Garden Madness 2008: The Re-Gardening

[nonelvis]

It's that time of year again.



I really needed to get started on the garden last week (if not sooner, because the peas still aren't in the ground), but work has left me so tired out by the weekend, and the weather last weekend was foul. Anyway, I got up at a reasonable hour this morning, drove out to Mahoney's, and spent about $100 less than I thought I would, which was a pleasant surprise at the cash register.

Purchased: tomatoes (white cherry, Juliet, Mr. Stripey, Jet Girl, Brandywine and ... er, something purple); pickling cucumbers; peppers (jalapeño, Hungarian wax, something sweet and Italian); basil (Italian, Thai, lemon); thyme (English, lemon); Italian parsley; pea seeds; marigolds; a scarlet dahlia; two paper daisies; a six-pack of sky-blue petunias; a white and purple fuchsia; a pale pink Knockout to replace the crappy one Wayside Gardens sent me; a big new ceramic pot for the front, since this winter finally killed the previous pot; a bag of potting soil; and two bags of lobster compost.




I got back early enough that I had plenty of time to actually get some garden prep work done, so columbina convinced me to go turn over the vegetable patch. I am now incredibly sore and can barely move, but I could plant peas tomorrow morning if I wanted. I also planted the garlic chives columbina's boss gave me, as well as the garlic a friend gave me.

It's early enough in the season here that the first azalea to bloom, the Hino, is just now in its full glory. I love this plant.


Plus the tree peony my parents sent us really seems to like where we planted it. I need to spread some mulch around its base, but considering it was a small set of leaves and twigs when we got it, the fact that it looks like this now, less than a month later, feels like a good sign:


Someday, it may look like this. But not just yet.

Comments

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose you and Columbina would like to come down for Memorial Day, and weed and plant my garden in exchange for lodgings, a dinner and lots of booze? ;-)

[nonelvis]

I'll check with the husband ;-)

I forget -- how much sun does your garden get, or is it pretty much full shade, since you're surrounded by other brownstones?

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

During the summer it gets a lot of sun, particularly in the morning, though it gets late afternoon sun in the back part, too.

[nonelvis]

Hmm, you get much more sun than I thought you did. l assume you want plants that are as low-maintenance as possible? You could also consider putting in some herbs, which generally love sun; it depends how much cooking you and Clare do. (Of course, mint will grow anywhere and can be used for juleps, if nothing else.)

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

If it grows in the ground, I probably won't eat it. It's not so much that I need plants (I have a bunch of them), but recognizing what's a weed and getting it out of there. There are only a few spots that don't have something in there already.

[nonelvis]

It's not terribly likely we'll make it down there for Memorial Day, though you never know ... could you send me some photos of the garden? I can try to identify the obvious weeds for you. (I know you sent me some blurry shots when you first bought the house, but it's been a while since I saw those.)

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

I never heard of lobster compost. I guess that's particular to New England?

[nonelvis]

It's made in Maine, but it looks like it's available in New York.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I love azaleas. Everything looks lovely.

[nonelvis]

Thanks! Azaleas are one of my favorites, too. If only they had a scent, they'd be perfect. (One of my azaleas does smell slightly like cinnamon, but it's very mild.)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

We always end up with blooming jasmine or wisteria around the time when the azaleas come in here, so I don't miss the scent so much. It is a pity, though.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

The azaeleas are gorgeous. The house I grew up in had them all around. My memory has shifted them ever so slightly more purple. (Perhaps because it's receeding.) Funny that I can't remember whether they had a scent or not....

[nonelvis]

They can get so huge in warmer zones -- my parents have them as gigantic hedges, easily four or five feet tall, in front of the house.

By the way, I thought of you while I was looking for plant pots: so many of them were shoddily glazed, and I know you'd never have stood for that kind of half-assedness, even from industrially made pottery.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's best I didn't see them :)

You did ask me for pottery recently, however, but it wasn't for this. Er, how did we leave that conversation? I appear to have left my brain elsewhere. Are you still interested?

[nonelvis]

Yes, and I asked profrobert and his wife to think about what colors they'd like for the vase. I'll get back to you as soon as I hear from them.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

Great!

[columbina.livejournal.com]

These are hinos. They are actually redder than her photo made them look; a very deep red. We also have an azalea which is closer to the purple you and I remember from Louisiana (your memory is not playing tricks on you) and another which blooms a sort of peach color.