in a tough spot, which I'm glad to see.

It has tripled in size since I planted it, and even had a few of its signature bright yellow flowers earlier this spring.

 

 

Boxwood, barberry in a pot, plus another barberry.

I need to decide where to plant this extra barberry.

It has not been doing so great down on the bottom terrace, so I replaced it with another one of my new roses.

 

 

Another 'William Shakespeare' rose, replacing the barberry, as mentioned above. I planted it good and deep, and I'm really hoping it takes off and adds a shower of deep crimson roses going up the wall.

 



Looking down the bottom terrace.

 

 Tulips by the mailbox.

I'm actually thinking of taking these out.

It's hard to keep this area weeded, with no real flowerbed here.

Plus, all the real flowerbeds are just a few feet away.

They would transplant nicely, I think, to the back flowerbed.

 



 

If you made it all the way through that, way to go!

This is my favorite time of year, with things changing daily, it seems.

 



Spring Veggies In!

I have no pictures for this post, because all you would see is bare dirt, at this point.

I'm only a week ahead of when I got everything planted last year.

I guess we'll get to see if that weeks makes much of a difference!

 

I planted the spring veggies in our bottom terrace.

Left to right, here's what I put in:

16 hills of potatoes

I had already chitted them, so next I dug a hole and planted the whole potato. They are spaced at least 12 inches apart. I will report back on this method at the end of the summer.

They were a mix of Yukon Gold, Viking Purple, and russet.

 

4 rows (front to back) of Rainbow Carrot blend [new seed]

supposed to be purple, white, yellow, and red

 

3-4 rows of Detroit Dark Red beets [new seed]

 

3-4 rows of Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' [new seed]

I've never grown (or eaten) swiss chard before, so this will be an adventure.

The seed packet suggests the small leaves are good in salad, and the larger leaves can be steamed or stir-fried. Cook stalks as you would asparagus.

Begin harvest when plant is about 8" tall. Pick outer leaves first or harvest entire plant.

A spring planting will produce all summer if it is kept picked.

Also: thin to 12", and should grow 36" high.

 

2 rows of spinach 'Olympia Hybrid'

[last year's seed]

 

2 rows (doubled seeded), 6 inches apart shelling pea 'Green Arrow'

Grows about 30" high, should not need staking. 

 

My plantings stopped at the oregano in the middle.

I've got more peas to put in, but I'll have to do that tomorrow. It was time to make dinner and you know, be the mom and stuff.

 

I have to say--the weather cooperated beautifully. It was cool and windy while I was rototilling and raking, then just as we started planting, it started to sprinkle. I think it's still raining some out there right now.

 

 



They made it!

 I revamped this small flowerbed next to the porch last summer, pulling out dead bushes and improving the soil, before adding some new plantings in: hydrangea, astilbe, a couple of hostas, and some heucheras.

I also put in one dicentra--bleeding heart.

I tried planting dicentras in my back shade bed a few years ago, but they didn't survive.

This poor thing was transplanted from a friend's yard to begin with, then moved AGAIN when I realized that it was too far out and would be walked on. I didn't get my hopes up.

 

By the end of last summer, I wasn't sure which of my new plantings had survived.

The astilbes had withered away to practically nothing, as had the dicentra, and the ferns.

I knew heucheras and hostas were as tough as nails and could take dry shade, so I wasn't too worried about them.

 

This spring I have been pleasantly surprised to see all of the plants in this bed coming back!

 

Well, well, well. What have we here?

Hooray!

This euonymous wasn't in danger of dying off, but I'm delighted to see how much new growth it is putting on this spring! It looks better than it ever has.

Astilbe! Yes!

Astilbe number 2 (in back), plus 'Lime Marmalade' heuchera.

Oh and a few dandelions. (ahem). I guess they made it too.

 

The 'Ruby Slippers' oakleaf hydrangea is also putting out new leaves.

 

May they all live long and prosper!

(Except the dandelions.)

Almost Bloom Day flowers

I just couldn't seem to make it out there this month to take pictures for Bloom Day (the 15th of every month). These were taken 3 days later, on April 18.

 

Yes, they are quite bright. Sorry!

 

back flowerbed, looking toward deck

 

I like this flowerbed a little more every year!

 

 

My flowering almond bloomed again!

Last year it hardly did anything--it was probably sulking due to being transplanted.

I just love the tiny pink pom-poms all up and down every branch!

 

These next two pictures are to show off the varieties of muscari that came in the mixed bag I bought from John Scheepers last fall. I hope all the unusual ones multiply quickly like the regular ones do.

I looked back through their catalog to name the varieties.

Pale blue: Muscari Valerie Finnis

ombre, dark blue and light blue: Muscari latifolium

pure white: Muscari botryoides album

Peonies a' coming!

Also, those Mariette tulips are just about to bloom.

They have really multiplied in that spot. It's going to be so beautiful in another week or two!

The 'Festival Pink' hyacinths have multiplied, as well.

They look so delicate and airy.

I've got them planted all along the bottom terrace out front, as well.

Tulips over on the East side, plus a few more white muscari in front.

 

Cherry Trees

While the younger kids and I were visiting Grandma, my husband put in the 2 cherry trees!

(Yes, we had already discussed where they should go.)

 

So my original plan had been to put them in the middle terrace of our walls over on the East side of the house. However. They are semi-dwarf, and should both get 20-25' tall and 15-20' wide when mature. We determined the roots would probably knock down the wall, and the tops would make that side of the house impassable.

 

So, plan B: he planted them on the West side, which up until now was completely bare with just some new [struggling] grass coming up. I'm taking this as a commitment that no more tractors will be driving up that hill to the backyard!

 

They are right on our property line, so there's room between them and the house.

 

Here are the lovely ladies now!

 

Meet Bing and Stella:

 

Bing (top, closest to gate)

Stella (bottom, closest to road)

 

They both ripen mid-June, which means they also pollinate each other.

At some point down the road, we're going to have a lot of cherries!

Fortunately, I'm sure they will be easy to share.