more guys coming up

Meanwhile, stuff is coming up all over. Green-o-rama. But the irises. How come I don't remember them at all from last year? Suddenly, flowers! It's very exciting. (and that's the strawberries and lavender right behind them, and the chives hanging on in that planter that's falling apart).

I've got cosmos and sunflowers growing from seed. Here are some extras in pots so I'd know them from weeds.

It worked!!!

Holy cow. After a couple weeks of watering the mud, it seems that it actually worked. Lawn!

busy weekend

It was a gorgeous weekend, and so it was time to get to work. This list sounds impressive, but it's not so much, really:

- B. was given a Hibiscus “Candy Wind” (Annual – 24-36 inches, likes sun to partial shade). Planted near the jackrbt hydrangea.
- Planted “Rostov Sunflower” (Helianthus annuus) seeds, along fence, in raised bed, and in one small pot (broken one from stoop). Says to stagger seeding to provide continual bloom. Should be 6 foot stalks.
- Spread poppy seed in bed along border where they were last year. Mahogany Red, mixed color, and california poppy (eschschozlia califonica – all have same name. )
- In Enzo’s former hole, under chives, spread “birds eye gilia (gilia tricolor), and farewell to spring (clakia amoena).
- In cement block, planted Cosmos “Sensation Blend” (cosmos bipinnatus), also put seeds in the small oval planter and in a pot. Yay Cosmos!
- And then the trip to the Gowanus, in which, as usual, I spent twice what I had intended. In two of the cement blocks, Candytuft, iberis sempervirens (Alexander’s White). Looks like Lantana. Supposedly perennial. Will need to be cut back after flowering.
- In shady bed, celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), supposedly 12-18:, yellow flower, will spread. Perennial
- Also in shady bead Sweet Woodruff (Galium oduratum), 4-8” groundcover. Also perennial.

- And in pots, I got a bunch of herbs: oregano, basil, sage, tarragon, spearmint, cilantro,
- Out front, in pot on stoop, an annual lantana “confetti”.
- In B.' pot on stoop, Nemesia “Impresario white”, and another Verbena, Lanai Burgundy. Should be good for heat.
- - In aluminum "windowbox" planter, Babylon light blue (Verbena hybrid), and a white osteospermum (Jamboana white). Actually got those last weekend at Grdn.

is this really going to turn into a lawn?

Remember the balding lawn?

So I tilled. Alas, there are no pictures of the tilling itself, which was a hilarious process of getting a big thing from Home Depot (approx 45 minutes), bringing it home in the Fit (approx 25 minutes), getting it into the backyard (approx 10 minutes), getting the machine up and running (took but nothing) and then S. intervening to pull it around the yard since I was pretty useless (approx 15 minutes -- after all that).

Anyway, we churned up quite a bit of yard, then I added some compost, and raked in an attempt to make it "level".

The churned up bits included some existing grass. Which seemed to settle back down and continue to grow. The other parts? Uh. It's looking pretty patchy. Blanketed with seed. And then with more seed. I made all the neighborhood birds very happy.

In sum, I think I did this wrong.

Let's just hope this works. Whatever. I'm not going to be one of those lawn people. It doesn't have to be perfect.

And yes, as you can see, I'm watering religiously.

What's what?

Spring is here! Check out the hyacinths (not my favorite, in fact, my first reaction when they came up was "I planted those?", but they do smell nice). And even a couple daffodils.

Meanwhile, stuff is coming up in other parts of the garden. And I have no idea what they are. And thus, the blog has its first opportunity to prove itself, as I can do a comparison from last summer and try to figure out what plant is what. First, the peony bed.

The peonies themselves are doing their peony thing. I don't remember them coming up red. Maybe it's the cat pee, since this seems to be a favorite place for the strays to hang out?

There's a nice red bulb starting to appear in front. And small leaves of things that I have no idea what they are. I fear they are honeysuckle, taking over. And the Anenomes, I think, at the back. And is that phlox? It's in the right place to be phlox.

Over next to the flowering quince, there are usual suspects -- the wedding hydrangea, the bleeding heart. On the other side of the flowering quince, more of the hyacinth (what was I thinking?), and is that the yarrow? It was so lackluster last year. Maybe it's going to make another go of it? Huh.

Meanwhile over in the shade, it would appear that that the blue sedge grass is back. And a hellebore. And, much to my pleasure, the redwood sorrel seems to be trying hard. Yay Redwood sorrel! And something else is coming up back there too. What are you? They said the "hardy begonia" would be late, and the heuchera was moved (and no sign of it over by the peonies). Is it the hosta? I could be happy if the hosta didn't come back. Why do I feel like the hosta is the Long Island housewife of the plant world. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are housewives ... oh never mind.

And here, a rare opportunity to see what's going to grow on the fence on the other side, before it all gets taken over by Joe Pye Weed and Echinacea. Is that what's coming up? I definitely think I see some of those characteristic jagged leaves. And the jackrabbit hydrangea I rescued too. Is there something else going on back there. The creeping phlox seems to be creeping away.

Uh, spring's coming?

I've been kind of awol. Ok, it was winter. From a garden perspective, nothing happened. And still, nothing much is happening. But there are signs of life. And my inbox is starting to get filled with garden spam, I'm waiting for a paycheck that might cover more than the bare life essentials so I can go spend money on planters and seeds and seedlings and fun stuff. Meanwhile, I sort of remember a last ditch effort to plant some bulbs before the first frost. I think I cut it pretty close. And I know I meant to log what I planted and then didn't. And sure enough, now some stuff is coming up, other stuff that I'm sure I planted isn't, and it's going to be a big surprise.

For example, in the "tomato planter". I remember planting bulbs. No idea what they are.

Also out front, the dogwood tree has some stuff coming up. Again. Don't remember at all what they were.

And then there's other miscellaneous stuff going on: the hydrangeas have buds forming, the bleeding heart is coming back, there seem to be other miscellaneous bulbs coming up (one can hope), and the flowering quince has Actual Leaves:

Overall, it's really time for an overhaul. If I can manage it, early spring projects include tilling the lawn (remember that? It's still "balding"). I can rent a tiller from Home Depot, then mix in the bucket of compost from the giveback, plant new seed, and then keep my fingers crossed. And I really really really really really want to replace the fence on the back wall. The green and white vinyl slats in the chain link. I hate it so much.

Welcome Cyrus!

Here he is!