Garden Friday

 

 

 

 

 Welcome back to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing on our Piedmont Homestead.

While out walking yesterday,

I couldn't resist taking a shot of a neighbor's lovely mailbox planting.

So many cheerful colors in one spot encouraged me on my outing.

 

 

The gravel walkway behind the house is being enjoyed

by all of us.

I love to hear the crunching sound it makes

when I venture that way to let the chooks out in the early morning.

We had over three inches of rain this week,

and it seems to have done a great job helping the water move away from the house.

 

So many things are waking up on the property,

like this yarrow planted in the mailbox bed.

This plant was new to me last year,

and it's had no difficulty coming back all on its own.

This trouble-free perennial has virtually no pest issues,

fosters pollinators in the garden, and requires very little care.

 

The dogwoods are leafing out,

and I was thrilled to find another specimen in our wooded area.

I would like to transplant it elsewhere,

as it is rather hidden where it grows now.

This has become one of my favorite trees since moving here,

especially after learning about the meaning of the flower

as a symbol of rebirth.

This apple tree is certainly a beautiful sight when in blossom,

but because it was not well cared for earlier on,

it isn't the healthiest specimen.

We are debating whether or not to keep it.

It does provide food for wildlife,

but its location is far from ideal,

and the thought is that something else would do better in the spot.

Until we decide, we'll enjoy the flowers.

 

The front porch bed is starting to come alive.

There are perennials planted here,

including salvia, coneflowers, rudbeckia,

Shasta daisies and lantana.

I'm looking forward to adding much more to fill in the empty spaces.

 

The red cabbage that was planted in fall

has finally started to bolt.

It's just as well, as we have plans to fill the bed

with spring veggies.

These will be given to the chooks as a treat.

 

Some of the strawberries were placed in this pot,

but there are many more plants to be transplanted to a bed.

Our usual resource for compost is having difficulty with his supplier,

so we have had to put filling our raised bed boxes on hold.

The plan is to create long, narrow boxes for the remaining strawberries.

 

The snap peas drank up every bit of rain we got this week.

They are due for a feeding,

and I look forward to watching them scale the cattle panel trellis.

 

The mint patch behind the chicken coop is coming back gangbusters!

This was already here when we bought the house,

and I'm hoping to use it for sun tea this summer.

 

Between rain showers, I worked on digging the drainage trench deeper,

to encourage the rain water away from the coop.

 The trench leads down to the septic field and out towards the street.

We plan to fill it with gravel, once we get another load.

 

Not sure how easy it is to see here,

but some recently acquired liriope grass was garnered

and used to create a curved border in front of the flower bed.

More work will be done in this bed

once our worry of frost is over, somewhere around April 15th.

 

The blueberries are doing well,

and as a matter of fact,

several more bushes were acquired to add to the collection.

There should be enough berries for the birds and us!

first tulips of spring

With overnight temperatures predicted in the 20's,

we are hoping this is the last blast of winter

before spring arrives in earnest.

I am looking forward to seeing all that Mother Nature 

has in store for us.

 

Here's hoping Ole' Man Winter is on his way out!