Making Progress

I spent a little time after work cutting down plants from the roadside gardens. I am making progress, but still have a lot to do. Yesterday I cut down the few daffodils that were blooming. I have planted hundred of daffodils, but they just are not happy with the accommodations and very few return. Since nine daffs scattered in different gardens have little impact, I cut them all down and brought them inside where I can enjoy them.

I made four tiny vases of them to use on a dining room table, which I will post next week. All the snow on the deck has melted and it's looking quite bare.

It will be about three weeks before I can begin bringing all the big containers outside and planting annuals for some instant color.

I do have a few chive plants providing a bit of green among the bleakness. I cut my first fresh bunch yesterday and had cottage cheese and chives for dinner.

Tomorrow is Tablescape Thursday, which means all of us table setting nuts post pictures of our latest creation. Mine is the black, white and silver table that matches the runner I showed you last week. If you want to see it, just click here.

Thank goodness it's going to Rain Soon

I've been outside for the past 4 hours...I painted a few more things (a table, a bench and a desk), trimmed all of the shrubs (with hand pruners). It's a good thing the rain is forcing me inside. because the whole house is desperate for a good cleaning.

Remember when I told you that I had TONS of creeping phlox?

Well, I wasn't kidding.

I took all of these pics today to show you most of the spots where it's blooming.

Look closely in the back of the next pic and you will see where I put the white table/chairs I just painted.

Yesterday I also hauled out my 5 old milk cans, one of which you see here in front of the wheel. If the pic is enlarged you will see three others way in the back.


I'll just show you the other three. Oh, look through the spokes, there is another little patch of phlox.

This area is very shady and nothing grows well. I decided to plant all the milk cans with hostas that I dug from another area in the front yard. I think the hostas will fan out nicely on top of the milk cans. There is such a small area to plant in a milk can that it is difficult to get something that looks good. I have about 45 hostas planted in the crabapple tree garden, but they don't thrive in that area, so I am digging them out and using them in many of my containers this year. You will see them later in the season in many of my large deck planters.

Yesterday I finally cleaned the pavers in my main gardens. Here they are full of pine needles and not very attractive.
and after about 15 minutes of raking and sweeping.


I overwintered this lime green and yellow variegated artemisia, 'Oriental Limelight' and decided to plant it in the Arbor garden for a spot of bright foliage color.

Because it's very aggressive, I have decided to dig a hole and plant it right in it's container. I probably should have divided it to get another free plant. I guess If I find a spot where I simply must have another touch of lime green color, I will dig it back up and divide it.

I Read that Sleeping is one of the best remedies for the common cold

Thank you all for the concern and best wishes.

I spent most of Friday and Saturday in bed with a sore throat, cough and congested head.

I had my book and TV remote by my side.

Every two hours I took a cold tablet in an attempt to mask the miserable symptoms. On Sunday my body finally won the viral slugfest and felt somewhat human again.

All weekend I kept thinking of that tall grass with the seedheads swaying in the breeze. I kept seeing all those seedheads laughing at me as they dropped thousands of their next generation all over the ground while I coughed and sneezed my weekend away.

Although I still sound like I have a clothespin attached to my nose, I feel fine and went to work today. I should be outside right now working on the weeds, but I am no longer in the mood.

In between all that sleeping this weekend, I did get a full novel read and started on a second one. Now that I am into the second one, I want to spend my free time reading.

This is the bed I was working on Friday. I removed all of that sedum album 'coral carpet'(the reddish color stuff) that was edging the entire bed. It may not look like a very large bed, but it took 10 wheelbarrow loads to get it all out. I took this picture when I was only about half done. I actually did remove it all. I still need to haul some topsoil in to finish it.

Over the weekend my poppies started to bloom.


Oh, yea, remember that orange/purple color scheme for the hanging baskets?
Well, two of the waves have bloomed and both are hot PINK!!

This year is just not going well. It can only get better. Right?