Tag: nandinas

Gardening accomplished this weekend

I was able to persuade DH to extract 3 volunteer nandinas from the front flower bed (F2) for transplant in the back beds. I discovered that most of these offshoots seem to have sprouted from buried trunks and stems from the parent, since we required shears and clippers to sever them. Luckily these volunteers had small but developing root stock, so I am hoping they will thrive in their current locations (B1 and B5). I also have to mention that I removed the 1 surviving nandina in S1 for transplant into B5, where I hope it will enjoy more sun.

In its place, I finally planted the new Azalea Gumpo White. I hope that its position next to the patio will give it sufficient protection against summer; I usually dump water into this part of the bed, especially when the dogs’ feeding bowls are set outdoors. I also had to get the purple salvia I purchased last week into the ground, after I discovered its mauled remains scattered in the backyard. Sadly, it met a deadly fate when Dash tore through the S1 bed a couple of days ago. I’m hoping it may have enough root stock left to make a comeback.

Speaking of mauled plants, I also had to set one of the ajugas into S1 after I discovered the half-torn pot lying strewn in the bed. I suspect that strong winds or a rambunctious pup may have knocked it off its brick wall perch. It seems to be blooming quietly and happily next to the replanted ring of tulips.

B5 also required a little fixing; I discovered a crushed dianthus and uprooted lilies and muscari, which I had to reset into the ground. B5 is in serious need of ground raising and leveling; I hope to get some gardening soil into it next week.

The soil will also be useful when I start broadcasting seed into the back beds. I have packets of cosmos, bachelor buttons, nigella, and a wildflower mix that are begging to be sown right now!

The 300

The number 300 marks the quantity of bulbs buried into the garden this past Sunday. Fifty narcissi went into the middle bed, and the remainder into the side yard; all of the allium made it into the middle bed, while Muscari and dwarf irises got portioned out to each bed. It took some effort to prep both beds to receive the bulbs, including hubby’s attempt at leaf-blowing with my air compressor. Both hubby and I are sore from the weekend’s dirt digging, but hopefully we can look forward to an interesting show come spring. I still require some topsoil to increase the depth of the existing beds.

Note that we also planted 2 nandinas in the middle bed to hopefully provide some background. I transplanted the remainder of an artemisia and an agapanthus in the middle bed, but I’m skeptical of their survivability.

You know that your work isn’t complete when an industrious canine comes over to dig up all your hard work. I promptly laid down a cover of wire on the affected areas. We could use more fencing to deter the pups from entering and wreaking havoc in the flower beds.