Garden Siren Call

This is what I call an "orderly" garden, in front of our house.  Plants (soon to be many more!), mulch, and cobblestone borders.             A garden expert published a statement on Sunday that caught my eye: Many gardeners call this time of year '100 days of hell,' she wrote.     Well! I can certainly understand that thinking.     When you combine a gardening enthusiast with an admitted "Clean Freak," you get me. (See related blog  https://bakersheartbeat.blogspot.com/2021/02/confessions-of-clean-freak.html ). I recently finished Spring Cleaning inside the house.       But '100 Days of Hell?' It's all perspective.     We have almost an acre of land in rural Scott County, Iowa. That includes more than a dozen gardens. All are mulched, surrounded by cobblestones and with what I call a "gutter" between the garden and yard.     Tending this is a labor of love, for sure. Luckily, that's ...

The coleus plants over-wintered and planted in May of 2020 are at left. This photo was taken in July. The plants were tall and bushy by September. Eight pots, with special seeding soil, and cuttings from the coleus plants.  All winter the coleus cuttings were rooting in a vase. I did trim the roots from time-to-time.      The coleus plants grew large last summer, easily filling in spaces toward the back of a garden which receives afternoon sunlight.      I took cuttings of some of the most colorful plants last September and made a bouquet which lasted all winter.     Now, after an eventful March, I have returned home and rooted the coleus plants from the vase and into small pots. This is what I did last year and it was a great success. So it goes, once again.     The coleus plant is an easy plant to work with. I trim off the leaves, and leave several inches of stem and roots (from its days in the water-filled vase). I bought small s...