the-long-bed-under-the-big-oak

We have a lot of flowerbeds in the yard. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to designate them. We’ve never figured out how to name them in an organized manner, so some of them have long names. 🙂 This bed is under the Southern Oak (which we call “the big oak”) behind the house. I don’t remember just when we first made the bed, but it has been five or six years perhaps, maybe longer. The branches of the tree have grown enough to make it shadier than it used to be and the bed had been neglected for quite a while. We haven’t updated it over the years, haven’t kept it full. It gets enough “mulch” from all the oak leaves, that nothing takes root in it besides grape vines and Virginia Creeper. Friday evening we worked on removing those. When that was done, we could see there was quite a bit of filling in to do.

redoing another bed

The first thing I wanted to move was the Lenten Rose from the front yard near the mail box to the long bed under the big oak. The Lenten Rose had been sited under flowering almond that had kept it sheltered and shaded. Last year, we had a late hard freeze in April which killed the almond all the way back to the ground. This year it has sprouted a few small stems and will make a come back eventually, but it isn’t able to shelter the hellebore any longer.

moving day

After the Lenten Rose was in, we shopped the yard for hostas to move into this bed.

planting the bed

DH was on call, so of course there were interruptions. He took care of them over the phone and didn’t have to leave, which was great.

on call

We put lots of columbine in the bed. It makes a great filler, reseeds itself readily, which is nice in some situations. It is always easy to pull out or move the plants you don’t want in the bed. These came from the bed near the front steps where we have a small fountain in a sea of columbine.

columbine

columbine

The bed is finished for now. Once the daylilies on the sunnier west end have bloomed, so we can be sure what is what, we will pull out the ditch lilies and replant with some of our favorite varieties.

long bed under the big oak

I took lots of pictures of other things blooming in the yard and this yellow ragwort and the violet were two of them.

Golden Ragwort

spring violet

I love the quick growth of spring, the colors and the lush fresh greens. My favorite time of year in the yard.

~~Rhonda

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