Just transplanted all five delphiniums into the patio bed.

Have decided that the delphiniums MUST be moved to the patio bed, and I may as well do it sooner or later. They certainly have no intentions of blooming any time soon. I will do it next chance I get. Doing this will get the patio bed pretty well completely filled in. If I then have three more astilbes to fill in the hole they leave, the back of the garage bed will be full, which will be a load off my mind.

Looks like astilbe can be divided in the spring or fall. I will do that to my own, maybe next spring. In general it is time for me to STOP BUYING NEW PLANTS, and wait for the ones I have to spread or to be ready for dividing. I have more than enough choices of things that work well in all of my garden beds.

Still going back and forth about moving the gaillardia.

Went out at 7 to get the new Bluestone order in the ground before the rain starts. It was only 70 degrees, but the humidity has me melting like a candle. Anyway, the new plants are:

Aquilegia vulgaris Black Barlow: nestled in front of the purple dome aster in the garage bed
Aquilegia Winky Series Rose: in front of chrysanthemums in the back border, where the sedum Autumn Joy used to be
Cerastium Olympia: one clump is at the end of the garage bed, between the transplanted shasta daisies (I moved the rightmost clump in the garage bed into the end of the patio bed) and the white chrysanthemum-y things from the neighbor. The other two clumps are at the other end of the bed, between lavender and the new coreopsis.
Digitalis purpurea Pam’s Choice: I am SO excited to finally have some of this. I put it among the miniature iris, with the rest of the white and purple foxglove
Lychnis Chalcedonia: is behind the gladiolus, which have come back for a second year
Papaver Orientalis Pricess Victoria Louise: in a diagonal line along the edge of the gladiolus. I am counting on the gladiolus not coming back, one of these years, as has been my experience before.
Potentillia Melton Fire: in front of the gladiolus. I am really plumping for this stuff. This variety has red flowers with apricot centers, and there is another that is bright bright orange. I am desperately in need of low plants for that bed, so fingers crossed!

I examined another garden, last night, that is now in its fourth summer and that contains many of the same plants. More pains were taken in soil preparation, in the other garden. It also has full sun and no deer issues. It has made me think that the delphiniums may need a lot more sun than they’re getting. I think I’ll let them establish this year, since most of them are new, then transplant them next summer if they don’t show any signs of blooming. Fewer and fewer plants are turning out to be suited for that garage bed, since it gets maybe half sun. The whole back of it may have to be filled with snakeroot and astilbe… which would be okay I guess. You have to work with what you’ve got.

Laura took away all of the things the deer were bothering–the buddleia, the heuchera, the sedum Autumn Joy, and the day lilies. I replaced the day lilies with some monarda Peter’s Fancy Fuchsia and some coreopsis Heaven’s Gate. Laura then brought me an orange agastache rupestris, which I put where the buddleia used to be. In general I could use some low-growing plants to fill in lots of gaps in that bed, but I don’t particularly want geraniums (just because I’m grumpy and I have two kinds in front) and can’t find anything else suitable.

In the front beds, and pardon me if I’m repeating myself, I put a coreopsis Sweet Dreams where the candytuft failed to come up (and need about four more low plants for that corner), a bunch of siberian iris Caesar’s Brother in the middle of the purple coneflowers, three geranium Brookside at the short edge nearest the garage bed, and a clump of dark purple veronica beside a transplanted clump of shasta daisies in the center of that arm. Oh, and some foxglove Hyacinth Hybrids “Excelsior” among those white mum-like things the neighbor gave me. Did I say that I’d put four blue lupins and four blue delphiniums in the garage bed? I did. The pulmonaria there is looking GORGEOUS, I should divide it later in the summer. I need something to fill in around the lamp post, for when the daffodil greens fade. White flowering catnip maybe?

Also, I want a long procession of bulbs to plant around the redbud.

Yesterday I moved the new delphiniums all into the same place, to the right of the purple dome aster. I moved the righthand clump of daisies into the middle of the patio bed. I dug up a lot of the mystery seedlings in the planters, which were on the back deck, and put them where the back border’s gladiolus were last year… I hope they are cleome, but I’m not sure. I also divided some clumps of foxglove, hope I didn’t kill them.

This morning Sparks moved the planters to the front patio and I planted the petunias in them. I think he will fill the smaller planters on the front deck soon; I will sow morning glories and moonflowers in them.

None of this should be done five weeks out from abdominal surgery. It was a mistake, and I have been paying for it.

Garden blooms

I have bellyached before about having to start a garden from scratch, again. Though the flower gardens as a whole don’t look like much this year, there are a few plants that are being complete stars.

Echinacea Double Delight

Echinacea purpurea

Spiderwort… a trailer on the daylilies

Gaillardia tokajer

Those volunteer petunias from the herb garden. Such a lovely mix of colors… you can’t buy them like this.

The one delphinium that didn’t die

Echinacea Green Jewel. Managed one bloom in its first year.

Echinacea White Swan

Hibiscus / Rose of Sharon, a legacy from previous owners.

June 27

Stepped on an ant’s nest while planting delphiniums in the garage bed. I’m still squishing the little shits, who are BITING me.

Did the garden walk with Laura yesterday, and bought two very lovely sedums. They, along with two more tiny ones from the grocery store, have gone into the patio bed. Was so tempted to break off a couple of chicks from the specimens at the Idea Garden, but being publically minded, I didn’t.

Deer ate off all the lily buds overnight. Grrrrrr.

I am not happy with the four o’clocks. Contrary to their name, I haven’t been able to find any flowers open at four o’clock or any other time of day. They are covered in about-to-open and recently-open flowers, though. Would prefer something else in that planter next year.

More and more portulaca in the herb garden, and also one viola. That settles it, planter dirt was definitely worked into that bed.

There are open shasta daisies for the first time today. Three cheers!

Favorite new plants from the garden walk this year were Supertunia Pretty Much Picasso, a pink-purple petunia with lime green borders on the flowers, and tri-color beech, which has pink leaves.

June 22

Heavy rains continue, and oppressive heat in between.

I have my first lilies open at home… and when I checked the old house last night, there was a lovely pinkish-orange lily blooming there. I never planted any, so an animal must have buried the bulb for winter. I will transplant it; it’s such a lovely color.

I bought two delphiniums on clearance last night. Will plant them in the garage bed, probably between the clumps of shasta daisies on the left. Also two more sedums for the patio bed.

Echinacea is starting to bloom; there are a couple plants with distinguishable petal colors.

There isn’t much else to note… everything else is persisting nicely.

June 6

There has been very little deer damage since I put out the Irish Spring, but it has also poured rain both nights so perhaps that kept the deer in the woods. The only bit of damage is that they nipped the top off of the sedum that was going to flower. It was the first time sedum has ever flowered for me, so I minded, and picked up all the scattered petals and stuck them all around the bed. All three of them are going bonkers in this heat, and I have faith that they will grow faster than the deer eat them, and together with the lavender, completely fill that bed. Which would be just fine with me. I also bought another very small, bluish one at the grocery and planted it near the lamp post.

This morning I found my secoteurs and had a good time cutting things out. I finally chopped off the corpses of the peonies, took the dead flower heads off of the chives, cut the seed heads off the foxglove, and removed the accidental sage from the garage bed.

I also finally planted the last of the garden plants (I think). I put the two store-bought black beauty eggplant next to the two we got started from seed, planted two more sweet peppers, the two store-bought jalapenos, and the two unplanted Brandywine tomato starts. Good luck, little troopers.

It looks like I will have to harvest a batch of rhubarb this afternoon and process it into sauce. The stalks are getting longer and thicker now, more like I think rhubarb should be.

Sparks’ parents visited on Thursday and brought gooseberry starts as well as two quarts of picked gooseberries. We made a pie with one of them, and will make sauce out of the other. They have a lovely light flowery taste–and they are tart. I put 1.25 cups of sugar in the pie, at Sparks’ request, and he was absolutely right.

Jane and I picked over the strawberry patch, and the berries are sweetening up.

Last night we visited Ryan’s garden, which is breathtaking in its third summer. The sedum are knee-high, the delphiniums are shoulder-high, and the asters are higher than I am. It did me good to see it; it gives me hope that my poor little gardens will eventually grow so fast and strong that no deer will be able to ruin them.

PS… our “dead” transplanted hollyhock, that the deer ate the buds off of, is putting out new buds and will be lipstick-pink. Perhaps hollyhocks love me and want me to love them, too.