Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Bulb planting season

Time to get those bulbs in the ground! I have not finished, but I have put in some daffodils and grape hyacynths. I am also improving my map from last year, to be published here when it is done. Here are the locations of the bulbs I've planted so far:

The new bulbs are planted on the right. The dark compost is a little misleading, as I also put some over where last year's bulbs went on the left. 

Same spot, different angle
Along the north-facing side of the big tree at the back middle of the back yard

The trowel, shovel, and pad point to the spot - a little to the right of where bulbs went last year.
Allium bulbs: three visible on the left, and the fourth where the trowel is pointing.


I pulled out a lot of this weed over the summer, but couldn't be bothered with the rest, and now I confess I think its flowers are pretty. (update: see May 4, 2017 post to learn the identity of this plant!)


I have no idea how the plants in the front are supposed to change as the seasons change, on account of I don't even know what kinds of plants they are, but this one has turned a nice yellow, whether that is good or not:



When I was a kid, we used to find these kinds of puffball fungi up by the track at the high school. I loved squishing them so the spores would whoosh out:



The back plot that I designed and put into action this year has not lived up to potential. The threadleaf coreopsis sort of gave up, and the wood's pink asters (below) are having a rather pathetic bloom, and it's just not filled out very well, but I can try some different things next year. The lungwort has done beautifully, and the artemesia has spread beyond expectation (perhaps a bit too much). Everything else is sort of okay.