Some Minor Activities Feb 16, 2013

On Sunday I had some time to move a few plants that have long been in my thoughts to shift around.

I made this bed in the Rose Garden a few weeks ago.  I moved two Harlequin Glorybower trees that had suckered off the mother plant over to this bed.  They haven't leafed out yet, which is, of course, the best time to move them.  HBs are pretty little trees / large shrubs.  They have pink flowers in the spring followed by persistent, bright red and blue fruit.  The leaves are very large.  I climbed behind the fence and cut away the yaupon that was growing near the fence.  I'd like to cut a swath along the back of the fence wide enough for my husband to mow.  It will look a lot nicer than having the woods encroach right up to the fence line.  Sounds like a good project!  

I moved 6 plugs of Mexican Sedum from a bed in the Star Garden over to this one.  It is a spreading, evergreen, spring blooming groundcover.  I moved three Strawberry Candy daylilies from underneath the Harlequin Glorybower over to this bed and planted them in the left of the photograph.  In the far left is oregano which flowers in the spring and is much loved by the bees.
Coming up in the middle of the picture are the mystery bulbs (I have stuck a couple of tomato cages in the bed to keep the dogs from trampling them while they are still little and tender.  In the background are two deciduous Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Pink Cloud' that haven't leafed out yet.  Next week I will put a nice layer of mulch over the bed.  By summertime it will be very full and pretty.  The sedum is useful because it will spread and cover up the empty space.  (The bulbs and the daylilies recede once the weather gets warm.)

These are irises that Janine Snapp gave me.  I planted most of them in a bed I just built.  I cut off the long fronds so the plants wouldn't have to waste any energy on keeping them alive while their roots get established.  I planted four of them around the birdbath in the Star Garden.  I'm hoping the fronds grow just to the lip of the birdbath.  That will look pretty.