Enjoy the Magic of The Iris
It’s been awhile since the last edition of Dallying In The Dirt. Did you see those Iris pictures? Why would I come in from the garden to write when there are thirty or forty different varieties of my favourite flower in bloom. We work and wait for about 48 weeks to enjoy them for the 4 weeks that they are in bloom. While I was out there admiring them I was finishing planting the last of the annual flowers and the vegetables. The pole Beans have now germinated and are looking for that string that I was going to put up yesterday. Late vegetables such as parsnip and a second crop of carrots were seeded and we are still waiting to plant the Rutabaga. Inside or in the cold frame it is time to start more lettuce seeds so that we have little plants to fill in the spaces where we pull out the old ones. Kohl Rabi, Broccoli, late Cauliflower and Cabbage will be seeded in the cold frame as well so that they can occupy some of the space that the rapidly maturing peas are presently occupying. We have such a short season that we must try to keep every space in the garden utilized. We will be in a mad panic to try and remove as much of the natural vegetation, (read weeds,) as possible this week because the garden is on a garden tour next week and some of the 200 +visitors will surely notice. This also means a great push to finish up a couple of small projects like the trellis work around the corner posts, where the Clematis is already growing all over the ground in a desperate search for its promised trellis. Theoretically with all of the spring planting done it’s time to slow down and just enjoy the garden. I seem to get into that mode about late July; just when it’s time to start dividing the Iris. I did have a visitor last Sunday who came and went while I slept, blissfully unaware, in the hammock. In our part of the world we are having an unusually hot and dry spring and early summer. The small bit of grass that is allowed to stay in the yard is giving me more reasons to pull it out. It is brown and dry already and I will have to consider watering it soon. This particular piece of grass is a new Eco-grass that I seeded about 1.5 years ago because it was not supposed to need water or fertilizer or all of those expensive inputs. Well it is disappointing to say the least. The grass in the back, admittedly slightly cooler and moister is still green while the Eco-grass in the front is doing a great imitation of crispy critters. I may have to reconsider that grass’ place in our garden. The water lilies are all in bloom but it appears that the “hardy?” Lotus that was so lovely last year was, in fact, not that hardy. There has been no sign of it. The Louisiana Iris that were put in the pond last year are alive but that might be about it. They are either very slow growing or they don’t like the conditions I have supplied them with. Well it’s time to go backout and start weeding and mulching so that we look “like we know what we are doing,” for next weeks visitors. There are new articles at www.gardening-enjoyed.com about garden paths, Morning Glories, Container vegetables and one I should reread about using groundcovers other than turf grass. Enjoy Dallying in this weeks Dirt. 111 Trent St. W. |
