Yard and Garden

 

Pulmonaria

The Lungwart (Pulmonaria) is blossoming. Its truly delightful blue/purple color is a welcome site against the mostly brown/grey of the yard at this time of year. And so easy to grow.

I got an early start on the yard and garden this year, it seems to me. I've already cleaned up most of the walkway border where the teeny tiny Tête-a tête Daffodils are in full bloom at the moment. Such a cheerful sight! They brighten the grayest of days.

Yesterday I put the blade attachment on the strimmer and went at the bramble patch. Despite being drowned out by the brambles every year, the daylilies that established themselves on the bank continue to persist and that makes me happy. This summer I will keep beating back the brambles hoping to eventually eliminate them from that area of the yard. I want it back:

I need to go back and pick up all the chopped down brambles. Today I focused just to the right of this area where there is an old chicken coop, shed?, and cold frame. The chicken coop has been looking very dilapidated and I went down with the intention of demolishing and removing it. But as I started working on it, I realized that the walls of the coop are very solid, it's just the roof that's caved in. Now I don't want to get rid of it because it's so well built. It's making me want to try chickens, but I'm so unsure about it. More thought needed. Predators are a worry, as is my schedule.

L to R: Chicken coop, cold frame, and shed.

It gave me pause this afternoon to realize that in my 10 years here I've never used this cold frame. That's going to change. It, too, is very solid and I'm going to start some seedlings in it this year. I think retirement might have something to do with this turn of events. The covers seem too opaque to me so I will look for something to replace them. It probably retains heat quite well. I can put a remote thermometer in it and monitor the temps. Sounds like a plan.

The shed on the right is also in good shape but I wish it was up closer to my garden; it would make a great garden shed. But it's too heavy to move so it will remain unused for now.

Last year, the rose pillar that was holding up my Dutchman's Pipe vine fell over. It was quite a predicament because the vine was completely intertwined with the pillar and I had no idea how I could remove it without destroying the plant.

Well. The other day as I was looking it over, I remembered that I had put that pillar together and therefor I could disassemble it. So I went at it with screwdriver and pliers this afternoon. It was easy to pull the vertical supports out of the vine but the circular bands were knotted in place. With a bit of prying and minimal cutting, I got everything freed up. Hurray! I did not have to cut any of the big stems, only some much thinner ones. The pruning will probably be beneficial to it in the end. So the climbing rose now has the rose pillar--which it needed, and I can find something more suitable for the Dutchman's Pipe to grow on. So glad that dilemma is resolved.

One task that had to be done this year was cutting the oregano down to size. It had completely overtaken the herb circle I built several years ago, crowding out all the other herbs. To be honest it didn't look so great last year. Maybe because it had gotten so out of hand. So I went at it aggressively. Very aggressively: I pulled it all out. Knowing now how it spreads, I'll get a new plant and give it a more suitable space.

It's nice to see the circle again.

Also starting to flower at this time are a few pansy plants that I planted 3 years ago! They keep coming back! To be sure, I'm down to just a few plants now, but it's wonderful to see them so early, in blossom.

This square will probably be done by end of week: