I worked my tail off today. If I could do this every day, I might make progress! But I don't seem to be able to do it. Anyway, I did 15 minutes of a job I don't like, and then rewarded myself with 15 minutes of gardening. All day.
Here are things from the rock garden that are still alive (that I've found so far). First is the one that makes me happiest. This is a sedum I bought in 2020 as a self-reward for finishing some hateful task. It's been in a pot the whole time and has survived the winters. It was only identified as a sedum hybrid, so I don't really know what it is. But I like the colors. EDITED: Almost certainly Sunsparkler Dream Dazzler.
While I was weeding around it, I nearly wiped out some surviving miniature iris. I'm pretty sure these are 'Baby Jewel,' a nice dark purple one with the typical bearded iris shape but only about 6 inches tall. I don't know if there is any hope of them blooming this year, but perhaps they will be happier now.
The moss phlox is taking over the world, along with the miniature geranium, but for now most of these get to stay since at least they are providing cover and blooming. This was a candystripe variety, with pink and white striped flowers. A bit of it remains in that state.
Most of it has reverted to plain magenta or white. That pretty much guarantees the variety is a hybrid.
One more quality plant showed up, but it moved itself to the yard. This is a pasqueflower gone to seed. I'll mark where it is so it can go back in the garden.
This is Sedum sexangulare. Yes, each stalk has six sides. I used it as a nice filler to drape over the rocks. It seems to be the best survivor of the small sedums. I hope a couple others show up, but at least I have this one.
A lot of clumps of Blue Fescue have also survived. This is grass I wish I'd never planted. It self-seeds prolifically, and consequently moves itself around. The clumps are pretty when they are blue, but then they just get ugly. For now, some of it gets to stay.
One other problem with the rock garden is the rocks. A lot of them started with nice colored faces. Now they are nearly buried with the accumulation of 20 years of weed detritus. I don't even know if they could be cleaned up. The dirt needs to be dug back so the rocks show more than just their tippy-tops. I sprayed the biting ant nest. I'm sure I'll have to do that several times.
Tomorrow, I'm participating in a trail blazing seminar with our NCTA Chapter. I probably won't have any energy for gardening after I get home.
Oh, and I knew it was too good to be true. One of the hoses has a leak, so I need to find or buy a mender.
I also continued to weed the front bed. I'm making progress, but have to go a bit slowly in the section I'm on because there are plants I want that have grown together and have to be separated. Also, there was some poison ivy in the flower bed. NO!!!! Got that menace removed. And I trimmed the dead branches from the birch tree.
 | See Rock Garden Report
See How About Those Sedums? |
4 comments:
Everything looks great.
Java Bean: "Ayyy, poison ivy! We have that at the park, and poison oak, too. I always want to go sniff it, because it's along the edges where the animals hide, but Mama won't me."
Lulu: "There's a good reason for that ..."
It's amazing how quickly a garden can become overgrown. We battle bermuda grass here and it is nasty. Can't ever seem to get rid of it, but instead we just keep pulling up the shoots. Ugh. My daughter had pokeweed in her back yard and pulled it up, not knowing what it was. She has severe "burns" that blister and itch horribly for well over a week. She cries from the itching...nothing makes it stop. Have you ever encountered pokeweed?? Gosh, it is dangerous!
Ann- well, little spots look great!
Java- you should always listen to your Mama.
Lin- I have sure never gotten a rash from pokeweed.
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