Don't forget...

I've told you so many times, you have to rhizome prune every year!

When you don't, you get "problems".

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Wednesday Vignette: Mess!

After losing power for about 20 hours after yesterday's intense storms (crazy winds, torrential rain, hail) things are almost back to normal here, although I'm not sure what normal is now. You've probably noticed that my posts are not as reliable as usual, and I apologize for that.

Today's vignette is brought to you by Anna at Flutter and Hum, and is a mess. Literally, I just took photos of the mess that is my driveway. Springtime plant drag outs (from the basement and garage) are almost complete but nothing has been put into place yet... so it's a battlefield out there!

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A new mulch

It seems that I'm trying a new type of mulch this year. It was really easy to apply, and the price was right: free! The strangest thing is it's one of those colored mulches too, and I hate those!

My mulch is... perilla (Perilla frutescens) seedlings!

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Friday Miscellany

This is becoming a regular thing, where I use Friday to collect all of the week's tidbits and roll them into one scrumptious post. Well, I can't guarantee the scrumptious part, but this is certainly a random collection! Starting with the ducks...

...who are a mixed blessing. Yes, it's great seeing them swimming around the pond -- and on top of the house as in the case with this photo -- but they really tear things up there. It seemed like the female was feeding on fish eggs too, as they were spawning this week and she was filtering with her bill, poking it around the shallows where the fish were. I think I'll have to give them a few more months before I make a decision on whether or not I like having them here!

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A little more snake

Seeing the garter snake in my garden the other day was just the start. I know that snakes are not everybody's favorite topic, but I think you might like today's short post.

You see, I saw another snake yesterday. Actually I saw three of them, and they were a type I had never seen before: prairie ring-necked snakes (Diadophis punctatus arnyi)! Easy to see how this species got its common name, right?

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Snake!

Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake! Snake!

Hopefully that conveys the level of excitement I felt yesterday when I happened to glance out the kitchen window and saw something unexpected below, next to the bamboo box: Snake!

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The view from below

Below the deck that is. More specifically, the view looking out of the basement doors that are beneath the deck.

These doors face east so they give me the best morning view of the garden from inside. There's nothing better than backlighting to make certain plants pop, like these bleeding hearts. Love how the squirrel photobombed too, just jumped into the frame, froze for a second, then bounded off again.

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Garage surprise: voodoo

I've gotten most of the plants out of the garage now, as it's been an up-and-down spring but warmer weather seems to be here to stay. It was so warm a month ago that most of it was outside already, but had to be dragged back in again when the cold returned.

The voodoo lily (Amorphophallus konjac) bulbs though have stayed on a shelf the whole time. I noticed recently that they seemed to be waking up...

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Less

I've already mentioned a few times that I will be buying fewer plants this year. In fact my goal is to buy none but that's just not possible, so I adjusted my goal to "less" plants.

The same is going for plants that I grow from seed. There were years when I would have dozens upon dozens of seedlings growing under lights indoors, waiting for the weather to stay warm so they could be moved into the garden. Not this year though.

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