flora report
Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries in our yard are all setting fruit. The blueberry bushes seem to be alive, yet not terribly interested in doing anything.
The hazelnut trees and St. John's Wart at the front of the house are growing and look healthy. The dog hasn't tried digging around them. The rhododendron I severely pruned last year exploded in blooms this year. The offshoots of it that I transplanted to the other side of the house seem to have survived yet did not bloom. For the front of the house this year I've decided to add red cedar mulch to deter some of the insects and weeds. I've always liked the look of red cedar mulch and think it will look good against the freshly sealed/painted foundation and provide an appealing contrast to the new house color (going from a very light gray to a light blue).
The bleeding heart hasn't bloomed much, yet the peonies look like they're going to be spectacular. One bud so far on the rosebush, right on schedule. The various irises and lilies that I've transplanted the past few years all seem to be doing well yet may want to be thinned yet again (anyone local who would like dark purple irises should contact me). The backyard had a nice carpet of forget-me-nots and violets seem to be coming up everywhere. The various hostas are thriving.
Transplanting an assortment of ground covers and other plants to the side of the driveway seems to have done a good job of slowing the erosion there, and I've managed to fill in the slope there with compost so it isn't as steep in some areas.
There are still a lot of young maple saplings to remove from the backyard. The poison ivy seems to have returned and spread (including mixing itself in with some newly volunteered blackberries).
I'm going to try growing some things in hanging planters if I can get some nice seedlings from a farmer's market.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes seem to be off to a good start in large containers. I'm not sure how much room they need or want as I've never grown either of them. So far they seem to be thriving; I'm curious to see if they'll produce.
Oyster mushrooms grown from a discounted Back to the Roots kit were very tasty. I haven't figured out how to propogate them further, yet may look into growing them again or another kind of mushroom. I liked that the kit was a somewhat sustainable product of mushroom matter feeding on used coffee grounds; all I had to do was give it water for a couple of weeks.
The hazelnut trees and St. John's Wart at the front of the house are growing and look healthy. The dog hasn't tried digging around them. The rhododendron I severely pruned last year exploded in blooms this year. The offshoots of it that I transplanted to the other side of the house seem to have survived yet did not bloom. For the front of the house this year I've decided to add red cedar mulch to deter some of the insects and weeds. I've always liked the look of red cedar mulch and think it will look good against the freshly sealed/painted foundation and provide an appealing contrast to the new house color (going from a very light gray to a light blue).
The bleeding heart hasn't bloomed much, yet the peonies look like they're going to be spectacular. One bud so far on the rosebush, right on schedule. The various irises and lilies that I've transplanted the past few years all seem to be doing well yet may want to be thinned yet again (anyone local who would like dark purple irises should contact me). The backyard had a nice carpet of forget-me-nots and violets seem to be coming up everywhere. The various hostas are thriving.
Transplanting an assortment of ground covers and other plants to the side of the driveway seems to have done a good job of slowing the erosion there, and I've managed to fill in the slope there with compost so it isn't as steep in some areas.
There are still a lot of young maple saplings to remove from the backyard. The poison ivy seems to have returned and spread (including mixing itself in with some newly volunteered blackberries).
I'm going to try growing some things in hanging planters if I can get some nice seedlings from a farmer's market.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes seem to be off to a good start in large containers. I'm not sure how much room they need or want as I've never grown either of them. So far they seem to be thriving; I'm curious to see if they'll produce.
Oyster mushrooms grown from a discounted Back to the Roots kit were very tasty. I haven't figured out how to propogate them further, yet may look into growing them again or another kind of mushroom. I liked that the kit was a somewhat sustainable product of mushroom matter feeding on used coffee grounds; all I had to do was give it water for a couple of weeks.