Garden Journal

Everything in the yard is waking up at once and quaking with biochemical activity! Birds are building a nest in the metal bird-feeder (not the metal-bird feeder) hanging from the tree outside the kitchen window. I even watched a pair attempting to make some little birds today.

Like talking about music, dancing about architecture, or explaining the punch line, listing what's happening in the garden doesn't really work. You really have to be there. An inventory just doesn't convey the vibrant energy of even my humble garden. But here it is anyway:

Ajuga has a distinct purple shine and is starting to spread; vinca is sprouting runners; other (unnamed) groundcover is going crazy, too, so I need to decide which perennials are weeds and which aren't. Dandelions are already everywhere, so I started digging them up, and they make good compost.

Daylilies, tulips, and the big, saber-like iris are going strong, the smaller Japanese iris are just poking out of the ground; daffodils are blooming here and there; peonies are sticking their bizarre-looking heads out of the ground. I need to plant more bulbs.

Columbine are getting full, round, and leafy; astilbe (?) is beginning to grow; yarrow is just barely sending up feathery little shoots; black-eyed susans are getting their first leaves; lemon balm are getting their first sprouts where they were transplanted, so they might make it; creeping phlox have that shine they get when they're growing, but I need to add a lot more on the side and maybe the front.

Pear trees are starting to bloom; apple trees need to be pruned; dogwood has buds, but it's crowded between pine trees, so it will be a while; dawn redwood planted last fall has buds, so yea, it survived its first winter; redbuds don't look so hot, I wonder what's ailing them; maples are getting big, fat buds, so I have to trim them NOW before they leaf out (it's time to hire a professional for those big limbs way up high).

Spirea are getting their first leaves, forsythia are in full bloom, and I think I'll move the one in back out front with the others when they're done.

Strawberries somehow stayed green all winter and look like they're growing; wild strawbs are taking over a low spot near the patio, and they can have it.

Why is it so important to name them all? Biology (life-naming) is not horticulture (garden-growing). Knowing the name (botanical or common) has nothing to do with getting plants to grow, except when you need a reference to look something up. Linnaeus was a fanatic with his taxonomy of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

Right in the midst of getting all excited on Sunday, a major disappointment. The "equine science facility" (horse barn) up on Old C3 has stopped giving away composted manure. They decided to "control" the area in the back pasture by hiring their hay supplier to haul it away rather than letting it sit in the field and age. My unlimited supply is gone. Bummer. Searching for another source.

I also need to decide where to plant which vegetables (thinking spinach, onions, eggplant, and squash, in addition to tomatoes, beans, and peppers), but there's time to do that. Should I start from seeds or buy seedlings at the nursery? And I might expand the planted area another few feet toward the back fence, where firewood is stacked, which means I need to split and stack more wood to clear the space. It's always something.