Author: variadm

Elusive white narcissus – mistaken identity

03/12/08 Mystery Narcissus Revealed - Accent DaffodilWhat I originally thought was the first Thalia narcissus bloom in my garden bore further inspection after I took snapshots of it yesterday. This was not the all-white, multi-flowering, orchid-like daffodil that I was expecting! Both blooms that I had seen so far boasted a white perianth and a yellow (!) cup. It caused me grave concern as I was about to shoot off an email inquiry to Brent and Becky’s about it…until I racked my brain trying to remember if I had EVER purchased and planted daffodils before. 

Then it hit me…Breck’s. I scoured my old archive email for an answer–thank goodness, I still kept those around. And there it was, dated 4/14/06, an order from Breck’s for 2 packages of Accent Instant Bloom Daffodils along with some Inzell, Frosty Beauty, and a color assortment of tulips. The tulips which I had lost in the beds some time ago had occasionally surprised me with a red or yellow bloom here and there (I wrote off the Frosties a long time ago), but I had never caught sight of the Accent daffodils until now.

It made perfect sense now why the yellow cups faded to pink, as the Accent supposedly had salmon/pink cups as they aged. I’m not sure how many of these Accents have survived over the last two years, but it’s a testament to their hardiness that they persisted this long. Mystery solved.

Liriope in the ground

Yesterday, I found myself walking out of work confronted by abundant daylight due to the “spring forward” time. I hurried home and started digging a trench about 4″-6″ deep and wide around the S1 side yard. With the ground damp, it was quick work loosening the soil and ripping out the bermuda grass invasion. I started lining up the bareroot Silver Dragons along this trench, spreading them about half an inch or less apart. Surprisingly, the 50 divisions distributed evenly along the trench I dug up all the way to the privet hedge. I thought about using the two remaining bags of topsoil sitting in the bed of my truck, but with the light quickly dwindling, I opted to tamp back down the mud that I had dug out. I’m hoping the wet soil will be enough to rehydrate the liriope after 5 days sitting in a box with only wet moss and newspaper for moisture. 

Where was a camera when I needed to take some pictures this morning? I hope to post a snapshot of the S1 border soon.

First Daffodil

The first daffodil bloomed Sunday Mar 9. (I would’ve posted a picture if it hadn’t looked so bedraggled after being trampled by an exuberant pup.) Many more daffodil blooms on the way. Hopefully my newly installed fencing will keep the dogs out. Other flowers making a showing: blue muscari and the dwarf irises seem to be winding down (not the 100 bulbs I ordered, it seems).

Late winter cleanup

I finally received the Liriope spicata Silver Dragons midweek…but weather didn’t permit planting until just yesterday. I had to run to Lowes to get some extra fencing and poultry netting. I did get the rear yards fenced off finally to deter any more canine intrusions. However the new fencing I erected for the sideyard still permitted the pups to go in and dig up more dirt. In fact I had to purchase some extra topsoil just to fill up all the previous holes. After spotting some early daffodil buds, I went ahead and stapled down more netting to keep the pups from digging up the sideyard. 

The Hot Lips salvia met the garden shears yesterday and what a tough fight it was. I removed most of the old branches and debris around the base of the bush, but many branches have yet gone untrimmed. The neighboring ligustrum also needs trimming…I think I’ll have DH working on that.

I’ll prolly get to planting the liriope and the Sooner plants today.