Friday a week ago the weather changed after a front blew in, leaving no doubt that fall is on its way. With cooler temperatures, it's been perfect for work on the garden. Herb and I spent a week digging out and preparing a new bed for the pink bush roses I had ordered from Jackson & Perkins. I chose the site for maximum sun and scenic appeal from the street, but the soil in that patch was the worst I've seen so far: hard as concrete after the recent dry spell, we dug out eight buckets of large rocks before mixing lots of peat moss and composted manure. On a glorious Saturday afternoon I finally planted and mulched the new roses--voila!
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| New rose bed. |
After that was done, I moved on to finish digging out the circle around the base of the red maple tree. I had put in some yellow day-lilies during the summer, but I needed two more plants to fill out the circle. I selected some lovely hybrid varieties on sale from Wayside Gardens--one peach and one pink. The plants arrived bare root this past Thursday, and I planted them the next day. I can't wait to see what they will look like next summer.
I also began to dig holes in the back yard for the saplings I'd gotten from the Arbor Day Foundation last spring. I'd been keeping these in pots all summer so I could water them easily, but now they need to go into the ground. The soil back there, though rocky, was not as compacted and hard as where we put in the rose bed; a couple of evenings were enough for the first two holes--for a dogwood and a redbud tree.
Showers were in the forecast for yesterday afternoon. I went out right after lunch to plant the saplings before the rain. A light drizzle began before I was finished with the first one, but I kept on working--it was not enough rain to get wet. Later in the afternoon and into evening we finally got some real showers--the first good soaking in weeks. This morning, the garden is resplendent with droplets in the sunlight!
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| My new saplings in the back yard. |
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| The front garden. |
