Garden Wanderings

This morning I woke early from a craft store nightmare and since I wasn't scheduled to tend E until 11 I headed out to do some gardening.  There were some blades of grass springing up in the strawberry bed so I pulled those and found a plant that didn't root and replaced it with an extra I had saved in a pot.  We have a hand full of blossoms on the 2 plants that overwintered.

I wandered about looking at the new life and digging up random weeds that I found particularly offensive.  I noticed that the grape vine is just about to flower/leaf as the buds are about to burst.  It is fun watching a grape vine for the first time.

The potatoes that I planted in March in the corner garden on the north side of the house have a couple of leaves poking through.  The rhubarb in that corner is doing better that the rhubarb in south lawn in full sun.  This corner garden is now shaded for a good part of the day by the plum tree.  I am afraid that it really will need to be cut down this fall.  It is so sad because the pink blossoms in the spring are so  beautiful and when they fall and it is raining pink blossoms it is positively enchanting.

There is a hedge running along the south porch  and there are tulips behind it.  I don't know which was planted first or if the planter of the hedge knew that there were tulips planted when they put in the hedge but the beautiful apricot tulips don't do very well because just after they come up the hedge fills in and they get too much shade to bloom.  The few that do bloom are hidden by the hedge so today I began tentatively, to move them from behind the hedge to the front.  I know this isn't the best time to move bulbs but you have to do it when you can A) find the bulbs, and B) when the ground is soft enough to plant them.  I think I moved about 1/4-1/3 of them before M called and asked if E could come right away.  Gardening morning cut short!

While I was moving tulips I found some Lemon Balm and I laughed because I just got a huge chunk of lemon balm from B because I didn't have any.  The balm wasn't doing too well behind the hedge either.  I also picked up some chives from B and put them just at the base of the climbing rose in the drive.

About 3 weeks ago I started some seeds in a mini greenhouse.  The zinnias and Tom Thumb Lettuces have all come up as have the borage but the tomatoes, impatiens, futzu, spearmint and Dwarf Bees beans are not doing anything.  The borage could probably the transplanted but I have no idea where I will put it.

I also noticed some lilies and comfrey poking up through the soil and the wildflower bed on the corner of the drive is showing some life, but the tulips and daffodils are all dying away and there is nothing even close to blooming just yet.

Oh, and these little beauties popped up in the north garden along the fence.  Aren't the gorgeous?