Who's been digging in my garden?

I was walking out to the front yard when I saw something that caught my eye, holes that I didn't dig for plants.  This nice big hole leads to a tunnel under a weeping cherry tree.

I don't really mind seeing the little holes that I know are from the squirrels.  They don't dig very deep and I usually find these peanut shells nearby.  I know they're just looking for their stash.  I haven't had too much of a problem with them digging up bulbs.

But, it's the mole holes I really don't like.  Every year as soon as the ground begins to warm the telltale mounds of dirt start appearing.  I see them in our lawn and more often in my flower beds.  They push out plants and bulbs, like this little oriental lily bulb.  There was a whole little clump on top of this fresh pile of dirt.  The freshly planted things get it the worst.

I know that moles don't eat plants or bulbs, they are there for the grubs and earthworms, but still they drive me crazy.  I've heard people say it's a sign of a healthy garden if moles are there.  If that's true we must have one of the healthiest yards on the block.  I rarely see mole mounds in any other yard on our street.  Maybe they are secretly laughing underground at us as we carry shovels full of dirt away or stomp around trying to push their tunnels closed.

One year after my husband and I spent a lot of time fixing up a new flower bed he saw the ground moving.  I looked out the window to see him stabbing at the ground with a shovel, I'm sure the neighbors thought they were witnessing a crime in progress.  As much as I don't like the moles I just don't like the thought of killing an animal.  Luckily for that guy, he got away.

I've read lots of articles about natural and unnatural deterrents from hair to chewing gum to flooding their tunnels with water.  I don't know if any of those things really work, but I know the neighborhood cats sometimes can catch them.  The story that always stays in my mind was one that I heard listening to a local talk show host, Pat Cashman, many years ago.  He told the story of his brothers and him pouring gasoline into the tunnels and then lighting it on fire.  I can only imagine how that turned out.

I guess for now I'll just live with them and continue to stomp down their mounds and replant my plants.  

Getting to work!

I think I must have complained too early about spring not coming quickly enough.  We ended up having great weather the past few days.  There was sun and blue skies, even if it did barely make 50 degrees.  I enjoyed getting my roses pruned,  and they have lots of new growth showing.  I don't have too many roses right now, mostly because I have little kids that like to play in the flower beds.  

One of my favorites has been 'Angel Face'.  It has very pretty lavender flowers, almost with a hint of blue, and has a very nice scent, it's classified as a floribunda (1968).  Another great one that never fails is 'Iceberg' with its snow white flowers, also a floribunda (1958).  Both of these also can be found as climbers.   Honey Perfume is a newer one in my garden, it's another floribunda (2004).  It has apricot/yellow flowers and is supposed to be quite disease resistant.  I have only had a few blooms on it, and they do have a nice scent although not all that strong.

Another big accomplishment was finally getting rid of the plum tree that had become an eyesore.  It was right next to our driveway and made such a mess.  The plums cracked every year and no one ever got to enjoy them.  It also became infested with aphids which attracted ants and yellow jackets, not to mention all the suckers it sent up everywhere.  I worked hard to surprise my husband and managed to cut the tree down and dig out the rootball to make room for our newest addition.  

I've always wanted a magnolia tree and we found a really nice one over the weekend.  It didn't hurt that the nursery was having a 30 percent off balled and burlapped trees.  The variety we chose is called 'Vulcan' and is a newer cultivar and no, we are not into Star Trek.  This magnolia should reach about 25 feet. The flowers are wine colored and 10+ inches across and highly fragrant.  I think the magnolia flower buds alone are very pretty.

I hope it lives up to its description.  Either way it should be much nicer than what was there. While I was out I cleaned up the flower bed it was planted in.   My husband brought me many bags of soil and compost to fill in where the stump and roots were.

In front of this bed, to the right in this picture, is a row of spirea 'Magic Carpet'.  They stay small and have golden yellow leaves with a bit of red at the edges.  The flowers are a reddish pink.  I think I will plant annuals around the tree while it's small or until I decide what I'd like to have there.

I love getting started on the spring cleanup early.  I hope we'll have some more mild weather so I can continue my work.  There's more weeding to be done!

Fashion in the garden.

There are times I've come in from working in the garden and realize what I've been wearing outside in public.  I know gardening is not a fashion show.  But, I have to say there are days I've looked at my clothing combination and thought "What was I thinking?"   

Maybe it's the combination of capri length sweat pants, socks and Crocs that makes me cringe.  

Maybe it's the rain boots with sweat pants that somehow end up tucked in that make me embarrassed. 

Maybe it's the mornings that I run out for just a minute in pajamas with a coat and end up distracted by the weeds that I wonder if my neighbors were looking out their windows.

These are outfits I would never normally leave the house in.

I live on a fairly busy neighborhood street with parents driving by after dropping off or picking up their kids from school.  When I stand up to wave do they notice my clothing combinations?   

Am I the only one that dresses this way?  Or is it just my impulsivity that I must get out and work in the garden right that minute that I don't even pause to think about what I have on? Gardening shows and commercials always show gardeners wearing clean khaki pants with a button down shirt and maybe a nice straw hat.  Martha Stewart would never be caught wearing shorts and rain boots.   Do most gardeners just wear whatever they have on, whether it's their work clothes, Sunday best, pajamas or a combination of those three?

I've always hoped I would get to be on the show "What Not to Wear".  Not necessarily because I'm always a bad dresser, mostly because the trip and free clothes sound like fun.  I've told my sister I wouldn't be offended if she suggested me for the show.  If they came to secretly film me while I was gardening I know they'd pick me.