Sunday, April 19, 2009

Reprieved ... sort of

The mulch didn't come this past week. But it will be here this week and the order has mysteriously morphed into an entire unit - 7 1/2 cubic yards. So Mr. MulchMaid took pity on the overworked MulchMaid and arranged for some help: a young, strong, (horticulture-major, no less) college dude will distribute most of it on the garden next weekend.

This lets the MulchMaid attend to other important tasks. Lolling in the sun comes immediately to mind. But, no, there's not a lot of time for that, because we have weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. Seems only two weeks ago the beds were scrupulously cleared of unsanctioned green sprouts, but it's spring and they're baaack.

Also, taking pictures of the plants blooming or thriving in the garden. The MulchMaid missed Bloom Day, but that won't stop her from boring her readers with a few bloom-y pictures.

Continue at your own risk...A sweet little rhododendron I'm embarrassed to admit I've lost the tag for.


One of the two fatsia japonicas hopefully making a break for the roof line, and surrounded by millions of schizanthus sprouts that must be removed.


Archtostaphylos uva-ursi looking very happy in some pine duff and the remains of last year's mulch.



Mahonia aquifolium.

4 comments:

  1. I love taking flower pictures! I'll bore you with some on my blog someday soon! :)

    I'm really impressed that you know all these horticultural names!

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  2. Don't be too impressed, Tikimama. I just (usually) keep the tags for reference. I do try to remember my favorites, though. Another garden blogger said she keeps her records on flikr, with pictures of the plant. Now that's organized!

    Please DO put plant and bloom pics on your blog. I'd love it!

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  3. OK, that uva-ursi thing is kinikinik, right? Or however the heck you spell it. Some of mine turned purplish-brown last year, not sure if it was frost or frying in the sun. Other patches are just indestructible. I planted some of the same mahonia recently, although I hear its roots go everywhere. Has that been your experience? Happy belated bloom day!

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  4. Karen, the uva ursi IS kinnikinnik. Ours survived the bad winter quite well, but the older leaves are a sort of reddish-purple. As for the mahonia, yes, it's happy to spread, but we've found it reasonably controllable. Best thing is to plant it where you might have trouble growing other things: it's tough, so give it sun and it's pretty happy.

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