Thinking of Spring

Not much time for garden cleanup this week. As I cleanup I dream of spring.

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I managed to get some compost on the garden from my little compost bin – 3 wheelbarrows of wonderful black organic matter to be exact.

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Leaf raking is in full swing. A pile of leaves, chopped and collected with the mower will help produce next year’s compost.

A few more plants need to be cleaned up.

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The hostas are a mushy mess.

Some lilies need to be cut back.

The garden phlox is waiting to be lopped off.

There is more to do before the snow arrives but I’ve got a good start for spring.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Bulb Sale

I can't resist a sale. When a sale has anything to do with gardening, then I REALLY can’t resist a sale.

A Philadelphia Flower Show a vendor had a “12 for $25” bulb sale. I bought 6 Casablanca and 6 Stargazer Lily bulbs dreaming of their sweet summer scent.

Cleverly, I put the bulbs in separate bags so I wouldn’t get them mixed up. Not so cleverly. I didn’t mark the bags. So I didn’t know which was which. Since Casablanca blooms white, I rationalized that the bulbs would be white.
I wanted to plant them with the other Casablanca lilies in my scented garden. I got out the bulb digger which I haven’t used in years. I tried it and then remembered why I haven’t used it in years. The bulb digger makes a tidy hole but gets stuffed with a rock hard pack of soil. I think the theory is that the digging next hole will push the soil out of the top.

After jumping on the digger several times, I gave up. I turned to the trusty shovel and dug holes for the bulbs.

I planted the six tan colored (Stargazer?) bulbs near our deck. We’ll see which bulbs are in all those holes when they bloom in July.

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