Two months till spring, provided spring is as freakishly early as it was last year.

Siiiiiiigh. C'mon plant catalogues, where are you when I need you??

Well, the Experimental Farm's plant sale is on May 8 this year, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the parking lot of the Tropical Greenhouses on Maple Dr. In addition to the wagon, this year I must bring a screwdriver and/or a wrench to secure the loose bolts on the wagon, and also an actual shopping list, although I would never dream of restricting myself to such a thing.

I should sign up for some of the tours of the Experimental Farm too, come to think of it. They have a guided historical tour and also tours of the rose and peony beds. Bet I could drag my mom with me on those.

I also want to check out the Fletcher Wildlife Garden's native plant sale on June 4, since I missed it last year.

Toying with the idea of putting my planned John Davis rose climbing up something like this, but not sure whether I really have a spot for something like that. Could put it over the start of the path next to the driveway, but then it would block the view of what's behind it from the road, which at the moment I kind of like. Could use it as a focal point in the upper part of the yard, but don't know if that would work and/or if I'm design-savvy enough to coordinate things around it. Time to break out the mad paint skillz!



That's...not half bad, actually. And I'd forgotten about the metal railing around the stairs, which isn't exactly conspicuous but would still provide some sort of repeated element/context for the thing. Let's see if I can fill in some of my plant schemes for the spring and see how it jives. Something liiiiiike...



Well, it will be a hodge-podge, but we knew that already. Hmmm.

Option #2:



Huh. That doesn't actually work at all. As a focal point it would be fighting with the magnolia, and it looks weird with the window anyway. Good to know.

I have been googling around for roses for the front yard. Originally I had planned on just planting one, but I don't know how I could possibly narrow down my list that far. My criteria: hardy, unfinicky, and as long a blooming season as possible, because I cannot tell you how charmed I am by the blooms on the Fairy rose that are STILL GOING at the end of October. And fragrant is a plus, too.

The finalists:

JOHN DAVIS - Explorer rose



A large shrub or small climber that tops out at 8-10'. Galetta Nurseries tells me that it has a "light fragrance" and that it "blooms profusely from June until frost". Eeeeexcellent.


ALCHYMIST - hardy rose



Also largeish at 5-6' tall and wide. Only blooms the once, but it's apparently deliciously smelly. I've also read about this brilliant idea of sending a clematis to grow up the canes of a climbing rose, so that as the rose is finishing the clematis is just starting up.


SEAFOAM - groundcover rose



As posted about before - similar to the Fairy, I gather, only white instead; Canadian Gardening had all kinds of good things to say about it.


MORDEN BLUSH - Canadian Parkland rose



More compact than most of the others, 2-3' tall and wide; but Galetta says it's another profuse and continuous bloomer, and that it tolerates heat and drought very well, which would definitely be a plus in the spots I have in mind for it.


CHAMPLAIN - Explorer rose



Also in the 3' range and a continuous bloomer. I am a sucker for a really red rose.

ZOMG BRILLIANT GARDEN BRAINSTORM OF INSPIRATION.

Poking around for local garden blogs, I happened across this post, and thought that a spiral garden was about the coolest idea for a garden design I'd ever seen. So I started thinking and doodling about the front yard...aaaaaaaand...



Ph33r my mad paint skillz! I even managed to copy and paste the dirt all over the yard to illustrate the elimination of grass. But yes! A spiral path - possibly made out of reclaimed brick - would bring the existing beds together beautifully, I think!

Note to self: need more lime-green, silver, white-flowering, or otherwise bright plants in the east bed, especially things that are in good form at this time of year. It's quite dark and dreary over there as it stands. Possibilities:

* heucheras
* bright-coloured hostas
* ghost ferns
* annuals, i.e. begonias
* more silvery brunnera, e.g. looking glass
* hakonechloa

For more colour, since the turtlehead is the only thing blooming on that side at the moment, and the chocolate boneset will bloom white:

* monkshood (3', blue flowers)
* hardy cyclamen
* more anemones (or possibly moving the one I have, it's not looking so good this year and isn't flowering - too much shade??)
* kirengeshoma palmata, aka yellow waxbells

Here's an overall pic for September, just for the record:



And some documentation of the rosesplosion:



Stoopid flash lighting - you can really see the buds in this one, though.


Prairie joy rose, finally somewhat resembling a shrub.


Also, because I am sick to death of the weedy, crappy lawn back here, this is what I've been thinking we should replace it with (as close as my mad Paint skillz can render it, anyway).


Basically: a little corner deck enclosed by lattice with stairs leading down to a larger, lower deck that would leave no more than a strip of grass around the edge of the patio. And even that maybe I would convert into a planted border. What say you, internets? Would it mess with my riotous secret-garden aesthetic to have something so structured and rectilineal taking up half the yard? And maybe I'd be wiser to leave the lawn there for kids to play on...but then by the time we can afford to do this our kids will probably be old enough not to need the lawn anymore anyway :P Considering that we'd need to cut a door opening into the exterior wall and I'd want to do the whole thing in cedar, this is kind of a big-ticket renovation...$7500 at least, I'd guess, and probably more. And it would be strictly mad money, because there's no way we'd get that kind of $$ back from resale.

One way to make it a little breezier/more romantic would be to have...not a roof, precisely, but an arbour-type structure around the top section, which could have virginia creeper and clematis growing up it and from which one could hang billowy canopy/curtains and a candle-chandelier. Although again with the $$. Not as bad as roofing it over entirely, though.

Another pest inundation has begun: the dreaded Japanese Beetle has made the leap from the grapevines on the fence to my scarlet runner beans. AUGH. Tomorrow I will go pick off the ones that are roosting there and spray the bean plants down with a solution of garlic puree, which was the recommendation from Richmond Nursery - but I am not optimistic, considering that the grapevines are so thoroughly infested; even if I tackled the impossible-looking task of de-bugging the vines on my side of the fence, they're planted in the neighbour's yard (and invading the yard of another neighbour to boot). Maybe if I make the beans unappetizing enough they'll stick with the grapes.

Interestingly, however, I am growing some of their reputed favourite foods - roses, japanese maple - and so far they haven't touched them. (This had better not just be a matter of time!!) Also interestingly, the beans are located in the shade bed, the only piece of the back garden that is not planted throughout with alliums (garlic relative). Hmmm! As if I needed another reason to stock up on those. Hopefully my inference is correct; the internets seem to suggest it may be so. C'mon universe, work with me here!

In more positive news, while at Richmond Nurseries, I happened across a stand of butterfly bush (buddleja). And OMG internets, I MUST HAVE THIS PLANT. It smells heavenly, and true to the name, in the couple of minutes I spent staring at the stand of plants at Richmond, they had attracted several butterflies of at least three different kinds.

The trick, of course, is that it needs full sun, and while you're supposed to chop it back to the ground every year, it grows back to about 4 or 5 feet high and wide. It's also only borderline hardy here. Basically, were I to plant one, it should be in the backyard for preference, since it's nice and sheltered there; that would also allow me to sit and enjoy the fragrance and butterflies. But I really don't have anywhere left for a 4'-5' shrub. I toyed with the idea of putting it where the beans are now - the digitalis and azalea would probably be done blooming by the time it got big enough to block them from view - but I don't know if that spot gets enough light, and I wouldn't want to hide the phlox and sweet rocket, nor cast the mockorange into total shade. A more promising spot is probably in front of the yew and peonies out front; I could crank the windows open to catch the fragrance, and we could watch the butterflies from the window, at least. Have to check how much light that spot would get before the shadow of the house falls over it - will keep an eye out for this tomorrow over the course of the day.

Meanwhile, I have dug up and divided the bee balm - dun dun DUNNNNNN - and am pleased as punch with the results so far. It already looks more balanced. And the relocated chunks of bee balm will be a nice repetitive element to tie the whole garden together, as my garden magazines always say. Photos to follow when I have the replacements in the ground.

While stranded in Carleton Place on Saturday (to make a long story short, our car is a craptastic bucket of bolts) I was intrigued to discover that hey, Canadian Tire in Carleton Place has different plants than my local one! I am tempted to run back there next weekend and snap up a couple of items:

* some asclepias (butterfly plant - I always thought this just meant milkweed, but no, it's much fancier, and likes part-shade to boot)



* a nice variegated green foliage plant, which turned out to be an artemisia called Limelight



...and some sedum, since everything is on deep discount.

As I think I've remarked before, Canadian Tire's garden section is surprisingly awesome. Loblaws is pretty good too. I've seen both places carrying the same plants from the same growers as one of the nurseries I like. (I wonder how badly nurseries are affected by the big-box places being half-decent. God knows they still end up with an embarrassing chunk of MY money...)

Home Despot, however, is pretty crappy and usually worth no more than a cursory look around. Wal-mart, that den of iniquity, is about as crappy as you'd expect for perennials, but is occasionally handy for things like cheapass 6' bamboo stakes.

I'm also trying to think of a possible use for a Globe Blue Spruce, which first caught my eye at the nursery, and then again on sale for $40 at Loblaws. I love blue evergreens, and this one is enticingly bushy and interestingly shaped, and mad drought tolerant to boot. Trouble is that although it's a very slow grower, it does eventually top out at around 8'. As adorable as it is, I don't think I have a spot for it. Bah.



Oh, and note to self: must remember to take a picture of the crocosmia, which is finally - and stunningly - blooming.

Because I can't stand thinking about something for very long without doing something about it, today with the help of the Brute Squad (aka Corey) I tore out the stressy tree, the juniper, and the probably-a-weed tree.

RAHR.

The front of the house is very bare all of a sudden, but given that it already looks better despite the empty spot, I'll call this progress.

Tomorrow I will pop by the nursery to pick up a Black Lace elder and scout for ideas for other shrubby things to plant in the spring. In the fall I will put down some cardboard and amass fallen leaves, thus expanding the bed to accommodate roses etc., and plant alliums.

Before planting the elder, must remember to dig some compost into the soil there. And then I will dig up all the stupid wood violets and mulch the hell out of the whole bed, hopefully thereby using up the last of my pile.

More front yard schemes illustrated with that glorious piece of software, Windows Paint!



So at the back we have a Black Lace cutleaf elder next to hydrangeas of insanity. In front of this will be a little trellis pyramid - I figure I'll take two of those nice 4"x4" square cedar ones (like the one for the teasing georgia out back) and lean them up against each other. This will serve as the climbing surface for a Zephirine Drouhin rose. All around the rose will be planted monster alliums. Down in the front will be blue star junipers, maybe, or whatever other low-profile shrub I can find in that colour, and a My Monet weigela.

Hey, maybe I can put some of the awesome Graziella maiden grass in with the mallows?



Hmmm. Hard to tell. Getting kind of cluttered though. Damn my plant-collecting urges!

Canadian Gardening magazine, why must you get me in so much trouble!!

Idly flipping through some back issues I have kicking around the house, I ran across an intriguing front-yard garden design in the Fall 09 issue. The design was for a bungalow that featured a stone finish and bay window similar to what we have in the front of our house. They proposed a pretty trellis screen against the wall under the window and a paved "courtyard" area with stone bench surrounded by shrubby things of varying textures and colours.

I'm not sure there would be a lot of point to a sitting area in the front yard - much nicer, quieter, and more private in the back - but it would certainly make more sense to pave over that insanely dry area right in front of the house than to try to grow stuff in it. In any case, I do quite like the idea of an all-shrub planting in this area, since that would occupy lots of space and look schnazzy while being helpfully low-maintenance.

Possible candidate for replacing the perpetually-stressed-out-looking tree: Sutherland Gold cutleaf elder.



Would be a nice contrast with the monster yew. Maybe too yellow, though? There's a nice dark purple version too; that might do a nice job of repeating the purple-leaf sandcherry note.



These both get to be a little more than 6' tall, which sounds about right; the rest of the space at the back could go to some hydrangeas of insanity, and possibly a ninebark on the other side (again with the purple). Then in front of all that I can put all the random stuff I wouldn't have room for otherwise - barberry, a rose or two, possibly some less ratty variety of juniper (more blue stars or some of that spreading stuff, maybe). As an added bonus, this would get rid of an additional few feet of "lawn"; I could also yank the currently invisible daylilies and the beetle bait - ahem - orange lilies.

Also, before I forget:

Ideas for not-too-tall plants to replace massive bee balm of doom and fill in other middle-to-front-of-bed space
* speedwell
* artemisias of various stripes
* sedum (something with nice fall colour, for preference, although that frosty morn stuff looks pretty good out front)
* perennial salvia
* lavender
* euphorbia

To get in the market one of these days
* massive foxgloves of doom (do they have a different kind than me or something? They're twice as tall as mine!!)
* penstemon (been eyeing it forever)

Well, I achieved most of what I set out to do during my Glorious Vacation. Weeding, civilizing, and mulching were mostly accomplished - it's just the wild and woolly part of the east bed (past the rhubarb) and the foundation bed out front that have yet to be conquered. Planted all the plants I meant to plant (although I now have some veronica and some hollyhocks waiting to get into the ground, and didn't get around to a pile of seeds).

To my irritation, some disgusting insect - probably sawfly larvae - is devouring the needles off the mugho pine in the front bed. Must remember to wield some soap-and-water at them, although I'm not sure that will be effective; worth a shot I suppose. The intarwebs assure me that one year's infestation doesn't generally kill the plant. And if it does, well, I will be sadly lacking a nice structural evergreen, but on the plus side I will have space to plant something new.

Something dug up the sunflower seedlings Rose brought home from daycare for mother's day. Not that Rose is old enough to really understand making or giving a gift, but still: GRRR. The Empress of Dirt has to protect her sprouting sunflowers from birds, apparently, so maybe that's what got mine. She has a picture illustrating a nice little cage that seems to be made from an old hanging basket. Maybe I will try that next year. Meanwhile, I still have the pot that she painted to put them in, so there's something anyway.

In other pest news, I am somewhat surprised to find that the alliums seem to be - knock on wood! - deterring the groundhog, since its depradations have been limited to the one bed that doesn't contain any. Hmmmm! I need to get some more of the pinks ones (allium roseum) anyway, and I like them in general, so those are totally on my fall bulb shopping list. (Also some Black Hero tulips, so pretty!)

I would also really like to plant some asparagus. Not to eat - the soil here is sandy and poor (I submit for evidence our pathetic excuse for a lawn), which conditions apparently result in tough and woody stalks - but for ornamental purposes; if you let asparagus stalks mature, they turn into gigantically tall feathery foliage. Check this out:

Wouldn't that be a cool accent! I am pretty much out of space for tall full sun plants in the back - there's some space in the middle, but I think something so tall in that spot would just end up hiding everything at the back - but it could go in a corner of the new bed out front. As a bonus, I believe I spied some at Artistic Landscape Design for the eminently affordable price of $6.99.

Fall bulb schemes so far, then:

Gardenimport.com
Eremurus x 3
Black Hero tulips x 20

Breck's
Scarlet majesty tulips x 8
White cloud allium x 3

Vesey's
Blue drumstick alliums x 24
Peach melba tulips x 15
Angelique tulips x 18
Allium roseum x 20

Now if I was smart, I would make my tulip investment in some nice single flowering varieties that would come back reliably for a few years...but I can't help myself, the double ones just cry out to me. Siiiigh. Mail order plant purveyors, you had better love me.

So I spent a few free hours today chipping away at the gigantic pile of mulch that Maurice Yelle Ltd. so helpfully delivered this morning. So far I have managed to mulch the new bed out front, the shade bed and the back of the sun bed. Loving the sudden tidiness this creates. My only question is how do I go about reconciling my desire to strangle weed seeds with my desire for some of my plants (poppies, foxglove, lupines) to generously reseed themselves??

Meanwhile I am poking around in catalogues to see what I want to plant in the fall. I think I will definitely have to invest in some Eremurus, aka foxtail lily, which look impressive and tall and are described as needing about exactly the conditions I have in the new bed out front.

I would also very much like some white alliums. I may actually just get more alliums period, because they are so awesome in any colour. The front yard could do with some, too.

Some googling tells me that my beautiful double tulips will probably not return next year. Poo. Well, Breck's is sending me more French Lace mix already; I will have to snap up more Scarlet Majesty. I am also intrigued by Peach Melba and Angelique, which I think I would put in the front bed but might keep in the back instead. Decisions, decisions!

VACATION AHOY

Stuff To Do During My Glorious Week Off

* weeding of doom
* civilize the east bed (more on this in a second) and the foundation bed out front
* order mulch and spread it all around the backyard
* find some scarlet runner bean seeds (home despot possibly?)
* move tripod thingy to somewhere seeds will actually grow
* plant scarlet runner beans or possibly morning glories at base of tripod thingy, as well as planting other miscellaneous after-last-frost seeds
* shop for affordable but classy-looking support for prairie joy rose (obelisk?) preferably not from big box type place

So the east bed remains kind of a mess, mostly due to an over-abundance of ferns. Apparently I wasn't ruthless enough in digging them up last year. Will have to rectify this and find some way of filling the space - some begonias, maybe, for a temporary solution. The bee balm I put out front might end up moving back here too, since it has been very droopy and unhappy looking in the full sun.

The intarwebs seem to suggest that the goddamn creeping jenny might not be such a bad thing, provided the plants it grows around are tall enough that they don't get overwhelmed. I dunno. I may attempt to yank it back hard as well. I have no illusions about actually eradicating it, but I suspect any measure of control will only be achieved by regular yanking campaigns. WHAT FOOL ACTUALLY PLANTS THIS STUFF. I ask you.

Other possible companions for the delphiniums:
* astilbe
* digitalis
* coreopsis
* black-eyed susans (these didn't transplant so well last year, but worth trying again I guess)
* lady's mantle
* sweet william
* another clematis

Sigh. Stupid shade.

In there already is globeflower, masterwort, canterbury bells, purple geraniums, sarah bernhardt peony, rose campion, and the david austin rose (called teasing georgia). To complicate things further, several of the above have been munched on by the resident groundhog, whom I have been trying to discourage by dumping kitty litter down his bolt-hole (Ed Lawrence advises that this is a surefire way to get them to move elsewhere...because, after all, "wouldn't you?") They seem to be recovering fairly well, to my great surprise. Knock on wood.

So yesterday when we were on our way to the grocery store, Corey gallantly pointed out some hand-lettered signs indicating a plant sale off in a nearby suburb. It turned out to be a fundraising event for an African women's charity. I snapped up an impressively large red-flowering peony for $10 (sahWEET), some phlox, and some brown-eyed susans, as well as a substantial pile of ten-year-old gardening magazines.

Inspired by a couple of said magazines I have added the following to my shopping list:

* Seafoam rose. Apparently a super-floriferous "ground cover" rose that gets to be a couple feet high and sprawls several feet wide; canes will actually root where they touch the ground. How cool! I'm thinking this might be nice in the wall bed, which is sadly empty at the moment and I'm at a loss as to what to fill it with, although in the pie-in-the-sky department I'd still like to put one of those fountains there. The ever-helpful Galetta Nurseries apparently has these in stock, so maybe I'll make a road trip during my week off.
* Oooh, looking at the Galetta website, "The Fairy" is actually pretty gorgeous too. This would have the advantage of adding some colour to that bed, which is set against the white-flowering spirea and hydrangeas. Hmmmm! Although I already have a pink rose in the sun bed...
* Zephirine Drouhin rose. I've heard this name a few times and it sounds pretty spectacular - climbing, fragrant, shade-tolerant. But Galetta doesn't have them, nor does Vesey's. Hmmm. Some phone calls are in order, I guess.

So in my puttering around over the course of the weekend, I managed to fix the irrigation system in the back, install an irrigation system out front, do a bit of weeding, and plant 3/4 of my recent purchases. Now that the irrigation system is back in business I am optimistic that I may actually get blooms out of at least one of the rhododendrons. I was baffled as to its failure to open any of its promising-looking buds, but apparently this April was the second driest on record or something, and the intarwebs tell me that drought can delay flowering or abort it entirely, but watering can help if you catch it in time. And now that I've given everything back there a thorough soaking, there is a bit of pink starting to show on the buds. FTW!

Also the "shade" bed is rather sunnier than I thought, except at the very back. It's at least as sunny as the other side of the yard. So that gives me a few more options as to what I do with it, at least!

Additional progress in the front yard:

* snapped up a few cheapie plants in the market (lupins, lavender, cilantro, and a funky pink-flowering ornamental grass) and added to the new bed.
* planted seeds in the new bed as well: hollyhocks at the back, poppies of various heights and colours and longevities all around, bright lights swiss chard in the middle, some gigantor marigolds (just in case they might actually sprout when direct seeded outside) nearish the back. I have never yet succeeded in growing poppies from seed, but the packages insist they're easy to grow and that bed is the best approximation I have of their ideal conditions, so here's hoping.
* the peonies are (knock on wood!!!) looking like they might actually manage to bloom this year??!? Again, here's hoping!

Progress in the back yard:
* Operation Lily Beetle Sudden Death continues apace. I could only find two of the little bastards to squish the other night; this morning I couldn't find any. Trying not to get my hopes up, as they will no doubt be back in force soon enough. Sneaky tricks I have discovered:
* it's hard to tell whether you've squished them enough to actually kill them dead, and it's gross besides, but picking them off and chucking them in a bucket of water will make sure and is not as squickifying.
* my cousin had the excellent idea of wielding needle-nose pliers at them, since they like to hide in the folds of leaves and fall right off the plant and hide in the ground if you are too clumsy to nab them right away.
* use a short bucket of water; that way you can lean the plants over it and just brush/shake the beetles off into the bucket. Much less gross than squishing them.
* check the undersides of the leaves - eggs, like adults, are bright orange and easy to spot.

TO DO
* plant today's spoils. SQUEE.
* buy some of those tall hardwood stakes and fix up the delphiniums - also the japanese maple, which has grown a few inches since last year, astonishingly enough.
* ongoing weeding of doom. Bleh.
* On that note: MULCH. How I am going to manage this exactly I'm not sure, because it will involve a crapload of the stuff. But nonetheless.
* Clean up the throughway, it's getting embarrassing.
* de-dandelion the backyard lawn and add some more clover in its place.
* mow the lawn front and back. What a concept.
* hunt for a shade-tolerant mockorange and possibly a bicolour buddleia, if there is still a sunny bare spot that's big enough.

How appropriate that "Dans un jardin" is a perfume shop

As I type I am lounging on the couch with the windows wide open, basking in the smell of flowers. I think it's the purple-leaf sandcherry that is so deliciously perfumey at the moment, but there are a number of other similarly fragrant things lining the street, so I think it's just that time of year. LOVE IT.

For instance, there are some white-flowering shrubby trees edging the park near our house that smell heavenly. A neighbour identified them as chokecherries. Alas, I don't think I really have room for one of those, although it's probably worth checking with the native plant nurseries around town to see if they can't be pruned to keep a certain size.

I would really like to get something large and flowery to go at the back of the new shade bed, but most of the flowering trees or large shrubs that I love (flowering almond or quince for example) need lots of sun. Mockorange may be a go, though, if I can find the right variety, and it is reputed to be deliciously smelly, too. I hear that "Blizzard" has good shade tolerance, but can't find it on any nursery websites, possibly because its main claim to fame is cold tolerance past zone 3.



I am toying with the idea of adding a pile of daffodils to the front garden next year as well - Breck's has a mix of specially fragrant ones.

Spring cleaning

Ahhhhhhh. Sweet, sweet project time, how I ♥ you.

Tonight I accomplished the following:

* gave the backyard lawn a thorough raking over, as it was caked with half-decayed fallen lilac leaves. Will have to deploy some dutch white clover and some shade-mix grass seed; it's pretty patchy and mossy back there. Not that I mind the moss, it's nice and green and soft, but the last thing I need is hostile weed takeovers, and the clover should help to reduce the amount of bare ground available for them.

Speaking of which, the creeping jenny is already on the move, depressingly; I did the "rake first in one direction, then the other" trick advised by Ed Lawrence for creeping charlie, but it didn't do much good. I think I will have to wield a spade and then go sifting through the soil by hand for every scrap of root in that patch in order to stave it off. And even then I haven't got a hope of digging it all out of the garden bed. Goddamn thuggish plant. I wouldn't mind it so much if it actually discouraged other weeds, but nooooo.

* finally transplanted the prairie joy rose, hopefully not demolishing its root system too badly in the process. Ugh. Fingers crossed. The outcome of this will go a long way towards determining my opinion of the finickiness of roses. At least I managed not to accidentally dig up any bulbs while I was at it.

* swept the patio mostly clear of pine needles, revealing a lovely ever-more-established patchwork of thyme and moss and nicely settled stones. It is totally increasing in gorgeousness and I am dead proud of it.

* swept up the astonishing drifts of fallen leaves and cedar bits covering the passthrough between carport and yard. I really have to do something about this area, it's a horrific mess. It would be tempting to dig up some of the pavers and turn it into garden space, especially given all the nice inviting passageway ideas I've seen in garden magazines, but it's so shady in there that the attempt would be an exercise in frustration. Maybe if I get bored in 10 years. Besides, we need somewhere to put the BBQ.

I figure that if I can dedicate the half-hour that is Corey's part of the Zoodle's bedtime routine to yard-work, I will be able to keep at least sort of on top of things. Naturally that is the same time slot I would need to work up to biking to work. Too many damn projects, not enough time. But REGARDLESS, here is my list of Stuff To Tackle In Nearish Future:

FRONT YARD
* determine outlines of new bed and cover with compost and topsoil
* plant "early spring" seeds, e.g. poppies
* dethatch and top-dress lawn, deploy clover and grass seed
* clean up leaves and other crap out of existing beds

BACK YARD
* finish cleaning up throughway
* organize shed so it's not a hazard to set foot in it - just about gave myself a black eye this evening
* top-dress lawn, deploy clover and grass seed
* start shade bed with compost, topsoil, and mulch while I figure out wtf I'm going to do with it
* get the drop on all the goddamn celandine that's popping up everywhere

So before the snow arrived in December, I got winter protection up for neither the magnolia nor the maple, and I completely forgot about a poppy I'd been meaning to plant, so it's probably all frozen and dead now. FAIL. Hopefully the shrubs at least will survive.

In better news, I can haz Vesey's catalogue! So here is the shopping list for spring 2010:

Astilbe, which I started from seed back at Jamieson and have been meaning to buy more of ever since. Shady and tall FTW.


How's this for an awesome fern? It starts out ORANGE and turns green as it matures.


"Naturalizes easily" is all too often code-speak for "mad invasive", but these mallows have caught my eye for ages.


I have been saying I should get myself some coreopsis, since I've been admiring its tall clouds of yellow flowers in other people's yards. Just to be different, I think I'll go for the one that starts out red and then turns yellow.


I feel a little silly contemplating spending $20 on a pulmonaria, but look at the flowers on this thing! Much cooler than the usual blue kind.

Since it was so gorgeous out, I zipped outside during the Zoodle's naptime to rake some leaves and do some maintenance.

I had been meaning to delay my front yard schemes for a couple years, but I had eleventy billion leaves to get rid of and a shrub to plant, so:



Last year I abandoned a heap of leaves on the lawn and ended up with a big bare patch in that spot, so I figured I should be able to get the same result if I leave the leaves there deliberately. Decorative fence and drought-tolerant plants to follow. This makes me doubly happy because now I can plant cosmos next year after all.



That strip of grass around the outside has pretty much got to go, though; it will just be straggly and annoying as it is. I should probably pave it under with a nice decorative brick something or other, although that part will have to wait, since I will totally not have time or $$$ for major garden renovations next year. A paved path could go around the outline of the new bed, actually, and go between it and the magnolia.



Eventually when I can expand the whole yard into garden I'm figuring this will make a good spot for an "entry" where more paved paths (for access and easy weeding) can start. I could even do some sort of schnazzy arbour thing. Except it would have to be all rustic and stuff to go with the fence I'm planning. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, awesomeness in the backyard:

Look, my birdbath has visitors!



A nice splash of colour from the cotoneaster (and the hydrangeas make a nice contrast, too).