Garden Chores

Look at these blooms!

Here in the South, we are experiencing a warmer than normal spring; in fact it feels like summer here!  I know we are not the only part of the country experiencing warmer than normal temps.  My big sis called today from Eau Claire Wisconsin (near Minneapolis) and told me it was 78 degrees there today; the ice was off the lake, and her tulips were making their way out of the ground.  At my most recent garden club meeting our speaker said here in zone 7a we are a week to two weeks ahead of our normal plant season which honestly it feels like we are more like a month ahead.  So projects I tend to have a few more weeks to get to needed to have been done yesterday.

At the top of our list of projects to accomplish this weekend was composting and mulching our garden beds.  Although I can't say this is one of my favorite projects, it is an awful lot like painting, instant gratification. 

Look at all that beautiful compost and mulch surrounding my daffodils.

I make a point of mending my soil every spring with a combination of compost and pine bark mulch.  I use pine bark because it is small, and breaks down easily.  Here in Lynchburg we have a predominately red clay soil, not exactly the best soil for plants because it holds water, and then in the hot dry summer it tends to become hard and does not encourage root growth.  I find that the more compost and mulch I can mix into my soil, the happier my plants are through the hot summer months.   Here are a few pictures of the plants that are happily blooming in my garden. 

Camellia

Primroses

Another Camellia

More Daffodils.

I am hating the neighborhood deer these days!  We went away for vacation and came back to this!  Do you see my azalea in the lower right corner of the picture above?  Normally the deer leave my azaleas alone, but not this year.   They came and striped all of the leaves, and flower buds off of my bushes!  Right before they bloom!  Oh how I hate the neighborhood deer.  It has been raining a lot here, so I have been spraying liquid fence on my plants weekly.

Oh how I love spring!  It is just so beautiful around here these days.  Now if I will only stop sneezing!

Rebekah