Ordered 1,000 worms from earlybirdworms.com. My 2x4-foot worm box has been readied--marine varnish on the inside; primer and dark green exterior paint on the outside.
When the South Carolina red worms arrive I'll soak newspaper strips in water, squeeze out the excess, place them in the box and be ready to go.
We eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables in our house, so the worms will not go hungry. Soon I'll have rich, homemade compost for the garden plants.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The work begins!
I hit the Master Gardeners' Sale at the arboretum Thursday morning and walked away with pink, red, purple and white pentas, zinnias, cardinal flower, Mexican petunia, creeping zinnia and a gorgeous varigated lavender/purple dahlia.
I put everything but the pentas in the ground and weeded (ugh) the butterfly garden. On a tip from friend Marcia, I loaded up the van with 20 bags of 99-cent per bag hardwood mulch.
Fed and pruned the roses (two climbers, one Lady Banks and three miniature) last week. Trying to do a little a couple times a week instead of the 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. marathons I've labored through in previous years.
My husband has begun dismantling the two-tiered circle of landscaping stones in the front yard. Some went under the recycling bins, some under the worm box, some are stacked and ready to be shaped into a platform for my kayak--and there are still a hundred or more left. Maybe we'll lay a patio where the pampas grass used to be.
My Bradford pear is beautiful, as are all others in the neighborhood. Camellias are still blooming.
I'm looking forward to gardening this year because most of the hard work of filling in bare spots is done. This summer I'll concentrate on color--hence the pentas and zinnias, two butterfly favorites.
Oh, yes! The Redbud is red and ready to pop. Weeping cherry is flowering. Can't wait to see their glorious colors soon.
I put everything but the pentas in the ground and weeded (ugh) the butterfly garden. On a tip from friend Marcia, I loaded up the van with 20 bags of 99-cent per bag hardwood mulch.
Fed and pruned the roses (two climbers, one Lady Banks and three miniature) last week. Trying to do a little a couple times a week instead of the 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. marathons I've labored through in previous years.
My husband has begun dismantling the two-tiered circle of landscaping stones in the front yard. Some went under the recycling bins, some under the worm box, some are stacked and ready to be shaped into a platform for my kayak--and there are still a hundred or more left. Maybe we'll lay a patio where the pampas grass used to be.
My Bradford pear is beautiful, as are all others in the neighborhood. Camellias are still blooming.
I'm looking forward to gardening this year because most of the hard work of filling in bare spots is done. This summer I'll concentrate on color--hence the pentas and zinnias, two butterfly favorites.
Oh, yes! The Redbud is red and ready to pop. Weeping cherry is flowering. Can't wait to see their glorious colors soon.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Finally, Camellias!
With several days of warmer temps, the camellias on the west side of my house are finally achieving their annual glory. I was getting worried.
Camellias are natives to Asia and were brought to Europe by a Jesuit missionary named G. J. Camellus. I call them trees, but they're actually shrubs with glossy evergreen leaves and white, pink, red, or variegated roselike flowers.
All the camellia in my yard (planted by the previous owner) seem to be of the same variety, which gives nice continuity. But there are so many varieties of camellias, I kind of wish I had some different ones just for fun. See photos at right.
Camellias are natives to Asia and were brought to Europe by a Jesuit missionary named G. J. Camellus. I call them trees, but they're actually shrubs with glossy evergreen leaves and white, pink, red, or variegated roselike flowers.
All the camellia in my yard (planted by the previous owner) seem to be of the same variety, which gives nice continuity. But there are so many varieties of camellias, I kind of wish I had some different ones just for fun. See photos at right.
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