59 bar steady 29.83 3mph WNW dewpoint 31 Beltane
Waxing Crescent of the Hare Moon
Hemerocallis (the daylily) is a sturdy member of the plant kingdom. Every time I plant, no matter where I plant it, nor the care I give it, the daylily spreads and grows happily. That’s why years after the fact the foundation outlines for many rural home are still obvious, tiger lilies continue to grow and bloom just like the house was still there. Today all the daylilies in the first raised bed we ever had, made, as all of them, by Jon, got moved.
Jon also put in a cedar rail fence and last year I deconstructed it down to the original cedar fencing. We had him add wire fencing to keep out nuisance animals–our dogs. An older me saw them as less of a problem, Kate agreed, so down the wire fence came. The daylilies have gone from the bed to the edge of the cedar rail fence. Two peonies have likewise made the transition, but they went into a tree circling bed that is about a quarter finished. We have a young, sturdy elm on the fence line. I removed the fence around it and will soon complete digging out a circular bed around its dripline.
The former daylily and peony bed will get sweet corn. I’m also going to try the Native American method of planting climbing beans at the base of the corn stalk.
Three tomato plants grown from seed to 1 foot + under the lights are now in place, too. They went in the former lily (Asian and other true lilies) bed. I’m taking a chance planting them directly outside with no hardening off, but I wanted to try it, see how it works. If they die, we’ll buy a couple of tomato plants. If they don’t, I can skip a step in the future if I watch the weather carefully. Which I do.
Also had a brainstorm for what to do with the hill that has succumbed to raspberry canes. Moss. This is a shady area and I read an article about how to convert lawns to moss. It won’t work for our front lawn yet, but it should work on this slope shadowed by the seven oaks at the top. Gonna try it. The result can’t be worse than what we have.
While I dug and transplanted, Kate made a trip to the Greenbarn, a nursery and garden store up near Isanti. She bought a number of things: impatiens, onion sets, Coleus, sphagnum moss, small onion sets already well underway, some seeds as well as other things. Anyhow all this means the 2008 gardening season is off and growing.