Sunday 8 April 2012

Easter work

Back to work tomorrow, which seems but "oh too soon".  But it's been a highly productive weekend overall.....although I think my entire gardening budget for the year has now been exceeded!


Order of Work - April 8th


  • removed overgrown cotoneaster.  This plant was already moved from the backyard, to fill up space in my front yard when I initially removed the lawn and couldn't afford to plant the entire space in one go.  It definitely filled plenty of space, and I have a certain fondness for cotoneaster as my mother has a couple of absolutely beautiful cotoneaster horizontalis growing up against her house, which came from my grandparent's farm, Strathinver.  They fan across the walls, and are covered first in lovely, tiny white, starry flowers, and then bright red berries.  However, my cotoneaster did not thrive in the Ontario winter, and certainly didn't have the beautiful fan habit of the horizontalis.   It's time, as they say, had certainly come, and after a considerable effort to dig out the roots....'tis no more.  Replaced by two hydrangeas, "Wim's Red".  These sound highly promising, blooming first in early summer in a flush of white, which progressively matures through pink, and finally magenta in the fall......really hope they live up to their promise.
hydrangea "Wim's Red": amazon.co.uk

  • dug up border to my driveway which was inundated with rudbeckia last year.  Have removed highly invasive amethyst bachelor buttons, which get everywhere, and then thinned out other plants (keeping left overs for a friend who needs to replant a garden after a renovation squashed all life from their front yard.  Have left spaces for the dahlias and cannas that I bought on Good Friday, and filled spaces in the meantime with some cheery pansies.
  • Removed the perovskias which were upsetting me last year.  These have gone to the backyard (and may not last there either!).  Have backfilled their spaces, which lie on the one sandy patch in my entire garden, with 6 vigorous looking eremus, or foxtail lilies.   These were inspired by a visit to Larkwhistle about 6 years ago, where they were soaring throughout the garden in July, in the midst of a drought, and looking absolutely pristine.  I have tried these for the last 3 years and achieved nothing, but I'm hoping the sandy site, and the fact that the roots I bought look much more substantial and alive than any others will equate to success this time.  Fingers crossed please!
Fairegarden.wordpress.com

  • Other work included pruning the lavenders throughout the garden, all of which appear to be sprouting out nicely, potting up my seedlings (white cosmos, black kale, rhubarb chard and tomatoes), skyping with my family, roasting a leg of lamb and baking a lemon self saucing pudding.....yummy!

3 comments:

  1. Hi Donald
    Easter at your house sounds yummy! I also planted foxtail lilies after seeing them in a garden tour. They were true to the perennial's credo - first year sleep, second year creep - third year LEAP! They are in their 6th year now and come up as a strong healthy clump every spring. Hopefully this is the year yours finally perform the way you'd like! Astrid

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    Replies
    1. I'm very excited about them...although it sounds from your comment as though I'll need to be patient for another couple of years!

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  2. Donald! Your work plan is very strong. To replace hydrangeas--Oh! :(
    it might be a work for all day.

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