Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Ah Spring

 This is the view looking out my bedroom window. The forsythia are glorious across the street and they make a lovely backdrop for the magnolia. This tree is the cherry on top of living here. We planted magnolias in our yard back in IL just a few years before we moved to TN and never had the opportunity to see them in glorious full bloom like this one. So I am savoring it. At the base are lots of hyacinths, which have gone past their prime just this week, and a big ant hill for which I have a bag of ant-be-gone and will use soon. Then I plan to trim the lower brances and a few interior limbs to make this less suseptible to mildew which it had in Sept. when we moved in. At that time I will dig up the hyacinth and store them for planting in the new garden in the fall.
Along the edge of the sidewalk are two clumps of daffodils. which look like an afterthought. O and one lone hyacinth. I am thinking the previous owner just got them in the ground and then sold the house to the flipper. These will get moved too and be joined by more of the same.
 This is Houttunyia Cordata. A real pest of a plant. It is creeping into the rest of the yard and is going to be my nemisis for a few years until I can get it gone. For the most part it will be covered by grass cloth under the new deck, but it has moved around to the side of the house and I will have to deal with it there. Even a tiny bit of stem or root will joyfully continue to grow, so it will be a battle to the death.

On the south side of the house the transplanted peonies are coming along nicely without a bit of stress. Almost all have big fat buds so I thought ahead and ordered 20 peony supports from Lowe's. Yes it was expensive, but I saw a large pot of just sprouted peonies at our local nursery, and the price tag was $54, so I have a gold mine of peonies and want to give them primo treatment.  Note to self: Get that mulch laid down now!

 Newly planted purple coneflowers, the kind that are one step above wild. Three or more plants came in each pot from the veggie section at Walmart, and I am pretty confident I will have coneflowers to divide in the years to come. I really want the new orange, yellow and red varieties, but those will come in the next few weeks. And I want the White Swan variety too, so I'll be on the lookout. 

 Last season at our previous house I found a blooming star jasmine which has the most intoxicating aroma. It got planted in the rocky clay at the fence and went to town. I hope I have good luck again with this new one. I lucked out with a package of plastic wired twist ties from the Dollar Tree and will keep this vine upright.  It likes to be kept watered so it will live next to the splash basin and will enjoy the overflow.

 In the back yard, the red bud is taking its sweet time opening up, but is already pretty fabulous. It needs some ruthless pruning but I have a sharp pair of snips and will tackle this when the blooms all drop. 

 Our neighbor, two houses down have the most gorgeous yard and raised beds, and real grass. Envy is green and I am full of it. I keep my eyes open to see these people working in their yard, but so far I think they must do it in the dark. I haven't see who lives there yet, but I want to be friends. They really know what they are doing. Now here's the cool thing. I often see UPS delivering rolls of decorator fabric, and leaving it on the front porch. Hmm. What could this mean? Stay tuned as the mystery unfolds.

And now for more knitting. This cowl was made for Margaret and is #14.  #15 for Edie is about an hour away from being finished. I have so enjoyed making these cowls this winter and getting to play with various yarns in combination. I am so thankful to you all for ordering them and giving me so much knitting joy. And it was fun to make the pins too. 






1 comment:

  1. I have some of that invasive plant, the pink and cream and green variegated variety. I feel your pain.

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