Planting and Transplanting flowering plants

Today was a busy gardening day. I was so excited to get a few new plants into the ground as well as to transplant a few others. I started off by planting a small Wiggle Worms Hosta that my buddy, Veronica, donated to me from her garden. 

This new hosta is at the opposite end of the shed garden from Empress Wu. Of course, to plant Wiggle Worm I had to dig up a huge section of ferns. That was a lotta work!

Veronica and I do a lot of trading back and forth and it is so much fun to have a friend who is as into gardening as I am. Empress Wu hosta was also a donation from Vernoica, last autumn, and the Empress is incredibly content in her new home. I have a fence around her so that the dogs that we dog sit for don't dig her up. However, each time I go out to gaze upon her, I hear her singing along with Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters as they belt out, "Don't Fence Me In..." So, I will remove the fence tomorrow as Wu will more than fill in all the empty space around her, over time, as she will be huge.

It really is a hosta day for me. The last time Veronica visited, we were checking out some of my azaleas and Veronica noticed a hosta hiding under some weeds. I had planted this hosta about 20 years ago and lost track of it. It had never liked its location and always got eaten by deer, but here it was still struggling to gain a foothold. So, today I dug it up and transplanted it between two mountain bluets in front of the back deck. It will be protected from deer as the backyard if fenced.

I don't know where I bought it from or what variety it is, but I think it will be happy here. I love the patterning on its leaf margins.

I bought a French Lavender variety that I think is Fringed Lavender (Lavandula dentata) from Mid Coast Growers and planted it in the pot that held a hybrid cross between an English and a Portuguese lavender (Lavandula x intermedia) last year.

The flowers on the Fringed Lavender are very different than that if x intermedia, and the foliage is not as fragrant. Next year, I hope to find Lavandula x intermedia again as its scent was incredibly soothing. The flower pot is on the front deck and I tend to run my hand over the leaves every time I pass by.

Toby's Memorial Garden

I finally put our "Toby's Memorial Garden" sign into the triangle garden in the front yard.  When this garden is in full bloom it contains lots of pink Astilbe, Sweet Woodruff, the sacrificial Hosta that the deer enjoy munching on, purple Campanula flowers, Pink Bells, and more.

This is the perfect place for the sign as our big, blind, blonde, beautiful boy used to love to sniff the flowers and do full body rubs against plants.

Here is a close-up of the gorgeous red Dianthus flowers that are just coming into bloom for the summer. 

And, finally...here is a photo I took of the memorial garden sign, when it arrived, with snow as the backdrop to show you the gorgeous details of it.

Planting Cucumber and Salad Greens

Today, we assembled the City Picker grow boxes and I planted the lettuce, parsley, and cucumber seeds as well as the Arat Parsley Root seeds that had been soaking overnight. This is the earliest I have ever planted the garden seeds, but it seems like it will be warm enough. We'll see!

I planted a gourmet blend of lettuce seeds that have been successful for many years. I also planted Italian flat parsley seeds into one of the openings.

I am trying a few new types of cucumbers this year. Drew has always been a fan of the burpless cucumbers that his father used to grow, so I am trying those this year.  And, the Homemade Pickle Cukes are new for this year.

Wells Police Department Public Service Announcement

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We haven't seen the sun since May 15th, but today there were brief moments of sunshine peeking through the cloud cover. It was a welcome sight! I must say that I am starting to recharge my Mojo and I am at about 70% right now! Tomorrow should top up my Mojo tank to 100% ! I'm back, Baby!

Getting the vegetable garden started

Yay! We did not have but a sprinkle of moisture falling out of the sky today! And, there were peeks of sunshine periodically throughout the day. It was a good day to start planting vegetable seeds.

I planted kohlrabi seeds into two 15 gallon grow bags. The carrots and arat parsley root are all in taller, skinny bags to accommodate their long tap roots. I have the Arat Parsley Root seeds soaking overnight in water so as to help them sprout. I will plant them in their prepared cloth bag tomorrow.

The garlic plants are looking great!!! My garlic bed is tiny, but mighty!

Rain and Rain Barrels

I have been hibernating for the last three cold, dreary, rainy days. Today, I kept thinking we are surely going to see the Sun soon as I cannot remember when we saw it last. So, I checked the monthly weather and no wonder I am going stir crazy. We haven't seen the Sun since May 15! Considering that I seem to be fueled by the Sun, I should get my mojo back on Monday!

The rain barrels are out capturing rainwater runoff from the roof. They are already half full! This water will be used only on our flowering plants. (Remember not to use roof runoff on food crops, as animals and birds leave poop on the roof and that water can give you Salmonella and other bacterial infections.) We use well water for our vegetables and blueberries.

Flower Gardening

Today, I got to dig in the dirt and it felt so good! I bought 4 plants from Mid Coast Growers: Blue Columbine, Red Columbine, Dianthus (pinks), and Elfin Impatiens. I always buy impatiens to put into the planter hanging below the window of the equipment shed. Although, I might have to replace the planter next year!

My goal is to plant everything I buy on the same day that I buy it. That will limit what I buy as I really don't need much more as my gardens are so full! I planted the two columbines in the center stump garden.

Here is an overview of the backside of the garden showing the location of the columbines. I had King Crocosmia growing and taking over the garden, so I dug it up earlier this spring which left a opening for new plants! Ha Ha! My motto seems to be that every opening must be filled with plants!

I planted a red Dianthus in a stump in the triangle garden. It will look so pretty there! The stump was originally a red maple tree and is decaying rather rapidly. There was a lot of good soil in it. I also added some freshly dug up humus.

I transplanted two Asiatic lilies that I had planted in the wrong location for years. Now, they reside in the top of another stump in the front yard! This may still be a bad location as it might not get enough sun, but time will tell if I have to transplant them somewhere else next year.

I am loving a stand of Blue Bugle that has spread in the yard. I can see it from where I sit on my birding bench.

The bees love the blue bugle as well. Here is a closeup of the lovely flowers.

In the fenced-in backyard, I have my wonderfully majestic Empress Wu hosta that was gifted to my by my gardening guru friend, Veronica. I wasn't sure Wu would make it through the winter, but here she is leafing out nicely. I have given her a huge area to spread out in.

My three clematis plants made it through the winter as well. This is a clematis that is probably 20 years old and I never planted it in the correct location until last year. It loves being on the north side of the yard, up against the fence. I have never seen it so happy! I fertilized all of the clematis plants with Rose Tone and also mixed in some humus into the soil around the base of each plant.

This clematis plant will have purple flowers. It seems happy here and I am hoping that it will have more that one healthy vine. The second vine looks very short. I must be patient as this might be a variety that takes awhile to become established.

The third clematis plant will have pink flowers. It looks quite healthy with several vines. I think it will thrive.

Fuchsia to attract hummingbirds

I bought a gorgeous Fuchsia hanging basket from our local Mid-Coast Growers. We also bought a shepherd's hook to hang it on. It is now in our little triangle garden and we are hoping that the hummingbirds will enjoy its nectar. Geesh... I hope the deer leave it alone as it is hanging above their beloved hosta!

The flowers are stunning! I have friends with Fuchsia plants and they say the hummingbirds love, love, love these flowers.

Jack-in-the-pulpit

 
I do love Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I found it growing in my Solomon's Seal/Trillium garden on the north side of the property where I have a tall white pine "stump garden".

Pink Lady's Slipper

 
We went for a walk along Hix Small Cemetery Road and found that the Pink Lady's Slipper flowers were almost ready to open. I get so excited to see them.

We saw 8 plants, 7 of which had flower stalks.