A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

What an absolutely glorious day! Temps in the 70s with a light breeze. And I have flowers blooming to prove it.

The Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine' is pretty much in full bloom, and I now have at least 3 clumps. Maybe a couple of other spots of it. I'll be happy to have this spread because the leaves die back in summer so there is plenty of space for other things to fill in.

Just to complete the report, this is as good as that one lonely regular hyacinth is going to get. However, I see that there are a couple of other clumps of leaves. Maybe they will do something. I keep hoping for that, but in all honesty, they never do. They probably don't like sand. I also moved the three crocus that were in the yard to this flower bed.

The rock garden is starting to come alive! There are blue grape hyacinth all over the place. Also an OK thing because those leaves also die back.

A few violets are starting to open. I pretty much let them bloom and fill in wherever. They self seed all over, but they are easily ripped out if they get too aggressive.

The 'Kaydee' daffodils are in full bloom. Yes, the trumpets are sort of a salmon color. These are medium size- not miniature, but not full size, either.

And finally, the first photo shot of trying to show off mixed colors. The white grape hyacinth, violets in the middle and the 'Gold Nugget' Sempervivum behind that.

I worked on most projects, did errands, fixed the nylon screen door for the deck (ahh- a nice breeze), put out the bird bath

The front garden bed is pretty much cleaned up for the spring. It was amazingly easier than other years because I got it in good shape last year. I also started through the rock garden. I'm starting later than last year, but everything seems to be about a week later.

Of course, I see that some plants lived and some didn't. I'll post the body count as it becomes certain.

See Festival in Yellow

Lily Lane

The day lilies are in full glory. Every variety I have is in bloom, although not all are in this line. This is looking down the driveway, and can give you an inkling of what I think that strip could look like.

I think this is the first time ever they've all been blooming in the same year. A couple of years, the deer cleared all the buds.

The far left one is 'Young Love.' The yellow color is too golden (which you can really see in the group photo), but it's basically the maroon/yellow combo.

Next down is the big clump of Lemon Lilies. These are always the most robust, and the color is perfect.

And my newest one, 'Monterey Jack.' (Although I think it looks more like Muenster.) This one has just the right colors. You can compare with the other blooms and see that this one has been developed for the three petals to be larger than the sepals. I was wondering if I was really happy I bought it (but how could I go wrong at $3 eh?), but now that I see it with the others, I like it.

Now for the dark ones. The lighting was different when I took these pictures, so I can't definitively say which one is darker. This is 'Revolution.' This patch is in the front flower bed. There is a small clump along the driveway, but it didn't bloom this year.

And the old-fashioned one, 'Black Falcon.' I literally dug this out of a ditch some time in the past. But it suffers badly if it gets crowded by grass. So, that gives 'Revolution' an extra point since it spreads much more easily. Do you have a preference? I thought maybe seeing the pictures together would help me choose one, but they really are very similar.

And finally, no day lily display would be complete without "Ditch Lilies." These are the common variety Hemerocallis fulva although mine have all degenerated/evolved (not sure which is correct) to the double version. These are not my favorite, but I wouldn't mind if they would grow along the driveway farther down. They are all non-native, and the orange ones are considered invasive. They are just coming up in our edges, wherever.

In other news. Hmmm. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires was so strong last night it was giving me a sore throat. I kept fitfully waking up with bad dreams. Finally got some real sleep after 4 am and slept late. It was SO hot today that I just wasn't going to do any weeding. I did finish mowing the final space of lawn. It's dry enough now that it won't grow back very quickly. Spent most of the time inside, and a lot of that planning the next trip in my future. Stay tuned.

Also, tomorrow will have a nice event, ending a 35-year hiatus in my life!

See Yellow and Maroon

The Unplanned Sixth

Does this sound like the name of some musical piece? I just like the sound of it.

Here's what happened. "Attached" to the driveway flower bed (that seems to have all blue things blooming) are a series of small rectangles that march down along the driveway, each with a central daylily. There have been five of these spaces for a lot of years.

But yesterday at Meijer they had a daylily in my lily color scheme that was marked down from $9 to $3. I couldn't resist. But it meant I had to dig another square for it. The name of this one is 'Monterey Jack.' The color scheme is maroon and yellow. It's blooming, and has several buds. I think it was marked down because some of the leaves are unhappy, and I think that is a result of being horribly rootbound. Now the roots will have plenty of room to spread.

None of the others are blooming yet, although I'm very encouraged at the potential. These beds had not been weeded in several years until last summer. I'm posting them all here so I can track what their status is on a given date. You'll probably see them all as they bloom. I'll just tease you with the names today.

The first square has one called 'Young Love.' It currently is small but has two budding stalks which is great because it hasn't bloomed in years.

The next square is the huge success because these lilies are unstoppable. They are also my favorite. It's commonly called 'Lemon Lily' for the clear bright yellow color. The buds should start to open in just a few days. It's a very old variety. Serious tinkering with daylilies began in the 1930's, but this one and the next are both old.

Here's the other heritage variety. It was created in 1941 and has the name 'Black Flacon.' Darker varieties have now been developed, but I've always loved these. They also have not bloomed in years, in fact I didn't even see leaves for a few years, and I thought maybe I'd lost them. They don't spread nearly as fast as most of the other varieties, but it has three stalks with buds, so if the deer don't decimate all the lilies, there is good hope to see some of these this year.

Just for the record, the next square is another patch of lemon lily, but it is much smaller. Any years when I managed to weed some of these spaces, it was usually only the first two. Last summer, I recovered the rest from being overgrown and choked with grass.

The formerly last square has a tiny plant of 'Revolution.' It has no buds right now, and my other patch of it is already starting to bloom. I think it's just panting with relief that it's finally not being choked.

Now, let's talk about daylilies. Technically, they aren't lilies, and taxonomists have now moved them to their own family, Asphodelaceae. The genus is Hemerocallis.

You probably think most of them have six petals. Actually, they have three petals and three colored sepals. Plant tinkerers have gotten some of them, like the one I just bought, to focus on the three petals so they look triangular. I actually prefer the ones that look like six, but I couldn't resist the correct colors at the low price. Here's a closer view of the 'Monterey Jack' flower.

These squares have had various plans over the years. This post has gotten long enough, so I'll save that for another day. You can probably tell that most of them are not weeded perfectly, but at least they aren't being choked by grass.

I was hoping to mow today, but we had a good rain last night, and it has continued to be wet and misty all day. Maybe tomorrow. I didn't sleep much last night, so I got up late. Spent extra time editing and cleared this new space and dug out the grass around 'Revolution.' Enjoyed the cooler temps! Right now it sure looks like more rain, but there's nothing on the radar.

See Yellow and Maroon

Flowers and Weeds

I expected the gardens to be in much worse condition than they are, so that is good news. Also, I expected to miss the blooming of several flowers that I really enjoy. Turns out, I didn't miss much.

However, the weeding will need to begin in earnest after the weekend.

Here is a shot the length of the front garden bed.

The blue and white Globe Bellflower are in bloom. The white ones have too many weeds to show up nicely right now. But the blue ones are great.

The rock garden is colorful, but it's really overrun by weeds and overly aggressive plants. For sure, I'll start on that on Monday.

Right now the Sedum sexangulare is in full bloom and dominating the look (along with some other yellow-flowering sedums). There are other bloomers, but they need cleaning up to be very visible.

The biggest surprise was the Wood Sage and Viper's Bugloss in full bloom in the driveway bed. There's also a blue bellflower in there. I hadn't planned that would be a blue garden, but right now, it's making a fine impersonation of one!

You'll see more details as I get areas cleaned up.

The car is unpacked and repacked. Some stuff is put away. I didn't exert myself to strongly today. Just trying to guarantee that I'll be ready for two days of being upbeat to talk to people and sell books. Muskegon Lakeshore Art Festival this weekend. I have to leave at 6:30 am.

I used to give myself 2-3 days after a major hike to recouperate. Not happening this time! I don't think I'm getting tougher as I get older, so maybe I'll need to give myself a real break next week.

See Flower Bed Reports

Driveway Bed 2025- Report #1

I had to pull weeds fast to finish weeding this, this evening, because the bugs came out. Almost gave up, but I persevered. It doesn't look like much, but you can compare it to the even more barren space in the link at the end.

Last fall, I talked about a plan. I actually did get a bunch of plants and bulbs moved into this space. Here's how some of them are doing.

On the west end in the back is the plant I dug up in New York. In fact, I've split it and it's now in four places. It is a wild sedum called Orpine, Hylotelephium telephium. It's basically the parent of all the tall garden sedums. The deer sampled it this spring, but I think they didn't like it- just bit off pieces and left them.

Obviously, I've added a row of iris. None of them bloomed this year, but they are looking healthy. I have no idea what colors... I just dug up some corms and plopped them in! Surprises for next year.

What you may or may not be able to tell is that there are a bunch of daffodill and grape hyacinth stems in here too. A couple of the dafs bloomed this spring and a lot of the grape hyacinth. I encourage the latter because they bloom early and the leaves die back quickly. The daffodil leaves can be problematic.

On the east end, I got three globe thistles moved up here. Two of them look good. The one in the middle had some early leaves that seem to be gone now. Maybe it just needs another year. I'll get a few more of those moved up here this fall. They are the large prickly-looking leaves

Between those, the yellow-green, is a variegated artemesia that Ellen gave me long ago. It's not a favorite because it doesn't stay in one place very well (a lot of the artemesias wander), but it isn't invasive like a couple I've had, so I'll leave it to fill in spaces.

The coarse strap-like leaves are the weed I love, Viper's Bugloss. It's a biennial, so I just try to move any sprouts I see in the fall to spaces that are better for them.

The Coneflower from Cathy and the Coreopsis I bought a couple of years ago are looking pretty good. Some of the blue Globe Bellflower that I moved here is going to bloom. I don't think you can kill that stuff. I stuck in a bunch of stakes with no labels at places where I thought something was a plant I wanted to keep. Most of those have nothing. One Star of Bethlehem appeared, however!

I will show you this surprise. I'm pretty sure this is a verbena I dug out of a ditch a long time ago and that I thought was dead. We shall see!

The stunning success in that flower bed is the Wood Sage, Salvia nemerosa that was a gift from Marie. It will keep blooming if deadheaded, so I may cut these flowers off before I leave Monday so that it won't just set seed and be done before I get home again. The big clump isn't blooming yet. It's too tall to be right in front where it is, so I'll need to move these at some point.

Anyway... it's the beginning of the fulfillment of a plan. The one plant I bought for this bed last year was marked as hardy. I had my doubts, but foolishly believed the tag. Ha! It's dead.

We got 0.6 inch of rain last night. That was a great drink for the gardens.

I spent almost all day checking and packing gear for the New York trip. That's pretty much done. Just a few odds and ends I can't really finish until after Saturday. The fact that it was quite wet outside inspired me to stay in and work on that (well, that and general approaching panic at being ready to leave!)

See A Point of Reference

A Point of Reference

 This post may not hold much interest for you. It's a mostly bare flower flower bed with some lines of orange flagging tape staked down on it.

However, it shows the progress I've made this year. I did sit down and make a plan for this garden. Almost all of what I need I just have to move from other places. The orange lines define the sections. I've been weeding out the grass again which had come back since June, but it wasn't as deeply rooted.

Today I moved coreopsis, coneflower, the 'Candytuft' that may or may not be hardy, moss phlox (blue I think), and the pink showy sedum. I put in a bunch of daffodil bulbs I'd pulled out of this bed earlier this year that were not in good places. I also had a bag of grape hyacinth bulbs, and they went in too. I found one bulb that MAY be a regular hyacinth that hasn't bloomed in a while.

It didn't start raining until almost 4 pm, so I got a lot done. I still have some other things to move. Maybe I could spring for some petunias to fill in spaces next year. We shall see.

Here's how it looked in June. Yeah, about the same. I have shown you some of the things that bloomed, but because they were sort of haphazard and uncollected, it didn't look like much. It SHOULD look better next year.



Omer asked me if the dirt was any good there. I reminded him that its gravel underneath but the top 8 inches I carted here by hand in the wheelbarrow long ago when I created this garden.

We've had a nice soaking rain, and it's supposed to clear up and be mild for the rest of this week. Some days in the 50s, but that's nice enough as far as I'm concerned.

I'll leave you with another mood of my backyard. This is not so colorful as some have been, but it's calm, in muted shades of green.

I worked on a lot of things I'm supposed to be doing today. Yeah me. The camera is dead. I'm looking at options.

See Cleaning the Driveway Flower Bed See moods of my backyard