Deirdre's Blog

Well here is my new bed.

I'll have to write out later what everything is and take better pictures. I'm not sure it looks good or anything but here it is.

Everything is doing well except the lungwort. I'm not sure why but they are wilted. I'm soaking them now and see if that perks them up. I watered yesterday and they perked up some.

What a gorgeous day it was today. It was just the perfect weather! It can be like that all day every day if you ask me!

 
All my plants came in that I ordered last Thursday! I'm just missing a few pulmonaria which should arrive tomorrow and I'm done!

I planted 72 tulip bulbs and 75 crocus bulbs. Let me tell you, my hands are sore but whoever invented the bulb auger is a genius. I would have worn gloves except I couldn't find them. I know I put them somewhere in the house so the spiders wouldn't get in them but I can't remember where....lol.

I planted 3 types of perennials in the tulip bed as well to complete it. I realized I ordered the wrong thing but hopefully it won't get too tall to hide the tulips or it will only go higher when the tulips are gone. They don't last very long. This year, I think I had them for 3 short but wonderful weeks. 2 of the plants were dormant and it said on the thing that if I had issues in the spring to contact them. Well one of the types of plant looks more dead than dormant but we'll wait and see. I'd tell you what they were if I could remember right this minute. I'll have a full report when I mulch and take pictures (tomorrow I think).
 

I planted all the plants in my front flower beds. Most are shade because it is a shade bed. A few are not. It's a gamble I know but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I've decided to not sweat it and not over worry. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else. I couldn't resist getting an Iris...I know..full sun. We'll see. I put it where there is most sun in that bed so we'll see.

Some of the things I planted are astilbe (white), echinacea (2 kinds), "conversation piece" azalea, angelina sedum, pink beacon sedum, Verbascum blateri, blue spires salvia, pink chablis lamiun. I may have forgotten something. I'm brain dead right now.

Now I can freak out about what to do with these things in spring, and how long do I water for right now until winter? Or do I water all winter long.

These are the questions I now ask myself.

I have to say though that I don't think I put too many plants in that bed and I hope I didn't put too little. It looks good to me but then again, what do I know? lol

 Pictures to come!

Here she is : )

I've had her about 2 months now.

Teegan and her had been playing hard and she plopped down to rest. Teegan wouldn't stand still long enough for pictures plus, he looks the same as he always does..hehe

Well I went down to the local nursery and got some pansies and kale/cabbage/things like that. I put them in pots last night and went outside today to finish cleaning up. I had started a few things this summer but it got too hot and I got sick so the front yard always looked like a work in progress. I had removed all the bricks that were forming flower beds but they were still sitting in the driveway. I got them inside and out of sight, removed a few dead plants I had : ( Can you believe I lost 2 box hedge things to the heat (they were in pots still) and I watered every day. I think next year, I'm going to have to water twice a day.

Anywho, I took down the red/white/blue pots I had. They turned out nice, I'm just sorry I didn't get a picture while the vinca was still all pretty. The ones on the border look great still but the ones in the pots had started to wilt and turn yellow so I pulled them out. I'm going to let the border ones die and maybe they will reseed themselves (thanks witt for that info).

I hope it looks ok. You know, I'm a city girl born and bred so I'm winging it as I got along and see what works/what doesn't.

In front of the windows is my tulip bed btw. I'm getting some perennials for it (that I didn't have this year to complete it). There are about 100 bulbs in it if I remember right. I'm getting about 130 more because it just wasn't enough if you ask me. They were too spaced out.

I think I may have put too many per pot but I bought too many and ran out of pots. I know the cabbage and kale will grow but we'll see how they work it out. Next time when it comes to annuals, I'll know, take what I think and divide by 2. That's how I got my vinca walkway because I had way too many and didn't know what to do with them so I just plopped them in the ground :D

Let me know what you think : )

Wow, I can't believe fall is here already!! It's chilly in the mornings and SO nice in the afternoon.

 I've been sick for the last few weeks just feeling crappy and this week, I feel human. I've been catching up and finishing projects starting in the summer that never got done.

What did I do today? I finished moving the dirt to my front dirt. I hated seeing that mound of dirt outside on my lawn just waiting for someone to come and move it. Someone who - even after being offered money - still wouldn't come and do it. So, I rolled up my sleeves and did it myself. I had to stop quickly because I just started feeling awful all over again. I rested and started up again and I am very very proud of myself. I got it done, the bed is ready.

 II thought that most of the plants I would have to buy in the spring so I was just ready to prepare and mulch and wait but I started looking and they should all be ok planted now ( I hope).  ordered a butt load of plants for my 2 flower beds that I now have. I ordered about 70 more tulip bulbs and 50 croccus bulbs for my tulip bed. That's going to look awesome. I'm basically doubling the flowers there. I also bought the remaining plants for that bed that I needed. They are ALL perennials which to me sounds just wonderful. I got my bed ideas from the Home and Garden website and my tulip bed is pretty much the plan they had except one of the plants I got in white instead of blue.

 What I did with the other bed (L shaped) is winged it. I got some of the plants they had and mostly not but the same style. They are all perennials too. I got some astilbes, verbascum, salvia and echinacea plants. That bed will get a good deal of sun I think and I'm hoping I choose wisely. I looked at the plants for hours deciding.
We shall see we shall see. I'm afraid of the whole thing just looking awful.

I should get them within the week (I hope) and then I can plant and mulch and forget about it basically :D

 I'm so excited. I wonder what the neighbors thought about me putting a mound of dirt in the front yard. Gosh i hope it's going to look ok. I'm a city girl born and bred, this is new territory for me.

We were hesitating, do we put a border, not put a border? I think we're going to. I'd like to get rocks around it. I am not a brick fan and definitely not a fan of the plastic/metal border stuff. I think that just looks fake.

I am so nervous and excited at the same time.