I had been worried that the rain would pass us by, but just in case, I wanted to get Sarah-Flah’s Giant No-Mow Flowerbed finished (mulching), and wanted to get a start on the irrigation setup while it wasn’t a million goddamned degrees.
On Thursday after work, I was too tired to do much; I don’t actually remember whether I repotted the tropical hibiscus on Thursday after work, or whether I did it at some point in time on Friday. Not that it matters much because Charlotte ate most of it anyway. Well, it was pretty while it lasted!
I finished the mulching on Friday; it was sunny, but not too uncomfortable even in the sun. I had been thinking that I wouldn’t have quite enough corrugated, and was wondering where I could score just a bit more, when UPS delivered my drip irrigation stuff…the 500′ of distribution tubing of which came in a big box, which gave me just enough to finish the bed. Then, I thought I was going to run out of mulch, but I had about half a bag left when I’d finished, which I actually need when I decide whether I’m going to plant anything in between the bee balm and coneflower in the old part of the bed. Anyway, it’s finished. This side looks bare because it’s mostly shrubs, which need to be spaced for their mature size, not the size they are now.
Drip irrigation stuff. I ended up with mostly spot-watering, and a couple of sections of emitter tubing.
On Friday, I also wanted to get the few plants I’d got for 75% off into the ground. I really didn’t need them, but I’ve never heard a bee argue about having more salvia or penstemon, and the little bees certainly like threadleaf coreopsis. Plus…75% off perennials? Hell, yeah!
They all ended up in the giant flowerbed. I hope they’ll do well.
I didn’t take pictures of the irrigation system; mostly because my fingers hurt too much to grip anything, but also because there’s not much to see; it’s buried in mulch, and only the little 1/4″ lines and the emitters are visible at the base of the plants. Anyway, I was short a few 1 GPH emitters, but ordered more, and otherwise, that bed is done. I’m going to use spot watering for the Trail of Tears bed, and emitter line for the Honeysuckle Horseshoe. I ordered two more soaker hoses from Walschwitz; I’m not sure yet where those will end up, but I got quick-connects for them because I’m more likely to actually use them that way.;)
Random picture of the pond, since it looked like shit all winter and I was awfully tired of seeing that.
On Monday, when I should have been preparing for work the next day, I pulled out the yellowed Dianthus, then pulled up a few volunteer zinnias from the fence line and transplanted them. Hopefully, they won’t mind.
The rain brought out some little friends, one of which was a Grey Treefrog that didn’t read the “Grey” part of his birth certificate. (Just kidding…they change colour to suit their environments.)
These are either orioles that fell into bleach and lost their orange, or they’re the biggest damned hummingbirds I’ve ever seen.
This doe is smaller than Charlotte, but her family isn’t–she has triplets!
All in all, not a bad weekend. It started raining a little on Saturday evening, then it rained lots on Sunday, and a little on Monday. In total, we got roughly 4.5″ of rain, and we needed every damned drop!
