4-19-10 Finally, More Planting & Another Visitor

As promised I returned to the church to trim the plants in the tower entrance garden. Of course I ended up doing a lot more than that. When I started pulling some weeds away from the building I noticed the soil felt rich and perfect for planting. No wonder the weeds were thriving! How perfect then that I packed a bunch of my seed packets this time. I looked on all of the envelopes and found three flowers that like sun/partial shade. After clearing the weeds and loosening the soil a bit I planted a bunch of forget-me-nots,snowmen hybrid marigolds, and some cantebury bells.

I haven't done much gardening with seeds so this is going to be an experiment. I'm going to make sure to water the seeds every day as directed. I guess I should feed them as well. I'll have to remember to pack my Miracle Grow drops for watering tonight.  

  My mom brought some lily of the valley plants over on Saturday that had been graciously donated by her friend Diana. I didn't have time to plant them until yesterday though which didn't hurt them at all. Mom had put the plants in long planters with potting soil loosely packed around the roots and then watered them once she got them to the churchyard. I planted three of the heartier lillies on the far edge of the old chapel garden where there was a big space of nothing. I planted the rest of them in a row along the main garden on the side facing the pastor's parking space. I had a little help planting. One of the daycare teachers and her three sons were leaving as I was planting and the boys were eager to dig holes for the plants, look for worms in the holes, and then use the watering can to give the plants a drink when they were planted. It turns out these guys are doing a project about earthworms at school. They had a covered plastic box to collect them in and I think when we were done they had at least ten in there including a little baby one (not a segment of one I chopped in two by accident; I know my earthworms).

Anyways, This little guy is of course not a worm but he was the visitor I was talking about in the title. I'm pretty sure he's going to turn into a moth one day but I haven't been able to identify him yet. If anyone knows what he is then please leave that info in the comments section. I'm just amazed at how good these closeup pictures are turning out with my new camera. Thanks again to my mom for giving me the camera as a birthday gift this year. I used to be wary of digital cameras but now I am beginning to embrace them. Working on this blog definitely helps with that.

4-16-10 I've Got Blistas on My Fingas

  No really, I do actually have blisters on two of my fingers on my right hand. But, it was totally worth it. I got all of those border plants trimmed along the old chapel garden, the elevator entrance garden (which I also call the kitchen garden), and along the church sign. I still need to trim the plants near the tower entrance but that can wait until Monday.

  If you look at the picture above you'll notice a few stray daffodils have popped up. I must confess that I planted them last month knowing full well that I was supposed to wait until the Fall to plant my spring bulbs. With our roller coaster Spring weather the bulbs can't tell which season it is. So, they've started to bloom...a month late (or later than the daffodils planted by other gardeners in the Fall). Some of my flowers were chopped down by whoever mowed the lawn. But, I was warned when I planted them that they might get trimmed by accident.

I've also included some before and after pictures of the old chapel garden. The plants sprouting up between the azaleas are irises I think. Whatever they are I remember them being beautiful last year. I guess we will all find out soon enough. 

The shaggy before picture

The tidy after picture

4-15-10 The Old Chapel Garden and a Surprise Guest

I could kick myself yesterday. I got up to the church and noticed that I had forgotten my clippers. One of my main objectives was to trim down the rest of the border plants. Oh well, I had limited time to garden anyways (the first Caps game of the playoffs was on at 7) so it was just as well that I had to weed instead of trimming. Below are the before and after pictures from my weeding in the rest of the old chapel garden.




I also found this little guy behind one of the azalea bushes. I had found another one down near the decorative grasses when I was raking leaves last week but I didn't have my camera. So I was pretty excited to find one again. He is a Giant Leopard Moth caterpillar.

4-12-10 Before and After Weeding

I am a big fan of before and after pictures. So from here on in I am going to try to remember to take pictures before and after I do work in the gardens. Let's start with the less dramatic pictures of the garden in front of the old chapel window. I only managed to pull the weeds from a few feet of the right side. I also trimmed down the border plants under the old announcement board.



Here is the main garden that runs along the driveway. I pulled a ton of weeds and trimmed the border plants. If you look closely you can see the little crepe myrtle sapling that's in front of the big crepe myrtle. It just looks like a leafy twig right now.



And here are the shots of what it looked like after:

4-12-10 Weeding

Yesterday I pulled a bunch of weeds out of the main flowerbeds and a little bit of them out of the plot near the old chapel. I also trimmed the border plants. I can't remember what they're called (since I didn't plant them) but I noticed that similar plants in front of my condo building were trimmed down to accommodate new growth. I'm by no means a master gardener so I learn things as I go and by watching other gardens.

I didn't get a chance to plant anything yesterday but I should have with the rain coming.
I did get to plant some dahlias and freesia bulbs the other week. Before that I planted some echinacea bulbs. I have a little crepe myrtle sapling coming up in the middle of my flowerbed that I need to transplant to a better spot. I'm not sure where that would be but I'll weigh my options and bring my shovel.

Maybe next year I can suggest that the women's group put on a garden sale and we can sell any other crepe myrtle saplings that come up along with other surplus plants from the garden. I know some of the plants cost quite a bit at the nursery.

This weekend, if it doesn't rain too hard, I wanted to harvest some lilies of the valley from my mom's friend's yard. Right around the end of April and beginning of May is their peak blooming time.