Mulch, Mulch and More Mulch

For the past week or so we have been moving mulch.  Seemingly mountains of mulch.  In reality it was 10 cubic yards of mulch.....but most of it was to be used in the back gardens.  You know....around back and down the hill to the very sloped gardens.
Thankfully we bought the cart to go behind the lawn tractor last year when we put some rocks in the garden.  Charlie loaded and loaded and loaded and dropped big piles of mulch all along the pathway in the back garden.  I had some more weeding to do and lots of little baby plants emerging, so I didn't want mulch dropped into the garden bed directly.

I didn't have my camera in my pocket while all this was done...so no befores and middles of the work.  I did walk around AFTER and am so happy with how the garden is shaping up.   In July I will share a 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 progress report.  For tonight, visions of a job well done.

This garden bed, above, Charlie lined the edge of the garden with newspaper and piled a lot of mulch throughout.  It is mostly daylilies-- already up.  Other plants in this very wet bed include Cardinal Lobelia and another cultivar Lobelia 'Queen Victoria'...red foliage and red blooms.  Elephant ears are quite happy in this bed.  Along the back of the bed are three Magnolia 'Little Gem' and a Cryptomeria japonica 'Black Dragon'.

This one is sort of a middle job photo....you can see some of the piles of mulch on the high part of the pathway.

The beds along the sides of the house just needed a little top dressing.  The daffodils still have their foliage up in the garden,  don't want to cut nor cover it.   The Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko' is just about done blooming, just a few blossoms left.    You can see that the yard slopes down toward the back of property.

The shed in the front yard shows the slope.   Hopefully the shrubs will hide the cinder blocks in the next year or so.

Everything looks much better with a fresh layer of mulch doesn't it?

Part of this front garden got some edge dressing with the last of the mulch mountain.    We also had to patch some areas of the grass where the dogs and the winter wet weather makes it so thin.

Most of the mulch went to the back.  Thank goodness for the cart and tractor.    Love the flagstone patio bordered by the Catmint, Rosemary and various goodies.

Looking back up to the house, you can make out the beds, now ready for this growing season.  Now mulched the plants stand out and have a presence in the garden.

Lest you think I done with the mulching....there are still a dozen bales of pinestraw waiting, waiting since last year to be spread.  ugh.

Once done, my gloves removed and my shoes taken off....I was in great need of a shower!!

Before showering I walked the yard and got some of these pictures and saw a new little friend.  

He was on the wall by the side garden.  I was worried about him falling off, it would be a three foot drop.  It appears he has had a few bumps and bruises already, see the cut in his shell.  Poor turtle.  I moved him into the garden, under the Edgeworthia for him to forage.

One more exciting capture---

Mr. Gray Fox in my neighbor's driveway.  I was walking the dogs and saw the fox.  Lucky for me the dogs didn't see the fox and the fox didn't see the dogs.  

Is your garden ready for the summer?  

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Couldn't Ask for A Nicer Day

After many days of rain, drizzle, and the lack of sun, today started off with the sun shining brightly.  We have a lot of bird activity in the morning and the evening...so I am always on the lookout for birds in the backyard as well as while walking the dogs.  Monday I was out on the deck before dinner and saw a Scarlet Tanager. I had never seen one here before.  Know where the camera was?  Yes, in the house out of reach.  Well, this morning I was looking out the window, enjoying the sunshine when I saw one again!!! Quick tell Charlie so he can see it and run for the camera.   Today I was able to get a number of photos of Mr. Scarlet Tanager, though they are zoomed in of the trees, and then I had to crop the photos, so not as crisp as one might want, but successfully photographed nonetheless!

He flittered from one branch to another, hiding behind the leaves, making a clear shot almost impossible.

Isn't he a beauty?  Last summer and the summer before we had Summer Tanagers in the garden, so this is a new sighting.  Hope to see him and hopefully his mate more often.

Today's great weather was a stroke of luck because a few of my fellow garden bloggers had planned on getting together.  Julie, from Growing Days and DJ from Meander Mountain and I met at Hatcher Gardens for a visit and a garden fix.
I had stopped at Hatcher Gardens with a couple Master Gardeners on our way back from SC Arbor Day celebration at USC Upstate.  December it was still gorgeous, May it was thick and lush.  You can see my posting on the December visit here.
Here are my fellow blogging buddies, under a huge pecan tree.  I love the maturity of the trees in this garden, they certainly have been around for a long time.

The front area of the Hatcher Garden is nicely planted with colorful conifers, Japanese maples, and some ornamental shrubs that offered either texture or color to add to the landscape.  

This longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, looks almost like a cactus or yucca.  

Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' adds some nice color interest to the front edge of this garden.  Not sure what the shrub behind it might be, but to the right is an Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia.  This was a dominant plant in the forefront of the garden near the parking area.  

This mixed bed has Heuchera...maybe 'Lime Rickey', Japanese painted ferns- Athyrium niponicum, another Heuchera, maybe 'Carmel', some nice full herbaceous Peonies, a sedum- probably 'Angelina'  and some Pampas Grass, Cortaderia selloana.    There is so much texture and color appeal, without any blooms...though the peonies are about to pop.

Doesn't this pathway draw your eye to follow the dominant yellow?  One side had the Heuchera 'Lime Rickey' and the other was a color echo using hostas...not sure of the variety but it was a large leaf, maybe 'Guacamole'.

You could tell the Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplars, have bloomed, petals littered the walkway.  

On the railing of one of the small bridges was a crab claw.  Where did that come from???  

On this 4 x 4 post there were twigs attached with a piece of hardware, why you might ask.... to give the Confederate Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, something to grab onto as it climbs up the post.  Pretty clever if you ask me!

There were some blooms to see, love this yellow Iris.  I don't know my Irises well enough to say what variety it might be....maybe a Louisiana Iris? 

The last of the seedpods of the Fatsia japonica are providing some nice eye candy.   You can see the pods forming in my post from the last visit. 

These deciduous azaleas were still blooming, and nicely fragranced.  What a great shade of pink.

See the pond beyond the azalea bloom?  Look at the residents on the log!  I love turtles.

Like I said, it couldn't have been a nicer day.....great time with DJ and Julie!


©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Some Surprises

Last spring at the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling we had Southern Living give us a presentation about new plants.  It was fun to see new cultivars that have been developed.  When the presentation was over, a list was sent around for us to sign up to possibly receive one of these plants -- sort of to test them in our gardens.  Who wouldn't sign up for a free plant?  Well, many (perhaps all) of us did receive four plants from Southern Living.  I will do a full post about the progress of these plants after the growing season.  My plants arrived in October, two of them were Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress'.  I like the yellow blooms on Mahonia, but the sharp leaves of the M. aquifolium were a problem.   Well, Soft Caress has SOFT foliage, not stiff and not spiny.  I was thrilled to have a couple of these for my shady garden in the backyard.  

Sadly the deer loved it as well.  I send Aimee Coker an email (she is the contact person who emailed us for mailing address and garden conditions) and told her I was unable to give feedback on this Mahonia.  

Then...... in the past week or so I was walking through the garden, checking on this spring's progress and look what I found!!   This tiny growth is my Mahonia!!!  My back garden is large enough that if something dies or is eaten, I leave it....mark it with a stick to remind myself of the location and wait.  Well, it looks like the waiting has paid off.   I will spray some deer deterrent on the new growth every week or so, telling those deer to feed elsewhere.   

Speaking of eating in the garden....this was my Furfugium japonica, prior name- Ligularia tussilaginea.  The hole was a lot larger than a typical vole hole.   I was not happy about this!!  Nor was I thrilled about some mysterious underground critter that was larger than a vole (rat???) eating my plants from below.  

I stamped down the hole, pushing the remaining roots to have soil contact....put my stick in the soil to mark the spot and waited.   I thought about getting some kind of trap, like a large mouse trap, but didn't want to deal with what it caught.  Ignore it, that is good for now.    Well, once again patience has paid off.  

The hole has disappeared or rather has not reappeared and the Furfugium is putting out new spring foliage.
I love nice little surprises like this!
We have had a good amount of rain in the past few days, spurring on more spring growth.  I like having the 'overhead' view of the garden.  Slowly but surely the garden is filling in.   I will do a yearly comparison in July but wanted to give you a fresh spring shot.

Yes, there are a lot of weeds out there....I still need to mulch and along the shoreline there are bales of pinestraw from last year.  I got tired of getting chigger bites and quit spreading it.  

 Here is a pieced together photo of the backyard.  This is the view that a certain blogger got to see.

Saturday I got a Facebook message from Skeeter asking if we were going to be home on Sunday afternoon.
Yes, Skeeter and her husband  Mark stopped by on their way home from Asheville on Sunday afternoon! They had a nice trip to Asheville and Biltmore but the rains and thunder here were kind of limiting garden tours.  I know she and Mark will come back, we live pretty close.  Garden blogger visits are lots of fun!

 Skeeter brought a couple cute garden items ---they are already in place.  Really cute.   Thanks so much!  I will think of you every time I see them.

Both are by the front door, welcoming visitors with a splash of color.  Thanks so much Skeeter!!  What a nice surprise to have them visit.

I have a few new 'visitors' in the parsley.  This year it looks like I will have to share my parsley with these caterpillars to the Black Swallowtail.

As they grow (and eat my parsley) will they be around long enough to become Black Swallowtails ......

.....or will they be bird food??  Here is Mr. Eastern Towhee.. hanging out in the backyard.

And a newly identified bird, Mr. Yellow-breasted Chat, seen on a walk with the dogs.  Pays to keep your camera with you!!

Do you have some nice surprises in your garden?

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.