Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Garden Awakens, May 30, 2010 Flowers

This last week included wind, hail and then yesterday a 90 degree day. In South Dakota we say “If you don’t like the weather just wait 10 minutes.”  Our plants need to be able to adapt to extremes. A couple of morning ago, I got up early to plant some of my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. With all the rain, some of my clay soil is still sticky. “Walk away from the garden”. So hard to do. You know you shouldn’t dig in wet clay soils. They become filled with clumps that are hard as rocks. Most of my garden soils have had years of added  compost,  but I have some new raised beds that need organic matter to become good garden soil.  So yesterday, I moved some soil around so that I could plant some of the veggies.
IMG_0098  Years ago I started Verbascum from seeds. I don’t remember the cultivar. But, I love these flowers. They self-sow. Early spring I dig then up with a knife or trowel and move them. I use a knife because they tend to want to grow in between tight little spaces. Notice my home-made cement pots. Whenever we do a cement job, I try to be ready to make something from the extra cement. It's easy.
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It is still very early spring. The ground cover to the right is another Veronica. This one is Waterperry Blue. Closer to the pond is Veronica Pectinata. I love both of these Veronicas. Here is a close up of Waterperry Blue
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This is a low growing ground cover. The leaves are a bit shiny and show a touch of burgundy.
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The self sown columbines are starting.
I made a list of “Garden To-Do’s”.  On June 26th my garden will be in the local Garden Tour.  I need to get busy.

13 comments:

  1. Hi Gloria~~ Doesn't look like your garden needs a thing. It's beautiful! Your photos are lovely but that first one...ooh, la, la!! I grow Verbascum too and they are an absolute favorite, especially this pink variety. Love the cement pot and the conifer on the far right--a Yew or an Alberta Spruce or...?

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  2. Gloria, are you sure you don't want to come visit me for, oh...maybe a few years? Just long enough to get my yard as pretty as yours ;-)

    Really, your gardens are just gorgeous. I'm so happy you got that new camera so you can share your beautiful photos with us.

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  3. Gloria -- I've been thinking of your gardens quite a bit this weekend. As I've been rangling dandelions, turning soil and joking about the 'shrinking' lawn and the expanding gardens - I appreciate your garden design more and more. Thanks for sharing your creativity! -Shyrlene

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  4. Hi Grace - You got it, an Alberta Spruce, one of those chubby ones. I love the verbascums, how funny that they are of the family of common mullein.

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  5. Hi Annie, LOL! I can be a new daughter! Yes, I am loving this camera!

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  6. Shyrlene - Yea, for shrinking lawn and expanding gardens. But, I find I either need alot of mulch or alot of living ground cover plants. I prefer the plants. Anymore I walk around the yard looking for a spot to plant in.

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  7. Gloria, LOL. The saying about the weather in New England is to wait 5 minutes. I am in love with your ground cover veronicas, and I want to look into whether these would work well in my garden. The verbascum is beautiful! It's exciting that your garden will be on the garden tour; that's one of my dreams -- but it can also be a bit intimidating. -Jean

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  8. Jean, I think you should be able to grow them. I grow the waterperry blue where it gets a little more moisture. The Veronica Pectinata is more drought tolerant and doesn't do good with big mulches. I mulch them with gravel. I have more ground covers I will show- thanks for your kind visit

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  9. Gloria I would love to grow the verbascums but they hate my soil so after many losses I'm now content to view photos. How exciting to have your garden as part of the tour. You sure will be busy.

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  10. You're killing me Gloria...not remembering what kind of Verbascum that was! I've killed off enough of them to be a bit shy of the whole genus now. But you have given me some zone 4 hope. At least I know to try the pink ones.

    Christine in Alaska

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  11. Hi Rosie - They seem to like to grow among the cracks of the pathways, but they take well to moving if you do it quick from one spot to the other and press them down all around.

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  12. Hi Christine - I have pink, whitish and darker pink almost purple. I think they would do better from starting from seed. They almost seem to have a taproot and I think that makes transplanting a problem. I can send you some seeds :)

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  13. Gloria I'm sure your garden will be a big hit on the tour. The verbascums are lovely, such a pretty blue.

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