Keeping Up With The Constant Edging of The Beds

Still some daffodils left and now some tulips blooming. They are .50 each. I am thinking of digging them out and getting rid of them after they bloom. Tulips are beautiful the first season and then many of the varieties seem to shrink each year until they are just mostly foliage, and not worth the space. My U-Pick business really doesn't kick in until June when the summer people arrive and people start having guests and wanting flowers on the table for summer entertaining.

I am, however, selling a number of perennials and have taken some orders as well. They are a great value. I spent part of the day helping Dave with the grass cutting. We just got a bagger for our riding mower, which is pretty exciting. That means I now have loads of grass clippings to work with, mixed with leaves from last fall. That makes a nice mulch for my beds. The sweet-smelling mixture helps to keep weeds down/water in while at the same time enriching the soil as it decomposes. I have a garage full of bagged leaves from last fall. The DPW guys at Northport were kind enough to drop off two trucks full of bags. I will tear them open all season, using their contents to mulch my beds.

The peonies are getting tall and now have buds. I was excited to realize I now have 47 good-size bushes. Sometimes I think I should grow nothing but peonies. They are so easy and virtually carefree--once you get them planted at the right depth. And they produce flowers people really love and are willing to pay $1 per stem for.

All of the plants have the lush, early growth that is so green and beautiful now. I love this part of the season more than any other because of the promise of what's to come. Plus, I love working in the cooler weather with no bugs. Today we had just brilliant blue skies over gorgeous Omena Bay--also a deep aquamarine blue today. Cool enough for fleece pants and a turtleneck. I kept taking my jacket off and on, depending on the breeze. There are some indigo blue birds nesting in my bird house. When ever I work by that bed they fly around anxiously.

I am working to keep up with the constant edging of the beds that needs to be done. This involves a clean cut with a shovel coupled with working on hands-and-knees, shaking dirt from the clumps. The idea is to keep the grass from growing into the plants and it looks great too. The grass loves to creep into my beds and it is a constant battle to keep it at bay.

Earlier this week I divided lillies. I dug out huge clumps and split them apart. There were dozens of bulbs clinging together. I spread them out into a new bed and I know they are all so happy now to each have their own space. Kind of like when a houseful of guests goes home. All perennials love to be divided and will reward you with reinvigorated growth and superior blooms if you give them enough loose soil to spread their roots. Just like all of us, they need their own space. The lilies are pretty amazing the way they multiply. They say you should divide them every 3 to 5 years and I have not done it for 7 so am well overdue. I learned how to do it by looking on the internet, but it wasn't anything different than I've done with dividing other plants. Just gently seperate the roots, rhizomes, bulblets, etc and spread out. I find that plants are really forgiving creatures for the most part and quite adaptable. As long as you don't keep them out of the dirt for too long, give them nice loose soil to settle in to and water them in well, they will usually bounce back.

The sheer multiplying of plants is the reason I pot up and sell perennials. They need to be divided to stay healthy and I simplly can't bear to throw any of them away. Even the iris rhizomes I tossed in my compost pile are sprouting there. I noticed lupine seedlings today in one bed and hundreds of phlox shoots I could dig out and pot up. In my annual beds from last year I am seeing calendula and candleabra sage seedlings appear as well and sunflower volunteers. Each was deposited last fall into the soil when blooms faded and seedpods formed, then scattered one windy day. I am fascinated by the genetic mapping of seeds and cuttings or root stock that always know who they must morph in to. The programming work of Mother Nature is quite astounding, when you think about it.