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.