A Good Start

Before I get to all the planting I did this weekend (and there's a lot), a quick check in on the patio garden.  The bulb border is just about done and I've decided that as soon as these last few tulips finish blooming I'm going to cut it all down to the ground.  We'll plant new bulbs in the fall.  I just didn't get enough bloom this year to make suffering through the leaves dying back to the ground for another month or so worth it: 

I'll miss beauties like this though:

 

First up on the to do list was getting the dahlias in.  Check:

The other 6 tubers went into containers with perennials, like with this phlox.  When it stops flowering I think the green foliage will still be pretty with the brightly colored pot:

And this nice purple combo for as long as it lasts.  Hopefully the dahlias actually grow:

And both of these blue/black containers have dahlia tubers in them.  I think they elevate the plain black plastic planter of red potatoes, of course I may just be fooling myself:

I think this is going to my favorite grouping once again.  The blue fescue is coming back nicely, the coral bells is glorious in that pot (there's a Hootenanny dahlia tucked in the back of it too), and the large pot with a white salvia, that funky coleus, purple fountain grass, and dichondra is a great combo.  I am going to try again to grown moonflowers up the trellis, which didn't work out too well last year, but I'm going to blame that on the terrible weather we had:

I did basically the same planting in this pot, but with a slightly less funky coleus.  I'm especially proud of myself for buying a container that had 2 dichondra seedlings in it and carefully separately them using one in each pot:

I decided that the big pot on the new huge stump on the hill would be home to the astilbe, heuchera, white phlox, and the golden sage that I dug out of the wooden box on Saturday:

 

However, I was not looking forward to climbing up to the stump to plant.  This really doesn't show how steep the hill is or how perilous one's footing is balancing on those roots.  Which is why I planted all perennials that don't need pampering.  And in fact, you can't really see the plants very much from this angle or distance:

But if you climb up there...well I'm sure the phlox will perk up after some time and tomorrow's forecasted showers.  The golden sage will get pretty big and give some brightness to the container.  VPH says he may go up and cut back some of that brush around it:

This chaotic photo shows you the calibrachoa are on the three hooks in the driveway.  I found a container at the nursery with 2 purple calibrachoa seedlings in it, so I carefully split it (2 plants for the price of one again!) and put one in a black plastic pot in the frog planter on the table:

The hanging basket in front of the ivy has a double bloom calibrachoa, which may be my favorite this summer:

 

And the hook by the raised veggie bed has the hanging herb basket with the purple sage rescued from the wooden box and the chives and creeping thyme that overwintered in this container.  The empty space is reserved for some basil when my seedlings get big enough to transplant:

 

The only veggie I got in this weekend was the eggplant, mostly because I had already filled the container.  I did carefully pull the two seedlings apart (more bargain goodness with two plants in the same container) and planted them about 8 inches apart.  The windchime was a freecycle pick-up and I've already written about the container of herbs and all the strawberry pots a million times:

Did you see the huge pile of bricks in the photo above?  Of course you did, you'd have to be blind to miss it.  After nearly a year we are finally getting around to using them.  VPH needs to mow the grass and then I'll hop on this project.  Feel free to leave any guesses on what we'll be doing in a comment:

 

A sign of summer...the nasturtiums are popping up in the raised veggie bed.  Even better two of the cucumbers broke through the soil today.  I love this photo for some reason:

The first butterfly of the summer, a painted lady which let me get really close:

I have so much left to plant: the impatiens; all the tomatoes, peppers; and seeds -- beans (crazy amounts), zucchini, marigolds, zinnia, moonflowers, and more nasturtium.  I hope to get it all done by Mother's Day, but I have a pretty full week of work and other obligations which will prevent me from spending too much time in the garden.  If I can just get 2 hours in a day I should be in pretty decent shape.  How's your spring planting going?

Comments

[mummer]

More 90 degree weather here - you are so lucky to enjoy blooms that aren't heat-withered.
A brick-lined fire pit? Maybe a little dividing wall? Or a pretty border for one of the flower beds? I'm looking forward to an explanatory picture.

[Layanee]

Heather you are a bundle of energy. I am catching up and love the potato bins in particular. You accomplished quite a bit this past weekend and with three weeks to Memorial Day, your summer is on a roll.

[mummer]

The white tulip shot is so calendar-worthy! Please consider it - and perhaps, unearth the bulb and store it for Fall planting.

[Heather's Garden]

Mom -- The tulip is a potrait oriented photo, so not right for the landscape oriented calendar, but I like it too. I thought about digging out all the bulbs, but just couldn't be bothered.

Layanee -- I don't know about the bundle of energy part, I'm racing against the clock so we can maybe have a Memorial Day picnic since the garden is actually looking pretty good.