The icing on the cake on another week in the garden. Started by mowing and edging / weed whacking. Then I moved on to spreading the 6 bags of black mulch that I bought last night - mostly in the new bed I dug out yesterday. Taking a break in the middle of that, I finished the last 5 blocks of the over-the-hillside retaining wall, having to move 5 hosta clumps in the process. Then I moved two 2x2 cement tiles from my makeshift back patio, and placed them leading from the northeast corner of the lawn to the compost pile over the hill. After all that, finished the mulching and watered it all down. Ha!

Before cleaning up, I moved 2 hollyhocks into sunnier locations before they grew and larger and their roots became impossible to rip from the ground! (One went to the northeast fence corner and the other went into the east side foudation bed.) Also in the east bed, I separated striped dead nettle (lamium) from the spotted, and placed it in 4 spots along the  east fence bed. Watered it down.

Lastly, back up front at the garage, planted 25 liatris corms and 2 bleeding heart roots in a total of 8 2-qt pots. I had bought these at least a month ago and I didn't want to leave them go in fear of them rotting or drying out in their bags. 

Time to get those new plants in the ground! Of course, this unique new ensemble required a new section of bed to be cut and some plants to be moved around to accomodate them. First, I extended the east fence bed south 15 feet, amending the soil with sand and peat moss. Then I had to switch a few new Stella d'Oro lilies around to make room for moving my still-small limelight hydrangea north to a sunnier spot. Moved some other small plants and then placed the newly divided clumps in clear spaces.

After a busy workweek - filled with rain to boot - things are looking up for the garden again this middle-of-the-week-end! Everything is coming in very strong this season, right down to the lawn and the dandelions I thought I vanquished last season. The hydrangeas are doing great, even the hydrangea macrophyllas which are only experiencing a slight bit of wilting.

Today, a friend of my mother's let us come out to her place, a sprawling country property only 25 minutes from my house. She had tons of spreading plants for us to divide. Astilbes, daylilies (pastels), water irises, ornamental grasses, sedum, zagreb coreopsis, heuchera, etc.  We transported the clumps back home in pots and bags, and left them outside to plant tomorrow. Tonight I am going to pick up some black mulch to add to the ground after planting.

Some Plant Shopping and Reviews

Big day out there today. Went plant shopping again, received those other four hydrangea (2 white 2 blue) in the mail, and had numerous tasks to do around the yard. We went to 380 Auction Barn in nothern rural Murrysville - I highly recommend this place to anyone in the SW PA area! Amazing deals on perennial plants. We got 2 daylilies which had 2 fans in each, and some other randoms. They tend to sell by the pot size, e.g. $4 per trade gallon.

We also stopped by Kubrick Bros. nursery on Coxcomb Hill Rd. in Plum. I DO NOT recommend their stuff. They continuously divide mostly spreading plants into very small divisions and sell them for obnoxious prices. You probably won't find much there that you can't get elsewhere for somewhat cheaper. 

Deciduous Shrub Observations

During the 2010 gardening season, I bought a total of 4 Endless Summer hydrangeas, which I planted on the north and west sides of my home. Of course these are supposed to the the most hardy compact hydrangeas you can buy, and are hardy in Zone 6b for sure. During an investigation of the bud health yesterday, I'm rather disappointed with their overwintering this past season, as in my opinion this was not a particularly harsh one. Even though they've only been in the ground for one season, I felt they should've done a little better, so I assumed they hadn't become established enough yet. Basically, buds that were 4" above the ground and below were the ones that survived, and the ones above that shriveled or have not begun to leaf out yet. Going nextdoor to examine my neighbor's ES buds, his had similar results after being in the ground for at least 5 years! This next winter, I am going to try piling maple leaves in a cone atop the canes and throwing a burlap square over them, weighing the cloth down with rocks or bricks on the side. With only a couple nightly lows near 0, this should do well for them. Most of my perennials will grow excellently until early-to-mid November, so that's when I will perform most of my overwintering treatments on these shrubs.

Got some pink creeping phlox at Walmart last night - 2 pots for $4 each. I have a lot of space to fill between bushes, shrubs, and larger plants in the sunny areas of my garden, so these will spread and fill nicely in this regard! Also planted what I had in the "queue". The pink hydrangeas are 2 of a total of 6 that I will have lining the middle of the garden bed that descends the first 10 freet down the hillside (the other four will be two Nikko Blue and two Annabelle). Also completed the rear retaining wall for this bed using discarded wall blocks from the previous homeowner. I found at least 50 of these around the property, allowing for a 2-3 row high retainer, nicely finishing off the back edge of my garden!

Received an arrangement featuring potted plants #6 ground ivy, what appears to be a Brestenburg hydrangea, and a Rieger begonia. Will plant with Easter hydrangeas tomorrow. The ivy will go along the back hillside and the begonia will go in a pot out front for the Summer, in mostly shady conditions.

Easter Plants

Last night picked up 2 pink Easter hydrangeas, variety Merritt's Supreme (macrophylla) for $9 each at Walmart. Little do most people realize, but when properly planted and cared for these can grow to be 6 feet tall and in diameter with little problem! The trick is getting good blooms each year - you must enclose and/or insulate the plants from harsh winter winds which will kill next year's flower buds if not suppressed. 

Start of a New Bed!

Started cutting out the newest bed along my neighbor's chain link fence. It will eventually run the length, but for now it's only about 10 feet in long by 6 feet deep. The exciting thing about new beds is that I never know exactly what's going to go where. I find things in stores and shops at a good price and fill in the blanks as I go! Already existant is a purple sand cherry, tall red sedum, dwarf barberry bush, and Russian sage. Started filling in with yellow blister cress and orange "mouse ear" coreopsis.

Start of 2011 Planting Season!

Planted clematis roots and a climbing rose along my neighbor's chain link fence. The fence was built by that house's original home owner, so we agreed that some nice flowering vines might spice things up a little. As I recall, the rose is a CL Blaze that was purchased at Walmart for $5.