Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Garden Inventory

It's raining today, otherwise I'd be avoiding housework again by working on my garden and flower beds. Instead, I'll avoid housework by blogging.
Every spring when I plant new things I try to keep a detailed record of exactly what I acquired and what exactly it is. I have a green 3-ring binder that inventories all of my gardening successes and failures. I decided to add to my inventory a photo set of everything in the spring and summer in order to keep better track of growth. I put together a sheet with photos and plant names for my book today. Tom said it was "overkill". (I admit it - a lot of things I do really are overkill) I do things like this for the enjoyment of the process. The trip is the fun, not so much the destination.
Above is a pic of a little tree (Red Splendor Crabapple) that started out as part of a bulk purchase of twenty five little slips about six inches high. I had no place to put them so plopped them in at the edge of a field. I didn't even dig holes, just turned a bit of dirt and stuck them in. I checked back a few years later when I had a yard to put a tree in and found a few gnarled, ugly little trees about 3 feet high. I picked the best of the bunch and moved it to a prominent place in the front yard. It was ugly! It is now a few more years later, and my little tree has blossomed into a beautiful one. The branches are still gnarly, but in a good way.
Here (above) is the President Lincoln Lilac I bought from a parking-lot vendor as fall was moving in a few years ago. It was a sad little thing, suffering from mildew, and I was not sure if it would survive the fall planting. Well, it did, and it is a gorgeous bush. It has a beautiful shape (not my doing, I have never pruned it). The flowers are a lovely shade of blue. Last year there were NO blossoms so I was a bit concerned. This year I am excited to see the thing is absolutely LOADED with buds! I can hardly wait!!

And then, here's the raspberry and vegetable garden, newly expanded to triple the size from last year. Getting all the sod raked out is a bear. We'll see how it goes...
I'll end with a sad sight. When spring came and the snow melted, I found one of my two little "Duchess of Oldenburg" apple trees was broken off. Kids, pets, or what, I'm not sure. It was barely sticking up past the snow, so guess it would have been a bit safer if I'd had a little fence around it. I haven't pulled it out yet. Who knows? It may sprout again above the graft....

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