Cleaning out the ground covers....

While I was cleaning out some of the leaves from my "Pachysandra - Japanese Spurge" ground cover I was reminded of my non-gardening daughter, Kari!  This is one plant she did buy and plant once upon a time.  It is a perfect ground cover that only requires keeping it in the boundary you establish (it is easy to pull out) and cleaning out some of the tree leaves that wander into it in the fall!  Yep, I have a nice area of it, which is now showing the potential white  blooms getting ready to open!  I started it with cuttings I took from Kari's patch @ 16 years ago.  So, I smile as I think of her and also of all the cuttings I have given to friends to start their own patches of rich green ground cover!  

This year I will be celebrating the upcoming maple seed drop time from a neighbors tree!  The tree is gone now and I am recalling  how much time I spent in the last 14 years digging those seeds out of this patch of ground cover so I didn't have to dig out trees sprouting!  Yipeeee!

More gift plants waking up!

Again, I am enjoying finding long term friends, plants given to me by dear friends, popping up to greet me as I clean off more garden beds!  Such a joy to recall treasured friends when I find the plants!  

Bluebells came into my garden life @16 years ago, from a treasured garden club member, Peg Lewis who passed away this spring.  In fact, I was her Vice President when she was President,  Then more recently another garden friend I met when I joined my Garden Club, Doris Amundson, added to my Bluebell collection!

Peg taught me lots of about floral design as that was her real passion.  I also recall her teaching a class on container gardening at the Mayowood Gardens when our committee was doing their annual planting of 45 containers on the grounds!  She was a petite lady, who was always so generous with her knowledge and love of gardening.

Doris I always enjoy being around.  She is a gifted quilting artist and passionate gardener.  I always make sure I stop and visit her during gardening season as she plants every inch of her yard and then fills a lot of driveway and path space with containers!  

Bluebells almost ready to open up!

I can't wait until Bluebell Time!  This year I'll have plenty of available time to take a drive to a nearby State Park to see their display.  And, then a visit my husband's favorite golf course that has a fabulous display in their woods bordering the course!  Maybe I'll find a few other friends to go along (with safe distancing) to enjoy the experience?  

Again I am reminded that joining the Rochester Garden and Flower Club was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  I don't know what I treasure the most, the gardening information I've learned, the events that have been fun or the fabulous friends I've made!

Cleaning off Garden Beds..... surprises!

With a few sunny warmer days ahead this week I was out this morning to clean up a few garden beds!  It was so nice to get out of the house after almost a week of rainy cold days.  First surprise was finding my Fern Peony hiding under some leaves and poking up about 3 inches high in a nice big patch!  It is about 4-5 years old now.  The fun is welcoming it back and remembering our friends from the lake, Chuck and Becky, who gave it to me when they split theirs!  Such fun to have plants like that to enjoy and the history of friendships along with it!

My mini gardens

Last year I planted fewer of them as the cost of the plants has been increasing readily.  I figured my usual 35 had become a bit much so reduced to about 25!   I see quite a few of the perennials seem to have survived their winter home in our garage, which will save me a bit of money this year.  Once they are recovered from winter I will be able to split quite a few of them to mix in with the new ones I will be purchasing to create my mini gardens with!  That fun is about 6 weeks from now.

Right now they spend the nights tucked in the garage and sunshine days out soaking up the warmth and fresh air on the driveway!  Thanks to Denny's creative skills making me these flat plant movers the moving job is quick and easy!

He made the carts to help shuffle plants around while setting up for the two annual plant sales held by my garden clubs.  This year those sales are not possible but thankfully both organizations have secure financial assets that will allow us to weather this pandemic crisis we are in! One of these clubs is 81 years old and has weathered many challenges and we will survive this one also.  The other is only 14 years old but we will also survive just fine thanks to wise financial management and successful annual sales!

My favorite spring friends!

I simply love these little friends in the spring.  They bloom early  on the edge of my major hosta bed so all the sidewalk walkers get greeted by them!  They have been multiplying through the years so are quite a lovely rambling display.  Today I noticed some of them popping up on the other side of the house so am wondering just how they got there!  They are welcome where ever they go in my garden beds!   Once they are done greeting spring they disappear and let the hostas take over!  Not many crocus this year tho!  

Hostas waking up!

I have a few containers with Hostas that are wintered over in our garage for added protection.
What a joy to see them waking up and reaching for daylight now!  A bit of water, slow release fertilizer and compost should encourage them to wake up fast!  Especially when they are still protected from cold temps that still visit occasionally at night.   Soon they will get moved outdoor to soak up a bit of SE MN sunshine during the days!

The top container is my "Mouse Nest", which is a collection of the Mouse Series of Small hostas with
some small ferns for added texture!

The bottom container has hostas, a fern and Ginger for a variety of leaf interest.  It protects a corner of a hosta bed from being damaged by the lawn mower.  Is close to a sidewalk where lots of walkers stroll by.

My Happy Place

Sunshine and warm temps today so I scrambled out to visit one of my Happy Places! One that I can actually quickly go to physically (my yard and garden beds)!

I have Happy Places to visit that I often  go to these days that are not always current physical places I can go to!  Often they are memories that I need to focus on to chase away the darker moments that appear with this crisis we are experiencing!  Sometimes they are on my laptop with ideas for updating my garden beds!

Spring is springing up and friends are coming back to greet me!  I've have faith they will come back  and will provide me with joy and fun times!  Yep, us gardeners could not exist without our faith in the future!  Those plants are carefully chosen friends I have nurtured well.

Pansy Pots are brimming with cheerful color and smile up thru the occasional snowflakes that still flutter down here in SE MN!  I so need those smiles nodding at me and anyone who comes by my front door this year!

 I so appreciate the creative ways the plant nursery businesses that are finding the "Safe" way for us to get our plants!  I called, ordered 4 pansy pots and paid with a handy debit card while on the phone.  Twenty minutes later I was at the gate to their outdoor shopping area, used my cell phone to let them know I was there and out came the owner to unlock the gate for me and told me to step in and pick the pots I wanted as he waved at me and quickly went back inside the building!  Ten minutes later we were on our way to spread a bit of Pansy Pretty on a few special neighborhood steps!   Safe distancing shopping at its best and in fresh air!

Next trips out we will be wearing our stylish new masks a friend made for us!  If I want others wearing them I'd better get the message out by example that it is OK to do that!  Got yours?   Stay safe and provide safety for others!