More path

Today I continued working on the path I started yesterday. I had to dig deep grass further to the right. It is slow work and my back is broken.
I had a lovage and a pineapple sage in pots for a while, since these get so big, I couldn't decide where to put them. Lying down paths makes decisions easier, as I can visualise better how things will go further from here.

I collected some muscari (grape hyacinth) seeds from the ripe pods.

The white muscari I planted some time ago have completely disappeared. I think the shredded branch mulch is serving as shelter for slugs. I collected 4 or 5 sugar snap peas and that's all the slugs and snails have left of the pea plants, and all the beans have disappeared as well (also mulched). So... I think I have to find another way. Perhaps grit. Sigh.
Well, the insane amount of rain we've been having is surreal as well.

At least not all strawberries have been munched:

We aren't having tomatoes in full ground this year, and perhaps in years to come. Mine were sown way too late and are very small still. We got these two from my in-laws. The redneck roof went back up again over the unfinished terrace to protect them from the rain.

Some pictures

We've had rain. Like, exclusively.

And one evening, the weirdest light I've ever seen. Greenish blue just before sunset.

Yesterday evening, my first ranunculus bud!

Calla lily

These which I don't know what they are...

This is one of the heaps of ground we now have in the garden,
which has been quickly colonised by weeds, nasturtiums and borage,
and they've grown 20 cm in a few days with all the water!

Grapevine

Waiting for love-in-a-mist

Some callas in pots

Some peas are making do, but most are munched down

Lark ascending coming soon!

Another cut flower photo (Margaret Merrill)

Cleanup and transplanting

I'm broken! been digging lots of grass out. It is SO matted, thick and persistent!

Today I worked around the apple trees, removing all grass; placed a row of bricks behind them to stop grass roots (I hope); laid a piece of brick path; planted all the plants in small pots I had from garden centers (from thursday and still some from 16 april, I'll mark those *); mulched a bit. Doesn't sound like a lot but oof! digging out the grass is the hardest.

A "before" I found, just a bunch of old grass:

Some of the plants I got thursday I still haven't "inventorised" here.
Let's see:

Origanum syriacum Za'atar and an unidentified herb*, next to the pallet, beyond hyssop and chives.

From left to right behind the two apple trees, Digitalis grandiflora alba, Angelica archangelica, Alcea rosea nigra (150cm) and Digitalis lutea (70cm). So that's two types of foxgloves that I don't know if they will flower this year or the next, a giant angelica and a black hollyhock.

Angelica

Hollyhock

A bit further in, between the apple and the first foxglove, Lupinus Camelot white*. Further still and between the angelica and the first apple, a few white muscari*. On the other side of the brick path, close to the strawberry patch, three white lavenders*.

Viola odorata (sweet violet!!! :DD) I planted it between the roses on the right and the raspberries so they get some shade.

And the white iris* I planted between the left roses and the hyacinths, where they get a liiittle shadow.

Garden center

Yesterday we went to a garden center in Halle (ecoflora) I wanted to see which herbs they had, since the selection locally is a bit poor. Came back with a good bunch and three new ferns. We also went to the Hallerbos which I had never visited. The bluebells were still going strong. I may post some of those pictures separately.

I'm now transplanting. The ferns are in place and a few others too, but for some I have to think were to put them...

One strawberry "Maestro", which went in the strawberry patch close to the pallet. They had many types, I got this one because it said it was fragrant.

The ferns:

I got this photo for reference since I didn't leave the labels (and removed the buckler fern label which was still there since I planted it). So I got Asplenium trichomanes (15cm) Polypodium vulgare (70 cm) and Osmunda regalis (180cm!). I put 1 and 2 with the other ferns, the largest on the spot where one died (not winterhard I think) and the other towards the front since it's small. I was really hesitating where to put the royal fern. It gets large and needs perhaps a bit more light. I finally planted it before the hawthorn, not too close to it. I will keep an eye on it and see if it needs to be moved.

I was also hesitating where to put this mint. It will perhaps not be as invasive as regular mint (and I have a clump in the middle of my largest patch...) but I wanted to put it elsewhere. And it is dark so I wanted a half-shaded position. I dug a hole close to the rose/snowdrops, removed the grass, planted and refilled with soil. This one is Mentha citrata 'bergamotte'. Smells pretty particular. 70cm.

I also planted a Tanacetum balsamita (yay!!) close to the thymes. 80cm.

More later. I had to come indoors because the sun was merciless.

Meanwhile, a few ladybug photos I found in my phone, from a while back (22 april). There's less around the pallet now, perhaps it is now warm enough and they've spread through the garden. I see them less often but in more places.

Update, and a visit to the local garden center

Two days ago the sugar snap peas just POP! today I saw the snow peas are also starting to pop up.

I took a few pictures around the garden. Not too bad for phone pictures, but I should take out the camera soon:

Hawthorn

Fern

Fern that I grew from spores

Fern

Fern - Cyrtomium fortunei

Fern - Cyrtomium fortunei

These Louvre hyacinths I planted in March have turned out beautiful
(and fragrant as ever)

Bad photo of the first flowers of my pretty white broom

Lilac. I lost the label, but I investigated today in the garden center where
I bought it, I think it may be Agnes Smith (white, single)

Will we get a HUGE LOAD of fruit?? (redcurrant)

Elder

Boston ivy on the front door. I killed its predecessor so I am really
pampering this one! it's a harsh façade...

So in the garden center we got:

A superbly staged vignette ;)

Corylus avellana 'Webb's prize cob' x2 (hazelnuts!)
Salvia × sylvestris 'Schneehügel' (a white flowering sage)
Lupinus 'Camelot white' (white lupines)
Chaenomeles × superba 'Jet Trail' (compact Japanese quince)
Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' (honeysuckle)
Hymenocallis 'ismène festalis' (x1 bulb peruvian daffodil)
Iris hollandica (white of course)
Muscari botryroides 'alba' x3 (and three sprigs per pot)
Lavender alba (dunno which) x3
And a pot of something I promptly forgot WTF it is! I know it is an herb and it is white although normally it isnt? may it be Verbena hastata or am I confusing that with something I sown yesterday?? sigh my memory...

More on these later today or tomorrow when we plant them.

Bulbs

Zantedeschia

Labels

Today I got two bulbs in Aveve (is Agapanthus actually a bulb?) the Zantedeschia had a baby bulb to the side (that is why I selected this one), so I split it before I planted them. There is another bud, but I didn't want to cut the bulb so close to the center, the side bud split readily.

I'll have to remember to dig out the Zantedeschia in Autumn, maybe also the Agapanthus. I planted the Z between some herbs in a sunny but quite protected spot (at least as long as the pallets stay where they are) and the A close to the fence, behind an apple tree.

I also planted a cilantro from the grocery store, I never had luck with this... I planted it close to the mint, on the shadiest spot in the only available bed. This time, I put a cloche over it, and I hope that will let it adapt to being outside.

Also spilt some seeds around, nasturtiums, love-in-a-mist, borage.

I've put four planters I have on one of the new windowsills. Three have chard from last year that survived. I filled the 4th with soil and planted some chard bright lights. I don't think I ever had this one come out? I top dressed the other 3 containers with compost.

Some spring things

I started going to the gym and it's great, because my joints have improved to the point that I can even dig in the garden :D it's very satisfying. There are so many signs of spring! green buds and little growing leaves everywhere.

Hyacints

I dug a little around the roses and hyacints. I saw that the hop vine is alive and well, yay! Also signs of life on lilac, broom and elder in this area. I should fill in a bit with more soil, perhaps add mulch.

I started digging the stubborn, old grass tufts off around the fruit tree area as well. Some kinds of grass do not let go of the ground at all until they dry out completely, luckily we just have two mountains of soil from where we are excavating close to the house, so I just filled it up and piled the grass tufts nearby.

That's one mountain of soil

This weekend we had a look in Aldi and I brought back a cherry tree, six strawberry plants, a packet of peruvian daffodil bulbs and some seed packets (they're like 40 cents there) and a box with mixed bulbs.

The box is entitled 30X COLOUR COLLECTION, but I got it because all the flowers are white, haha. There's 1x Dahlia, 3x Lilies, 5X Freesia, 10x Gladiolus and 11x Anemones "the bride".  That's all the information in the box, apart from planting depth etc, Aldi as usual is a bit of a bet. I hope some of these come out, especially the anemones which I love, I planted some before but they didn't turn out. In the peruvian daffodil (Hymenocallis festalis) packet there were just three bulbs.

The cherry tree is "Rheinische Schattenmorelle" and it's supposed to be sour. We removed last year's dead cherry tree and planted this one, it just one thin stem of about a metre, but it had green buds and it was cheap so I got it. It is in the first picture on the far left.

The daffodils went in in between the other ones which are already up, but not blooming yet. I planted the rest of the bulbs and the poured the contents of three seed packets around the fruit tree area, these are white alyssum (Lobularia maritima), a mix of cornflower and Lobelia "Kristallpalast". I didn't cover or anything and it rained right afterwards.

Also planted the strawberries in between the others, (I've done some weeding but there's still some), and Pim planted the tree.

Strawberry mess

Today I also weeded what has other years been used as a vegetable bed, around the perimeter we transplanted the herbs that were evicted from what is going to be a terrace some time ago. So today there I sowed some peas: sugar snaps "Delikett" and mangetout "Norli" (Aveve), two rows of each. The sugar snaps are closer to the pallets. I also poured the content of a white California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) seed packet from Aveve around the fruit tree area.

I also "Speedy" beans. So I still have enough space to weed and plant a few of these beans...

Don't have pictures of this area yet. It's behind the soil mountain on the second photo.