A Day in the Garden

I am getting a bit short on posts. Normally, I have about a month's worth, but with the impending shift of platforms for the Leaf Chronicle, I have been stingy with preparing posts ahead of time. I do have a few left, but this one is on the fly.

Since the weather has changed so drastically, and it is scheduled to get really cold today, this is a good time to walk through the garden on this past Sunday. Sunday was a pretty good day to garden outside, and I was able to get many chores done.

Sunday was such a great day in the garden, that if you live in Tennessee and were not working in your garden, or on the lake in a boat-you are so wrong! Here is a walk through mine in case you didn't get to yours!

I planted some potatoes in behind Mr. Fix-it's garage in the Jimster's garden. Just ordinary store bought potatoes which had sprouted. I dug a trench, lay in the potato, covered with soil and hay, and first cool season veggie is in! That is Baby, my last little fostered Golden Retriever puppy, and Link, checking out the newly dug dirt. Baby has a fascination with eating the dirt. Can't see what is so interesting in it. But it does look like good dirt-doesn't it? I get lots of potatoes out of this dirt.

I planted some really cute red cabbages next to the 100 onion bulbs I planted last week in one of my raised beds in the veggie garden. I am looking forward to some great sauerkraut and red coleslaw!

I also planted some really healthy transplants of broccoli in another raised bed in the veggie garden. I am hoping I get to harvest lots of broccoli and don't have to share with worms! Hate those things but love the fresh picked broccoli. We shall see. Do you notice those nice brick paths in the veggie garden? I am looking forward to not getting muddy this year! Pepper plants will also be planted in this bed with the broccoli as the season progresses, hence the wire cages. I plant all of my veggies close together and companion plant many types in one bed.

Let's proceed to the front yard now. Here we come upon some new purchases at the Lawn and Garden show. Let's see, what do we have here? Dames Rockets (2), Soapwort, two types of sedum, a large Holly fern, strawberry begonias (2), a lovely yellow tree peony, and the aforementioned broccoli and cabbage plants, along with a 'Junebearer' strawberry plant. I have only the 'Everbearers' and since these grow strawberries all season the berries are small. I wanted a Junebearer to get larger berries.

Uh-oh. What happened to the split rail fence between my neighbor's yard and my long border? Mr. Fix-it grudgingly pulled it out to make way for the new privacy fence which will travel along this long border, and hide the trucks and so on. Mr. Fix-it was not happy about pulling the fence. He had worked hard to put it in there five years ago. All is not lost though. The split rail (which I also worked hard on-staining!) will traverse the front of the property. We always wanted a split rail fence out front, but didn't want to spend anymore more money. Now we can re-use what we already had! Of course, we are spending money on the new privacy fence, but it will be money well spent!

It was my job to start installing the split rail into its new home. Doesn't it look good? The silverberries really help to form a border between this very busy road, but the split rail makes the barrier and division concrete. We love it! The green fits right in and the split rail gives the plants a backdrop. Now they don't feel like they are left hanging out there by the road (which they still are but don't tell them)! See all those cars coming up the road? Once the privacy fence is installed, you won't-neither will we!

Pulling the split rail, beginning the process of installing it in its new home, and reworking the garden was a BIG chore! The concrete 'flagstone' path I had in this border had to come out. It has been moved to the back now. In its place is a 'Red Tip' photinia, three clumps of ornamental grasses and more room for ornamentals as the mood hits me. Talk about happy-more room to grow flowers in this border due the fence changing out.

I have many more pictures I took on this glorious day. Maybe I will save them for a later walk in the garden. The tulips and daffodils are up and getting ready to grace me with their colors. Actually, I finally had some daffys bloom just today! The crocuses are blooming like crazy. I planted 200 lavender ones last fall and I am so pleased with them that I may buy more next year. Here are just a few in one of the front gardens. The picture really doesn't do them justice.

These little pots are outside my garage door. I planted some primroses in the hypertufa pots I made recently. The primroses weathered the freezes rather nicely. I wish I could say the same for the Gerbera daisy I bought on the same day. I am not entirely sure what is growing in the three green pots. I know some Stella de Oro daylillies are in one, a red hot poker in another and maybe some kind of lily/orchid thing in the last. Dawn, I think it may be those peacock orchids you grew one year. It will be a surprise I guess. At least the plants are all green. That is it for today's walk in the garden.

Everyone reading this, save your colored styrofoam egg cartons. I will be doing a post on yucca 'tulips' soon, but you will need to save your egg cartons now so you'll have enough for the tulips.

Also, spring is here. I heard the peepers today. Their song is one my most favorite songs of spring. I had never heard them until I moved here and so love them each year. I will try to record the song and put it on here for all to enjoy. The peepers are some type of frog, but I am not sure what type.

in the garden....