Still battling the voles, although no more loss of plants. Bait seems to be working and we will have our last treatment this week after the rain stops

We had a big coyote come through with a squirrel in its mouth on Saturday morning. I couldn't believe it! deer sitings too, but no "nibbling" yet.

My new white lilac is having its first bloom which is exciting and a really old lilac that I inherited is finally having a decent bloom this year. I have only been renovating it for 6 years!

We are having a stone terrace installed and work has stopped due to the rain. I can't wait to see it done.

Pruning needs to happen, but maybe next week

That is all for me.

Hmph! Lilacs in bloom, already? Mine are not even thinking about blooming yet... I guess spring really IS later on the Cape. Actually, it feels a lot like November out there today.

Short week for me, but I managed to move some angelica gigas seedlings, did some weeding and bed-cleaning, started edging the brick paths with a spade, re-filled several holes in the lawn created by the digging dog, for the 3rd or 4th time, had a close encounter with a possum (with said dog), potted up a division from an old white lilac, cleaned out the dead stalks from my mop-head hydrangeas (they lost many branches 2 winters ago, and I didn't have the time to remove the dead stuff until now), cut back a Rosemary-leaf willow, started many cuttings of the willow (it's eye-catching) and of yellow alyssums ...

Oh, surely I did more than that! Well, maybe not.

I'm in the middle of a canna bonanza. All the tubers I stored last fall and potted up last week have sprouted as well as a couple of huge pots that I tossed in the garage and all the new ones I ordered from Brent and Becky's. Yesterday I got 5 pots of Tropicanna from one grocery bag of dried out looking roots. It's OK-the CT plant swap is Sunday so it should be easy to unload the extras.

Today we got some much needed rain-less than an inch but at this point beggars can't be choosers.

The plant shuffling and garden reorg continues.

Sue

Hi,

Not much going on this week. I normally would do more in the garden on these overcast days, but it has been so cold and raw and windy out there, I just gave up on that idea. It also has been consistently raining which I am very happy about.

Two new viburnum carlesii have been fully open the past week and they have smelled wonderful! I am not sure if after the rain they will still be fragrant. The blooms don't last too long. We also planted a new white lilac last year..Avalanche. It is full of buds just getting ready to open this week. Renovating an old purple lilac group that I cut all the way back last year and no bloom on those. If the leaves get mildew again this year, we may replace them.

Epimedium is in bloom and looking wonderful this week. Some daffs going by but some still going strong. I was so surprised to see growth on a clethra hummingbird. I thought it was dead. It had no growth at all until this week and everything else in the yard already has leaves and flower buds. Does anyone else grow this shrub and do they always leaf out this late?

Sorry belle, I don't have much rose experience and none with a climber. Sorry about your dying canes. I hope your pruning will produce tons more. :-) I hear William Baffin is a great hardy variety. It is a red, right? I would love to add a climbing rose, but not sure I have a structure for it in the sun. I have been eyeing the New Dawn I saw somewhere.

I enjoy reading about what everyone is doing in their gardens. :-) Coyotes, posums, deer! Gosh, I didn't know I had it so good with a few squirrel and chipmunks. [g]

A line from a children's song..."playing in the garden on a rainy day..."

That was me today. Spread some composted manure around here and there; put in a cotoneaster that had been waiting for a home; moved some coral bells that were very unhappy with where I put them last year; made a mini-lasagna bed where I wanted to kill some weeds and put ground cover; and, finally, managed to get in some peas before the drizzle turned into a downpour.

Patty
p.s. Also saw a wild turkey (all by his lonesome) wander through my old veggie bed.

Went out in the drizzle to plant the Epigaia repens (trailing arbutus/Mayflower) I stumbled on at Mahoney's in Falmouth. I've got six now, and I'm pretty sure I've got them in appropriate conditions - they're finicky little plants, but they're all in bloom and smell fantastic!

While I was at Mahoney's I finally managed to break my new habit of buying yet another dicentra every time I see some, but bought some columbines instead, which I also planted in the drizzle.

These are Eastern wild columbines, and I bought two in spite of the fact that I wintersowed a lot of the same columbine seeds. I justified it because the wintersown seedlings won't bloom this year, and the ones I bought are just about to bloom (and will probably seed around all over the place). Next year should be a bonanza columbine year.

Claire

Hmm, Claire, I believe I hear Mahoney's calling my name. Were the arbutus there recently? How do you site them to make them happy? This may call for playing hooky from work ...

Prairiemoon2, my clethra has not started to leaf out yet, or had not as of last weekend.

Lilacs? You mean the deer didn't eat yours? I only 'discovered' it last year, hidden behind too much overgrowth. I cleared space around it, loved it, nursed it, hoped for more blooms this year....and now I know why it never bloomed before. DAMN DEER ATE THEM! And my poor sorry garden only has one other thing blooming, but I have no idea what it is ...please see the 'Name That Plant' forum.

DTD:

I see I spelled Epigaea wrong again - I keep doing that (aea, not aia).

I bought 2 of them last Saturday and then went back Monday after calling them and bought 4 more. Frankly, I got all the blooming ones, and the ones I left looked kind of straggly.

There's a good thread on the Natives forum which explains their care.

One poster, northeastwisc, quotes:

"An acid to moderately acid sandy loam soil, rich in humus to a shallow depth, and with a sandy soil below providing good drainage. I use a soil with a pH of 6."

"... grows well in a cool open woods where it is protected from the hot summer sun but where early spring sunshine filters through leafless branches. Choose a spot where the forest floor is covered with decaying leaves or evergreen needles. Also, woodland soil contains the mycorhizal fungi that are beneficial to the plant."

"Except for the taproot, the plant feeds on the first few inches of soil. Feeder roots develope where the vines are covered with damp humus."

"... mulch by scattering a mixture of evergreen needles, birch leaves and soft maple leaves. Keep the plants moist until they are well established."

"... thrives best in association with mycorrhizal fungi. Including soil that was collected near healthy wild plants in soil mixtures will introduce the necessary fungus ..."

Obviously not a plant for an immaculate, well manicured garden, but if you don't mind a nice casual setting of pine needles and decaying leaves, they may do well for you. The indigenous mycorrhizal fungi seem to be essential. Southern Plymouth is pine barren country and they belong here.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Epigaea repens

Thanks, Claire. They're native here too. And, by the way, no immaculate manicured gardens here! They'd fit right into my miniature "woodland" I think.

DTD:

You might want to call Mahoney's (508-548-4842) and see if they still have them, or have more in stock somewhere.

When I called Monday, rather than take a fairly long trip needlessly, they took the message. A little later one of their perennial people, Janet, called me back to say she'd put them on a cart by the register so I wouldn't have to go out in the rain looking for them. She's a fan of epigaea herself. Of course I went out in the rain anyway (light mist at that point) with my new epigaeas on my cart.

Claire

Prairiemoon2, William Baffin is not really a red, but a deep pink. Yes it is supposed to weather the bad winters we have here, and I am surprised that all this trouble happened after such a mild winter. It is also not a climber: the average height of 8 feet and the tall canes of 10 feet are standing on their own. The canes are very sturdy and woody.

New Dawn is a delight. I bought several, and the best I got was from Vintage Gardens, no surprise. The only problem is that the japanese beetles love the roses, so you have to get very active after the 4th of July (at least that's when they appear here).

Best

Belle Isis

I rerouted strawberries that have appeared around the yard to the strawberry garden, and started getting a grip on planting out WS plants. My greens are doing really well; almost ready to pick & eat. I did some weeding, and amending beds with compost.

I have a dandelion plague this year; I've never seen so many. Maybe if I took care of the lawn ever, things would be different.

Which reminds me, I have to mow soon - the non-lawn (weeds) is getting long.

Belle...
Thanks for that description of William Baffin. It is different than I thought it was. A very large rose. I have room for one climber and maybe another knock out rose and that's it. I forgot about the Japanese Beetles. Last year I barely had one in my yard with only one rose bush and they didn't seem to find that one planted among perennials and herbs.

We had something interesting happen yesterday...a woodchuck walked through our backyard in the morning, and in the afternoon there was a turkey in our front yard! Never have seen either of those in our area before. Not too thrilled to find there is a woodchuck nearby.

This week is officially fend-off-the-pests week for me. I installed 6 posts of Deer Fencing- short, battery operated stakes supposed to give the deer's nose a light shock if they bend down to investigate the scent pellet on it's top, and then scare them off for good. Who knows if it will work, but it's worth a try. Applied some Deer Off to new hosta foliage. Spent a few hours hand-picking some saw-fly larvae and small caterpillars off my shrub roses (they were all curled inside the tips of new leaf growth). Also had a bunch of caterpillar-like pests in my Serviceberry tree near the woods - could be Winter Moth or gyspsy moth or saw-fly larvae. Then spotted the tiny needle-like worms that can attack the tips of my mugo? pines. Last year I found the egg-casings before they hatched, but this year I was too late. Drowned them in soapy water before they knew what hit them. I'm all organic, so hand-picking early on saves angst later.
Repositioned the Turkey Fence, too. We have droves of wild turkeys carousing through our neighborhood, and I just hate the disgusting poop balls they leave behind, so last fall DH put up a 2 foot tall netting fence to keep them out in the woods and not cavorting in our driveway and lawn. Amzingly, they're pretty lazy and don't bother hopping or flying over the small fence.
Whew... when does the fun stuff start?

Hooray! I got rid of a winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) today. It was waaaay too big for the mixed border - right next to the street - where I'd planted it. In its place I planted 3 Phlox maculata (meadow phlox) and 2 Centranthus ruber (red valerian). The new arrangement will give a little breathing space to the variegated sambucus and the witch hazel that were flanking the beast.

I was *thrilled* to find red valerian at a local nursery, on the bargain table where the unusual perennials often end up - $2 each. Meadow phlox was thre too -it's new to me, but it looks charming.