Every spring brings new ideas and new challenges. This winter has been the coldest I can recall for the garden. Usually, the daylilies poke their heads above ground by late January. However, this year, I was still watching for them until early March. The Gerber daisies, which are real troopers and pop out of the ground at the first sign of non-freezing temps, have sent up only a few scouting shoots. Even the creeping Jenny, which had seemed impossible to kill, is slow in waking from a cold-induced stupor. I’m in entirely new territory. It isn’t easy to plan without knowing what is not coming back.
Aside from the cold, I’m dealing with the aftermath of having the yard guys cut down many flowers last autumn while still in bloom. I asked them to remove the dead flower stalks, and instead, they leveled 3/4 of the garden. I have no idea why.
Looking forward, I choose optimism, hoping that the cannas, which I lost control of, were taken care of by the cold. If so, I won’t have to spend all summer digging them out one at a time. The Pincushions and their lovely lavender blossoms disappeared two years ago because they cannot take hours of direct Georgia sun. I bought three more and planted them in a more shaded area, which I called “Death Valley” because nothing has survived there for more than one season. All three plants disappeared last September, so I bade them farewell. But guess what? They’re back!!!
There are far more weeds this year than usual along the garden’s borders because the usual magenta and lavender verbena were absent for two seasons. The good news is that one large patch of weeds, on closer inspection, proved to be bee balm. The bee balm is also the source of a mystery. Last year, I had many plants and very few flowers. Investigating, I discovered that the flowers had been chewed off, leaving only the stalks and leaves. The remainder of each plant was undamaged. Maybe I need a spy cam.
Added to the usual spring cleaning, which will be more involved this year, I also have to put in two new watering lines. I use inexpensive plastic sets that work very well. They are buried under mulch and foliage in the summer and perform well without being seen. Being buried did not save them from the yard guys.
Spring prep is a multi-step process that begins with the removal of mulch, weeds, and plant debris. I hope to complete that first step in the next few days. The following steps—planning and putting in new plants—are going to lag more than in past years because I’m still waiting to find out who survived before allotting space and getting out the shovels. While I’m waiting, I’ll keep busy with the flower pots.
The most troublesome garden areas are the two small plots between the sidewalk and the street. Those plots get full sun from morning until night. For four years, I’ve tried a variety of plants, but none lasted through the summer. One problem is that mulch, which would help them survive the heat, is washed away after nearly every summer storm. After replacing the mulch multiple times each season, it has become clear that a new approach is necessary.
Starting three years ago, volunteer coneflowers and tickseed took root in those plots (thanks to the wind and birds) and they are thriving, essentially unattended. Seeing how the tickseed and coneflowers have done so well, I’ve decided to try planting native wildflowers in both plots to join them. Hopefully, I’ll have a wall of flowers with butterflies and bees and no more mulch woes.
It’s been three years since I have been able to manage the garden fully—I can’t wait to get back!
