On Friday, I got a flat of pansies and a couple of little mums for our front flower bed. I set out yesterday to plant them. When my husband came out a little while later to see what they looked like, he found the pantries still in the flat and the front bed in complete disarray — some strange fit came over me and I was compelled to dig up the perennials, divide a few, and move them all around. And I mean all around — I left only one in the same spot, and that’s because I had just planted it last Sunday.
So I dug up the lamb’s ears — they looked crowded — and spaced them all out along the front border. They didn’t look like they’re thriving, so I hope they like the extra room and aren’t too traumatized by the move. I dug up and got rid of the black-eyed Susans; yes, they’re the Maryland state flower and all that, but they just looked so straggly all the time, and their leaves scratched. I divided the big purple coneflower and moved it and the two volunteers to the back of the bed, and stuck a couple of rust-colored mums between them. The three rosemary plants got moved to the back southwest corner, closest to the house, and the two purple sages moved in front of them; I’m hoping they’ll all successfully overwinter there. Finally, all the pansies — little white ones with purple faces — went in the middle of the bed. They’re supposed to be able to overwinter.
I have bulbs on the brain now. The smart thing to do would have been to plant bulbs while I was doing all this moving around, but I’m not sure if it’s too early here or not. I would like to plant tulips, hyacinth, and maybe some crocus. I’m also thinking about making a layered planter with my pansies — one of those deals where you plant the bulbs in the pot and then plant pansies on top. The bulbs bloom first, and then the pansies rebloom (and their foliage covers the bulbs’ dying foliage.)
At some point I should turn my attention to the indoor garden. I have exactly one houseplant (a Pothos, in the kitchen.) I have not done well with houseplants in the past, even with the hardiest “you-can’t-possibly-kill-this” plants, so I’m timid about trying them again. I also am lacking places to put them; we don’t have a lot of end tables, and no plant stands or attractive planters. I’m not sure about the light issue — I don’t think I have bright, direct light anywhere in the house except in the guest room. Then there’s the Hambet factor — keeping the little gardener from doing his own repotting. So a lot to think about. But I want to start soon, perhaps by starting cuttings from my outdoor herbs. If I succeed, we can just put the herb garden in the guest room.
We are also going to plant a new flower bed in the back. At first I was thinking about planting those big, splashy Asiatic lilies (perhaps in succession with tulips) but maybe I’ll try… peonies.
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What’s your method for planting bulbs? Do you space them the way they tell you on the package? That’s what I did last year, and the results were ho-hum. This year I may throw them out randomly, or plant them in bunches, or a little of both.
purple coneflower, aka echinacea. I hope you harvest some for flu season!
Do you like cacti? I think they’re kinda cute… and ours did better in the house. I let it outside for a day or two and came back with this big whitish patch where my husband said it got dried out.
Jeff,
I’ve only done bulbs once so far, when I planted a few daffodils last fall. I planted them in clusters of three bulbs, but the clusters were about eight to twelve inches apart. The effect was still okay — a little sparse, but not as silly as if I had planted them one bulb at a time. They are supposed to “naturalize” so I hope I have more daffodils next spring.
I would suggest the cluster idea if you’re planting them in a bed. Some of the big home improvement stores have giant bags of 50 to 60 bulbs, and that would make it a bit easier to plant in masses.
Alicia, what part of the echinacea do I harvest, and what would I do with it? I’ve probably missed the boat for this year; I only have a few droopy, deformed flowers left.
Davey’s mommy — cacti are cute, but they don’t appeal to me all that much. I like big leafy plants, like palms.
If you have squirrels in your neighborhood – and if there are oaks, there are squirrels – forget about crocuses. Squirrel candy, I assure you. I’m a great admirer of small early irises, like I. reticulata and I. danfordiae. I also like tall Dutch irises, which grow from corms (like a crocus) and bloom in May. In fact the only kind of irises I don’t much care for are the big hairy hybrids that come in every color combination under the sun. If you like tulips (I don’t, but it’s your garden), plant some perennial candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) along with them. Nothing sets off tulips like a sheet of brilliant white candytuft underneath them. Peonies will take a year or two to settle in, but if they do make themselves at home, you’ll have them forever.