Where has the time gone?!
This post was inspired by a list I made on Mastodon, and I decided it was good enough to expand on as a post on Substack. So, here we are.
Remaining winter tasks in the yard:
- front: weed parking strip before big spring growing surge; finish perennial cutback/cleanup in terraces, prune salvia
- sideyard: leaf cleanup, perennial cutback/cleanup
- backyard: perennial cutback and leaf cleanup of back sun border; prune crape myrtle
- rockery: remove some river rock in the “lowlands”, lay down some landscape fabric, replace river rock (this area is the bird basin), add more larger rocks; spread mulch on area that hasn’t gotten it yet
I made the first nursery haul of the season today. I was in pursuit of candelabra primroses, which I purchased this week last year (pic above), but they didn’t have any yet. Instead, I brought home some other small primroses, a couple of them frilly doubles, a six-pack of lettuce plugs, a single Italian parsley, a single dusty miller (to go with two others, I should have gotten three last fall), and two Senecio Angel Wings.
I have been wanting to get some senecio for the sideyard (the beachside garden) to bring in more dusty, light blue foliage, and the large boldness of the Angel Wing leaves is much needed. I might put them in containers for added drainage—we are plenty mild here for them, but I have clay soil and need to ensure proper drainage for some plants to survive our wet winters. The lettuce and parsley may end up in the raised beds that still need prep for the season. I might plant up some other containers that I have in the garage and just set them out somewhere, along with the parsley.
As for the raised beds, they’ll be a spring task here soon. I covered the bare parts of the soil that don’t have wildflowers in them from the stuff I seeded last year with last year’s fallen leaves. I did this to prevent soil compaction and excess rain collection in the beds. I’ll need to cut up the leaves and turn them into the soil soon before any amendments I might add later in May/June.
Once I get these slightly acclimated to my yard, I’ll plug the primroses and dusty miller into the patio containers in place of the ornamental cabbage/kale, get some pictures, and update this post.