Bulb planting map

I finished planting bulbs ages ago but forgot to post the map.

I am still raking, of course, but the end is near. I probably will have done about 50-60 bags this year when all is said and done. I didn't do the front because we paid someone, so that probably accounts for the difference from last year (75ish), and maybe I got more efficient (I now know to rake when the leaves are damp, because they pack best).

I have started looking for a replacement for the threadleaf coreopsis moonbeam that did so poorly in my back plot last year. I see mixed things about the need for sun among moonshine achillea (yarrow, A. hybrida), and mixed things about deer resistance among shasta daisies. Yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea = Pseudofumaria lutea) seems like it is worth a shot.

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.

Garden happenings

So much catching up to do. So little time.

Remember this?

Now it looks like this! Still love brachyscome. One of them failed on the other side of the steps, but they've had a lot of dryness to overcome.

And remember the lantana?

Again, another winner. I wonder if I could grow both of those from seed?

Cutting back the lavender (and wormwood) in the spring was brilliant. Might be even better if I did it in fall.

And then we have our back plot, back in May:

And today:

I did eventually put in threadleaf coreopsis (Moonbeam) but it just didn't make it. It's okay, because I found it more straggly than I would have liked anyway. Next year, I need something else to fill those spots. Check out the wormwood, spilling over! The ageratum did better here than in the front, but still not great. I am not sure what's going on with the asters - they already did a very, very few blooms earlier this summer, and now?? They look healthy enough, but don't look on the verge of blooming - I can't remember when they were supposed to bloom. Something has been eating holes in the lungwort since Day 1 but they seem to be thriving anyway.

Today I cut the forsythia behind the back yard's middle tree back to almost nothing, since the darned thing barely bloomed this year or last. Life's too short for forsythia that doesn't bloom.

A couple weeks ago I donned a paper suit (genius, really) and rubber gloves and cleared the property of poison ivy. There was quite a bit.

The mosquitoes are bad this year, despite the overall dryness. I suspect the neighbors' oft-still fountain as a main source. How does one break it to one's neighbors that their fountain is so vexing?

Emma and I went today to Durand-Hedden garden, which is VERY small but cute. I loved this arbor with gourds dangling from it.

And maybe I need to plant this plant:

What else...I eventually put four poppies from seed into the front, and only one of them has made it - perhaps too dry, perhaps soil too poor. The basil I grew this year had leaves too small. The thyme has been very robust.

I think the front yard could stand to get more herbs as annuals. Both practical and pretty, not to mention deer-proof.

We hired Mackinson Turf Mgmnt to deal with crazy clover and other weeds. They have sprayed once so far. Clover died right away. Everything else, not so much.

The laurels in front of the house that I cut back in early summer are, as hoped, growing leaves from their bases.

We have finally settled on a plan with Birch Hill Landscaping to redo the front, where the trees came out. Just waiting for them to get started. Absurdly expensive. Don't like to think about it.

Remember my lavender seeds, in the fridge in April or thereabouts? Still in the fridge. Whoops.

The portulaca I planted in May (from seedlings) in front did great, and even my late-sown portulaca seeds came up energetically. Definitely a winner; I want more in the front next year.