Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

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redcrx
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Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

Well almost - in the afternoon I got back to "weeding". Actually I was removing phlox that were out of control.

We are going to have a garden party on the first weekend in June. I need to clean-up the garden and have been attacking the problem for about four weeks - raking, bagging, hauling, trimming, weeding (I think the weeds didn't notice winter this year, I have some of the best wild strawberry weeds I have ever seen), ridding poison ivy, etc. Yesterday I decided not to do those chores but do something "fun" - plant some hosta. In a couple of back gardens that were damaged by voles a few years ago I noticed some spaces and decided to fill them. I went through my pots and grabbed Sea Beacon and David L. Reath to go into one garden. And I had already decided to add The King to an adjoining garden but hadn't gotten to it yet. I also have a Lederhosen from Chris that needed to be planted so I decided to put it in there also. I was planning to put the Sea Beacon in this space also but notice many in the area were green centered/light edge types so I changed my mine and went looking for a pot of something with a light center and dark edge. I didn't want a June type or Gold Standard family - just picky. I found a pot that I think is Forbidden Fruit (label was gone). That was the "look" I was searching for.
Here is The King with Forbidden Fruit and Lederhosen left and behind.
The King - May 12, 2017
The King - May 12, 2017
I also added two plants to my biggest Striptease garden. I noticed I didn't have Yellow Polka Dot Bikini in there and I had a good space for it. I also added one of my own sports Jezebel into the space.
That's Jezebel up front with YPDB behind to the right. Mata Hari is on the left. (There are some non-Striptease in this space - the bright yellow centered one are Forbidden Fruit.) That's Snake Eyes behind YPDB with Lady Godiva on the right edge.
Jezebel & Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - May 12, 2017
Jezebel & Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - May 12, 2017
--
One other project I worked on yesterday was the re-routing of my garden paths. There will be a lot of children wandering on the garden paths and there is one "weedling" in the path I want to protect from getting stepping on so I'm shutting done access to that path and putting in a "walk-around".
Here is the section of path with the plant in the middle/right round leaf yellow-green.
weedling in path May 12, 2017
weedling in path May 12, 2017
And here is the "new" trail to bypass that piece of path.
New route - May 12, 2017
New route - May 12, 2017
And from the opposite direction.
New route - May 12, 2017
New route - May 12, 2017
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
ImageMockingbird feeding juvenile yellow raisons - never leave home without them.
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Pieter
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by Pieter »

Thanks for the garden tour, Ed!
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by Tigger »

Nice work, Ed. I hope to see it one of these days.

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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by kHT »

Looks great from here Ed, wish I could see it in person. Love all the hostas.
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

Just an update on these plantings with "new" photos.
David Reath and Sea Beacon are upfront with Summer Rainbow behind/right and Wolverine and Afterglow behind/left.
David Reath & Sea Beacon - May 16, 2017
David Reath & Sea Beacon - May 16, 2017
The King on left with Goodness Gracious bottom/center and Forbidden Fruit roughly center. That's Sumsational bottom/right.
The King & Forbidden Fruit - May 16, 2017
The King & Forbidden Fruit - May 16, 2017
Yellow Polka Dot Bikini is bottom/center with Jezebel on the left. White Bikini is far left with a big Mata Hari on its right.
Kiwi Full Monty is top a little right of center. Striptease is on the far right with Snake Eyes in front of it.
Alan Titchmarsh is in the top/right corner.
Jezebel & Yellow Polk Dot Bikini - May 16, 2017
Jezebel & Yellow Polk Dot Bikini - May 16, 2017
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

Had to take 3 days off for a family event in North Carolina this past weekend. Now I'm back and they are predicting 3 days of rain. Went out this morning to get the trash out and got soaked. But got a few pictures.

Here is my Fragrant Bouquet area - it used to have bird feeders in it but the squirrels jumping off the feeders made a mess of the hosta. After I cleared the weeds last week I got the idea to add somewhat of a walkway to separeate the grass from the garden. This is the only grass area in my backyard. It's a slight hill with my Moonlight (Gold Standard) types at the back of my house at the top, my rectifolia and mouse types off the deck side, and the Fragrant Bouquet group at the bottom of the slope. I'm not sure how I am going to set the blocks.
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 22, 2017
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 22, 2017
I'm still clearing the phlox out of the area on the right side of this photo.
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 22, 2017
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 22, 2017
Here is the top side of that space.
That's Fire Opal in the middle then from front left to right is - Janet's Sister, Richland Gold's Moonlight, North Wind (Chris's plant), Academy Fire, Patriot's Fire. The big plant back on the right is my Standard's Bands (Gold Standard sport -
green with gold edge).
Fire Opal group - May 22, 2017
Fire Opal group - May 22, 2017
Another piece of that space has Saint Elmo's Fire in the middle with from front left to right is Captain Kirk, Sarah Jane, and Moonlight. Above Moonlight is a weedling of a Japanese Painted Fern (it looks nice in there) and above the fern is a Gold Standard that's been there for over 20 years (it's "small" because I take pieces and it's in too much shade from a rhododendron in that space). On the left side above Captain Kirk is a small Northern Exposure and a good size Collector's Banner.
Saint Elmo's Fire group - May 22, 2017
Saint Elmo's Fire group - May 22, 2017
Here is the right side of this space with a Gold Standard in the middle flanked by a few large Standard's Bands. On the left edge of the photo is Starship.
Gold Standard group - May 22, 2017
Gold Standard group - May 22, 2017
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by pauhaus »

Nice Ed, you have been busy!!
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

Here are "better" shots of that area:
Top part - that arrowwood viburnum on the right is original to the property - at one time it was between two pine trees and has survived their removal and the deck being built virtually on top of it.
Moonlight area - May 24, 2017
Moonlight area - May 24, 2017
Bottom part:
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 24, 2017
Fragrant Bouquet area - May 24, 2017
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

I finally started to clear-up my pots & trough area then realized I'm not going to get everything done in time for the party. I can only made cosmetic improvements to the garden. My "walk around" issue won't be solved - I'm running into too many surface roots to make that path work properly. Most folks won't notice that the spiderworts and violets shouldn't be there and the big hosta leaves cover a lot of issues. Here are some photos:
New birdbath (not in the Pot & Trough Area):
Mickey & Minnie Birdbath - May 22, 2017
Mickey & Minnie Birdbath - May 22, 2017
Pot & Trough Area:
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Pot and Trough Area - May 22, 2017
Going through old pots I found this sport of Stained Glass that I potted-up a few years ago I'm calling "Moselle".
solid color Stained Glass = "Moselle" - May 22, 2017
solid color Stained Glass = "Moselle" - May 22, 2017
While cleaning up "dead" pots I found 4 with minimal crown but good root systems which I potted back up again. I'm guessing when February got warm many plants started to poke their "noses" up. Then when the big freeze and 8 inches of snow hit in March those "noses" got cutoff leaving a "dead" looking pots. Many pots didn't survive at all.
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by redcrx »

Finally finish-up all that I'm going to get done before the party. Last evening I was clearing "junk" from my front hardy orchid flower bed until I ran into some poison ivy that will take a lot of time to get rid of. This morning I was clearing a troublesome spot that was overrun by clausa normalis and wild strawberries ( the wild strawberries were doing so well they had berries on them - never saw the berries on these weeds before). The clausa has gone under a small brick edge and was heading into the back edge on my "New Garden" space viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60475 . The clausa was all over my 'Get Nekkid' and 'Harpoon'. I cleared them but it's still into one of my azaleas. Now I have a small trough full of clausa I need to plant somewhere.
Harpoon - June 2, 2017
Harpoon - June 2, 2017
Get Nekkid - June 2, 2017
Get Nekkid - June 2, 2017
clausa normalis 'Jilin' - June 2, 2017
clausa normalis 'Jilin' - June 2, 2017
clausa normalis 'Jilin' - June 2, 2017
clausa normalis 'Jilin' - June 2, 2017
One of the things I didn't get to was adding some plants to the garden.
Here's a Firn Line I picked up that will go into my day-lily area. A second plant in the photo behind Firn Line was labeled August Moon but that's wrong - I think it's a Yellow River. The big green on the left is a Fried Green Tomatoes that has been in there for years.
Firn Line - June 2, 2017
Firn Line - June 2, 2017
Ed McHugh, Sicklerville NJ
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Re: Took a day off from garden work yesterday.

Post by Attebery »

Thanks for the updates Ed, looking good!
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