"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Keeping busy.

It's been very busy around here, I think this may have been the longest time between postings in awhile.  Part of the reason I've not posted was that I've just been busy with life, kids, etc.  The other part is that this cold and wet spring has gotten very old and I've been frustrated with wanting to garden and not being able to because of weather, also that it seems the garden is in slow motion.  I've also found that I lost quite a few plants, I've pulled rotted rootballs up of quite a few plants.  Anyway, we did have good weekend weather and today apparently we had our first average temperature day of 62!

Old-fashioned bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) 'Alba' are finally in full bloom.  They were worth the wait!

The white ones usually bloom after the pink Bleeding Hearts but they are blooming together this year.

I'm so happy to see so many apple blossoms on the tree.  Last year there were very few.  I forgot what a pretty pink color they are.

The shed garden has really taken off all of a sudden.  Columbines, Bergenia, Bluebells, Deutzia, Meadow Rue and Heucheras are all beginning to bloom.  I think even the variegated Rhododendron might actually bloom this year.

Aside from tulips the front yard is still taking it's time.  I'm wondering if the Mexican Orange (Choysia ternata) will survive the move back in February.  It's pretty wilted still, but I'm not giving up yet.

Today I finally was able to get some of the plants that I started inside out in the ground.  I planted out Pattypan squash, Butternut squash, zucchini, pumpkins, chamomile and roses.  I now have cookie sheets for cooking again.  Funny how many kitchen supplies I use for seed starting.

The vegetable beds before I planted.  I can't wait until they are full of things to eat, if the temperatures warm up the seedlings will hopefully grow a bit faster.

As I worked in the garden over the past month I noticed that the soil we had delivered back in February didn't look very good.  It was very gray, full of rock and sharp glass and formed a hard dry crust after the soil began to dry after all the rain we'd been having.  Many of the seeds I started began wilting.  A woman from the company came to look at the soil and told me they had delivered the wrong type.  It wasn't the special garden mix we ordered, but some other "supreme mix".  I pointed out how hard the soil was, showed her the glass and she apologized.  The company agreed to credit us back half of the money and agreed to deliver 2 yards of compost.  That meant scraping off the top layer of the raised bed, then spreading the new compost over most of the front yard.  This was another two days of hard work that we thought we were done with.  I think the soil will be fine when I mix it in as I plant things.  I was happy the company acknowledged their mistake, but not happy we had to spend all that extra time on it.

Looks like more rain and cool temperatures are back on their way here.  I sure hope we can start getting more than one day at a time of warm weather.  I know many others are dealing with a cold and wet spring too.  Hopefully things will begin to turn around.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress. Pin It

32 comments:

  1. Hi Catherine, so sorry to read of this soil mix up, that is quite frustrating not to mention, a lot of extra work.
    I'm hoping we get more than one day of sun in a row here soon too. It was nice to talk a break at work today and walk around the buildings. I even got a bit of pink on my cheeks.
    We'll all hang in there together and hope for a consistent spring to arrive. Your shed garden is looking grand! Cheers, Jenni

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  2. Boy can I sympathize with your weather...we have had 10 inches of rain in April with mostly cold temps..the garden is still 2 weeks behind with perennials just beginning to grow..you are even further ahead than we are...bulbs just fading here oh and did I say we have flooding..yep lots of the garden is under water and plants have been lost because it has just been too wet...replacing many with more wet tolerant natives...oh well we go on don't we..glad the soil problem was solved...here's to spring finally kicking in!!

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  3. From here, the transformation in your garden is truly phenomenal. A few months ago, everything was bare and twiggy and now, look at it! Nature is miraculous the way she leaps into action once conditions become more favourable. Your garden looks beautiful, and the shed garden is gorgeous! I know the extra unplanned work resulting from the soil problem was an incumberance, but it was good to get it sorted out.

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  4. A beauty!... I like it very much, the way you space out plants and pots.

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  5. I had some soil delivered two years ago for my raised bed garden and it was full of weeds. It has taken a couple of years of adding admendments and pulling weeds to get it in good shape for growing veggies.

    The beds look great. I bought Dicentra Alba last year and it is just about to bloom.

    Eileen

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  6. Great to see all those blooming plants !!...lovely day enjoy gardening.....love Ria.....xxx..

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  7. Catherine,
    That is bad about the soil. But they are trying to amend the situation. At least you did not get soil with bind weed in it. We are fighting it everyday we walk in the garden. Now I buy only compost.

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  8. Your gardens are always so tidy. Everything looks wonderful from my view. I'll trade you some sunshine for a little rain.

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  9. 'Alba' also grows in my garden, but it's a long way from having any white hearts, barely out of the ground. It was a gift from my mother a few years ago.

    Your new vegetable garden beds look fabulous. My veggies will be planted in 5-gallon containers this year. Sorry about your soil experience, it's not like you need any extra work outside.

    Catherine, you have a whole lot of pretty going on around there. Enjoy!

    donna

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  10. How beautiful your shed garden & front garden are! I like the variety of plants in both of them. Compared to you, I don't garden at all :)

    I have a red bleeding heart (with one or two flowers on so far) but have never seen white ones before.

    In a few minutes I'm going outside to see what (if any) damage was done by the light frost last night...

    Happy gardening today!

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  11. I feel your pain but know you will be happy in the long run! Your Heuchera looks like the one I found growing in my garden/woods as a volunteer! Amazing plant.

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  12. What a bummer about the delivery snafu. It sounds like it's a good company though for apologizing and making amends. ... I told myself after the tornadoes in Alabama that I'd stop my bitching about the weather but I'm sure being tested. Yesterday was beautiful but it's back to gray skies today. If only it would warm up.

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  13. I do the same thing with my kitchen things. I've finally reclaimed all my mugs, but the muffin tin has been taken over by the children. Must rescue.

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  14. The East Coast is also suffering from time lag or jet lag or whatever you call this. Feels like March today. I think this will be my first Mother's Day in forever that I can't bring the tropical plants outdoors.

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  15. The shed garden is looking so good! I know you didn't get your soil from Cedar Grove, but we had the same problems last year, lots of bits of glass, also large chunks of wood and when it dried out, it became crusty. How annoying it must have been to have to replace it.

    Yesterday was such a beautiful day, wasn't it? My bleeding hearts are also one of the few things I have blooming right now. Everything else is taking its time.

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  16. Even with a slow start to spring, it's all looking great Catherine. I had to laugh at the cookie sheets. I have a large collection of them here, at one point I'd used all but one under seedlings! I'm sorry you had to do double work on the beds. I've said unfavorable soil deliveries here too, and what is it with the glass? I've even found some in quality bagged compost. I've learned the hard way to wear thick leather gloves, but it's always a nasty surprise finding glass in the soil. I'm sure with the top dressing of compost though your plants will be very grateful as the weather warms.

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  17. I bet you were livid about the dirt. That's a lot of work to have to re-do because somebody else made a mistake. Beautiful bleeding hearts. The shed garden is looking fine.

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  18. Your garden looks beautiful, however I can imagine how annoyed it must have been getting the wrong soil. What a job! They should have done the labour! Anyways, your plants are wonderful. Kelli, Northern Ireland.

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  19. The new front garden looks prettier every time you show it Catherine. Your shade garden does look good.All of this rain has me worried about my plants too. I am worried about the ones that deal better in the dry weather. My shade garden likes the rain but everything is just not as lush or blooming as well. Just too many dreary cloudy days. My seedlings in the house are wanting out in the sun and they are looking weary too. Your seeded plants look good. Especially your squash plants. I told someone I would have to put suntan lotion on all of my plants outdoors if the sun ever decided to stay out. They just wouldn't be able to stand it. LOL!

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  20. I think your garden looks beautiful:)

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  21. I would love to just fall into this photos!

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  22. Everything is looking great...is that a Ribes in the background of the one pic? What a pain about the soil...still, at least they gave you something for it...not that it makes up for all the extra work and time :-(

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  23. Sorry to hear the weather is getting you down and that you lost some plants. Your garden is looking lovely though. I love those Bleeding Hearts, so dainty :-)

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  24. There's too much to do these spring days to have to 'do over' but at least they tried to make good. Compost is a good thing. Earthworms will help you with the mixing, another good thing.

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  25. Everything looks great. I love your bleeding hearts! Things looks so green. What a bummer about the soil. At least the company took some responsibility. I enjoyed the walk through your garden.

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  26. Your garden and flowers look lovely to me! I've been watching the Mariners at home, and it looked like clear skies, but I guess still cool. I hope you get more of the 60 degree temps soon. We are already in the 90's and my heavenly blue morning glories are already wilting before they've have had a chance to bloom!

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  27. Your garden always looks so sunny in the photos you post! Bummer on the soil you ordered. I was going to say this always happens to us with new soil but you ordered a special blend and they made a mistake! That's extra awful. I'm glad they are giving you back some money and compost. This is what I have to do to the soil I get-whether delivered or picked up myself from the quarry. It's always a fine dirt that crusts over. Compost and mulch helps. Gardening can be such a pain at times but once it is all done I think you'll be happy when all is growing nicely! Happy Mother's Day!

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  28. The Bleeding Hearts are outstanding! Never heard of those. Absolutely beautiful!!! First time here- great blog!
    K

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  29. Believe me, I can feel your frustration with the weather, because it's the same way here. Rain, rain and more rain! And it's way too chilly for May. We are still running the furnace. Hurry up summer!

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  30. Wow, the cold and dreary weather has really hung on for you guys. Hope it warms up and the sun comes out more often soon. The shed and front gardens look wonderful!

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  31. Jennifer@threedogsinagarden
    Your spring garden is looking wonderful. We have had a terrible spring here as well. Now I am struggling to catch up on things. Have a great weekend.

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  32. Hope that your spring has perked up Catherine and that you are enjoying some better weather by now Here we seemed to have skipped spring and almost gone straight into summer. I have been wishing for rain so I can get on with some indoor jobs :)

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