Well Check One Thing Off The List

Remember the messy patio garden that I had only partially cleaned up:

 

I finally finished tidying it up:

 

I still have some weeding to do and fresh mulch needs to be spread, but it's looking pretty good:

 

Though I did notice that the Siberian irises are looking pretty donut-like, but I so don't feel dividing them:

 

Though it's kind of working here where the day-lilies and Siberian iris are mixed together:

 

I was delighted to find a clematis growing under all those leaves, and equally delighted that I was able to fix the trellis with a stake next to it and velcro tomato ties (why only this one part of the one trellis rotted I have no idea):

 

And I'm pretty sure that the two clematis plants that the boys gave me last year for Mother's Day that died off in the heat of the summer came back:

 

They're tiny, but promising:

 

Though clearly these two photos (left taken on 4/18/10, right on 4/19/11) illustrate just how cold our spring has been.  I'm not sure if last year's spring was extraordinarily early, this year's is very late, or a combination of both, but I can say I wish it would get warm already:

 

Next on the endless to do list is finally getting those pansies into hanging baskets, planting the two husky cherry tomatoes in the two big hanging containers, getting the onion starts in, the potatoes planted, and the early spring seeds in the ground.  Can we get it all done before the weekend of rain that's forecast?

Comments

[Mummer]

I'm appreciating your comparison pics of Spring....great idea.
We're in drought mode here in Southwest Florida. I'm getting panicky about my crotons and duranta. They just don't seem to flourish without constant hand-watering. And, of course, we are now in stringent(county-enforced)watering regulations. Some of our residents are even calling (tattling) the water department about over-zealous usage by their neighbors.
This is a really hard call - the money tied up in lawns here is huge, we are required by our covenants to maintain green grass, so what's a home owner to do?
You're so lucky to be in New England where water is not an issue!

[fern]

Your headline expresses my sentiments exactly. I just finished up a massive job digging up a large, overgrown thicket of forsythia that were encroaching into my yard. I then had to loosen the soil, rake smooth and reseed the area, then put hay on top of that, just in time for a week's worth of rain starting today! I hope to plant some colorado blue spruce there sometime this season.

[Layanee]

It is a much slower start but I am getting chores done without bugs and the cool temps are delicious. Time for a heat wave and everything will pop.

[Heather's Garden]

Mom -- Water can be an issue up here too, it just hasn't been the past couple of years.

Fern -- That doesn't sound like any fun at all, but I'll bed you had quite a sense of accomplishment once you finished!

Layanee -- True, it is nice not to sweat while I work and really we're much farther ahead this year than we were last (with Lee's calf injury this time last year). I just know we're going to go from 50 degrees one day to 80+ the next!