We are just wrapping up Memorial Day here, so a three day weekend of remembrance and outdoor eating has come to an end and tomorrow is back to work. Going back to work might be a bit of a relief since I’m tired and sore and could probably use some time at a desk rather than behind a shovel, but this time of year there’s always more to do in the garden than time to do it. At least I got to play a little on Saturday when friends twisted my arm for a garden visit and afterwards we took a spin out to the local garden center to see what’s new.
With an introduction date of 1992, the iris ‘Ominous Stranger’ seems like a newer one… until I do the math and realize that’s 30 years ago! This smoldering color looks fine close up but in the garden competing with yellowing tulip foliage, it gets lost.
Of course garden friends always bring a few goodies, and I may have bought a few more on our excursion, but in the grand scheme of things a few more treasures to plant is just a drop in the to-do bucket. Kind of like blogging, and with three weeks since my last post you can guess where that ranked on the list 😉
To me the 1950 iris ‘Port Wine’ seems old enough to qualify as historical. It’s shrugged off our late freeze, moody temperatures, and lack of rain and is making a bold show in the front border.
I have been somewhat busy but a dry May really de-motivates me, and with about four weeks since the last real rain I would say this qualifies. The bearded iris shrug it off but other plants are wilting and the grass is turning brown, and I guess I could continuously complain but what would be the point to that. Years back I planted with summers like this in mind but then a couple rainy years rotted all my iris and turned my cacti into bacterial mush so I changed course. Boy will I feel stupid again when I rip things out and replant the iris just to have them rot again.
Here’s the historical iris ‘Elsinore’, a special thing with some unique coloring that dates from around 1920. Of course it’s a favorite. I’d have more planted around but it tends to over-bloom, with all its growth fans sending up flowers rather than multiplying for next year.
Feeling stupid is nothing new, so I’ll just keep chugging along, stuffing the wrong plants in too closely, letting the weeds explode everywhere, and focusing on things which might just be a waste of time. Speaking of ‘wastes of time’, I guess an update on the earth moving is in order.
The back of the new addition has been dug to the level of the rest of the yard and I’m happy with the progress. Please ignore all the other dirt and rocks which still must go.
So before the update, let me just say that some people spend all day baking bread from scratch, or hours over a stove making tomato sauce. Both can be purchased for under $5 in the store. Some people spend months knitting sweaters and socks when they too are available for much less than your time is worth so let me just enjoy my dirt-digging waste of time thank you very much.
The slope up to the daylily farm has also been graded and I’m excited to say I have found plenty of rocks along the way. Never mind that the one in front is too heavy for me to budge, I can always rearrange the garden around it.
Maybe the eye rolls on top of the lack of rain is making me a little sensitive but I doubt it. Lifting shovel after shovel of dirt is far more useful than lifting weights, and the sideyard is much more pleasant a place than the gym. Also if you notice the damp soil in the last picture it’s because I washed off the wonderful rocks I found, all just to admire them more closely. Try doing that with the weights at the gym and I suspect someone would put a stop to it rather quickly.
The best part of all the shoveling is I’m finally bringing the back of my yard up to a level grade. It’s terribly rocky and poor soil, but at least it’s not clay or pure sand, and eventually mulch and compost(and water) will make a garden out of it.
So iris, dirt pictures, and complaints about a lack of rain. Hopefully it isn’t the same story all summer since I am planning on planting a few annuals and will end up resenting them if I have to water all summer. Maybe if I start really small I can ignore the dry ten day forecast and pretend that watering them in really well will be enough.
With all the amazing plants for sale, you wouldn’t think marigolds would find their way onto my cart but here they are. I’m quite pleased and they’ll go in the potager to fill up the space that should be filled with vegetables if I were one to enjoy vegetables.
You never know. Maybe we’ll get a string of thunderstorms and June will turn into a gray, humid mess and we’ll all have something new to complain about. Actually since I just ordered new pool filters and a couple billion other accessories there’s a strong possibility the weather will change just to derail my summer plans. Replanting iris would probably seal the deal, but even if it doesn’t I still like to remind myself it’s not January.
Have a great week.
sorta like suburbia 
Too bad Elsinore doesn’t bulk up properly. Someone I know thinks it’s an awfully pretty one. And yes, let’s all keep reminding ourselves it’s not January. I’m finally edging all my beds because it’s too dry to weed and I don’t want to put plants in the ground that I’ll just have to water. Keep them in pots right next to the spigot until this drought breaks.
I hope a hardy agapanthus division makes up for your sadness about the iris.
Do you think the dry weather will break? I’m almost sure it will be like this until autumn and I’ll be doing triage with the water hose all June and July… until I finally give up in August…
Dry here too Frank But like you say, at least it isn’t January! The dirt shovelling will pay off in the end, and is a great workout too. Think of all the money you are saving by not going to a gym! Lovely irises. Mine are only just starting to open.
Haha, there really wasn’t much of a chance I could make a habit out of going to the gym, but you never know! People always ask for company and shoveling season doesn’t last forever 😉
Gorgeous irises! The bearded ones don’t fare well here with our wet ground. Usually wet, that is. It’s really dry here too and no rain in the forecast until next Monday. I might not have gone for the hoses this soon, but it adds insult to the injury done by our late freeze. My bigger Katsura lost most of its leaves in the freeze and they don’t seem to be coming back, so I gave that whole hill a good soak. We are fortunate to have springs on our hill, and a large tank there that collects it, so our outside spigots don’t draw from the well.
I was amazed to see how tall your evergreen screen is there in the back. They grew quickly! Also impressed by the evidence of your hard work on the earth-moving. My response to the dryness has been to putter around with pots and annuals.
I know what you mean about the insult to injury. I had a few magnolia seedlings already stressed by the dryness and then turned bare by the freeze. Maybe it was better to loose them small rather than after coddling them for years, but any seedling lost makes you think you lost the most amazing hybrid ever grown!
I think your watering will pay off and is worth it, awesome that you can rely on your own springs for it! Watering here carries the double jeopardy of paying for the water and then also paying more for the sewer because it is based on the water usage.
The Norway spruce along the berm are settling in and do a decent job screening… although they are a little bare at the base… did you notice my little green giants in front of them? Someday I hope to axe the spruce in favor of the more narrow and less rooty arborvitae.
Great rocks, what lucky finds, perfect complements for the dry streambed/gravel gardens you are doubtless planning, given the dry conditions. Big enough to sit on too, which is always useful.
Yes, stone walls and large boulders are excellent ‘thinking spots’ where an artist can sit and consider his masterpiece. Unfortunately you would likely be shocked by how many birds also use the stones and walls… and leave behind big and small ‘spots and spatters’ which no one wants to sit on…
Enough rocks to build a Stonehenge or walled garden would also be a nice goal. I could sit in its shelter while pondering the new expanses of gravel.
Great work going on there and the irises are beautiful.
Thanks Paddy
A month with little rain is a problem. We’ve had a some, but are still a bit dry. A shower or two is predicted the next couple of days, but the 90º high won’t be appreciated, except that it will give me a day off.
Five yards of wood chips got placed around the garden edges and paths, so at least it gives the impression of neatness. 😉
I’ve noted Iris ‘Elsinore’ on my wish list, I love its peachy glow.
I look forward to seeing how your excavations turn out… will the beds be raised and stonewalled? Your energy, despite what you claim, impresses me!
I bet the new chips look great, and I’m thinking about doing the same for here. Even if it can’t be lush and amazing it can at least be neat, especially since my garden likely won’t have the summer annual extravaganza that your garden will have.
I’m also looking forward to seeing how my excavations turn out 😉
The plan changes as I move forward, but I might be able to spare a few stones for bed edges and I’d love to have a few walls as well… but I think the rocks are too small for a stable wall, it seems to be all or nothing with the stones I’m finding, either throwable or unmovable.
My goodness, you are quite the He-Man with shovel in hand. That is a lot of soil that has been rearranged. I am quite jealous of all your rocks, especially that huge boulder you have uncovered. I can’t wait to see what is planted around it.
It appears that the annuals you purchased are those that will take some dryness. I plant annuals around newly planted plants. I look at the annuals and if they look like they need watering i know that the newly planted shrubs, perennials etc need that water soaking too.
I love irises. You have some pretty ones. Knowing they are old varieties makes them more special to me. Oldies are usually very hardy.
Don’t work too hard this week. Cheers…
Haha, I think I might have last a few pounds of my winter insulation with all the digging. I do make it up though, plenty of high energy foods like ice cream and m&ms keep me going lol
That is an excellent idea. I should plant a few heat and drought lovers around the most sensitive new plantings such as the witch hazel, and that will be a good alarm when the marigolds start wilting.
I want to spread the iris around this summer. I probably say that each spring, but this might be one of the times it actually happens, and yes to the older iris! All my newer ones have rotted off or were fussy, floppy, disease magnets which I just don’t have the patience for. The new ones are amazing when you see the blooms, but sometimes when you look at the same plant in August you look away because of the mess.