Post I of III: Garden Report 2

I thought I would do 3 small(ish) posts, so that people who aren't interested in knitting or gardening or whatever don't have to wade through what they're not interested in. This part will be another garden report.

• The daffodils and hyacinths I uncovered over the weekend have lost their bleached pallor and have greened up and are looking enthusiastic.


• There's a palm-sized patch of bright yellow crocus. Every year I forget about them. Remind me to plant about 500 mixed crocus this fall.


• Found columbines coming up in the shade garden, but not where they're supposed to be, which means these are seedling volunteers, and who knows what they'll look like. I'll have to look for white ones at the garden centers this year.


• Once I uncovered them, the fuzzy pleated alchemilla leaves are growing by leaps and bounds--or at least several centimeters a day. It's nice to see them.


• Raked some leaves out out of the shade garden and discovered something I couldn't identify at all: Not quite spears like hostas, but not slenderl ike daffodil leaves. Kind of grape-colored--dark purple with what Henry Mitchell liked to call a "glaucus bloom." There were two patches of it and i couldn't for the life of me figure out what they were. Thank goodness I took pictures last year. Turn's out it's brunnera. I hope they look as fabulous this year as they did last year. It was a very pretty little "painting"--oval shiny dark green European ginger, flanked by the big silvery-white brunnera leaves, and backed by a lance-shaped powdery-blue hosta.

• I'd like to find a very low, fine, feathery, bright green ground cover to fill in the spaces. I planted brass buttons last year--I can't remember the latin name--but I don't think they took. They were exactly what I wanted, like tiny ferns, so if I can find them again this year I think I'll give them another try. Irish moss would be nice, but that takes full sun.


• Tulips and German iris in the driveway bed coming along nicely.

I've got a huge pile of woodchips I need to do something with--I think I'll spread them in the "hosta nursery," and if I need more for the dogs' potty area, I can buy some more.

I've got a godawful amount of leaves to rake and cart to the compost pile. I've been exhausted all day--my poor dogs--I came home at noon and lay down, and after I took them out to the puppy pen after work, I came into the living room and lay down. But maybe I can do several bouts of 20 minutes' work or so over the weekend and get it done that way.

Current soundtrack: "A Change Is Gonna Come," Moondog Matinee, The Band

Current body temp: 97.1