Friday
I met my goal yesterday to finish planting all of the new perennials/small shrubs that I've acquired so far this year and a few left from 2023 that were in the staging area. Last night before going to bed, I did a quick tally of the total - a whopping 109 in the ground in what amounts to four days dedicated to planting! I used my "Laura version" power planter auger and that sure does make a difference for me. I made several purchases locally and via mail order, but most of the plants were from the annual spring amish nursery excursion to Connestoga and Black Creek in East Earl, PA.
I added plants to 12 of my garden areas. A lot was added to the Lemon Garden, and then smaller amounts to the others. It is a lot of plants, but not really the big impact you think it would be when spread out like that. I am loving the way my gardens are looking as they mature over the years though.
Here is the rundown:
*Lemon Garden - 37 plants
5 Hellebores 'California Dreaming', 1 Hellebores 'Mont Blanc', 12 Erysimum 'Jubilee Gold', 1 Camellia 'Lemon Glow', 3 Trillium, 1 Chelone glabra, 1 pass along yellow corydalis, 5 Alchemilla mollis, 4 Galium odoratum, 2 Dianthus 'Hello Yellow', 2 Gaura 'Graceful Blush', and a bunch of Annie's liberated winter aconites
*Cherry Tree Nook - 7 plants
3 Hellebores 'French Kiss', 2 Hellebores 'True Love', 2 Hellebores 'Carlotta'
*Gazebo Garden - 5 plants
3 Hellebores 'Rosada', 1 Symphoricarpos sp 'Proud Berry', 1 Weigela Monet 'Purple Effect'
*Front Foundation Bed - 9 plants
6 Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash', 3 Heucherella 'Pink Revolution'
*Front Island Bed - 3 plants
1 Deutzia 'Magicien', 1 Clematis 'Princess Diana', 1 Clematis 'Rosalie'
*Arbor Retreat - 6 plants
6 Phlox Paparazzi 'Jagger'
*Hosta Haven - 5 plants
1 Hosta 'Stained Glass', 1 Hosta 'Twilight', 1 Hosta 'Yellow Polka Dot Bikini', 1 Hosta 'Wrinkle In Time', 1 pass along Hosta 'Empress Wu'
*Turret Garden - 11 plants
11 Lamium 'Purple Dragon'
*Pond Path - 17 plants
15 Hellebores Barry Glick strain
2 Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Frost'
*Dogwood Overlook - 5 plants
1 Tree Peony 'Rou Fu Rong', 1 Tree Peony 'Xue Ying Tao Hua', 2 Lobelia Starship 'Blue', 1 pass along campanula glomerata
*Millstone Fountain Garden - 1 plant
1 Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty'
*Stumpery - 3 plants
3 Bergenia 'Peppermint Patty'
I will likely acquire more plants on and off as the gardening season progresses, but nothing like the big splurge in early spring. Now that the new acquisitions are planted, my focus for the next few weeks will be on what I call garden editing - i.e. digging and dividing overgrown plants and relocating/grouping self seeded plants. I was making numerous mental notes all week and will start that process on Monday. Today is a bit drizzly and I plan to putter in the greenhouse with up-potting a bunch of seedlings. Less exertion than all the perennial/small shrub planting for sure 
Thursday
Yesterday I had another full day working outside. I decided to switch gears and instead of gardening, I cleaned out and organized the four big deck box type storage bins that are now in place outside the greenhouse. I've had them for years and they hold all kinds of gardening stuff, mostly nursery pots. They sat out back just beyond the wood line though, and the lids often blew open so they were filled with leaves and debris. What a job that was!
First I emptied the contents. It took longer than I expected, and when I was done with that, I was tired of it and my mind kept jumping about to all the other tasks on the to do list. I kept at it though, really trying to finish the things that I start. I had to climb inside the boxes to get all the leaves out. Again, once that was done I was ready to move on to something else. That was basically how it went ALL ... DAY ... LONG. It was hard to stick with it to the bitter end, but I did it
The next step was to drag over the shop vac from the garage and suck up the remaining debris. Then I used a sponge and a bucket of water to wipe the insides down. Finally, all four were emptied and cleaned. The bin contents were still fairly organized, but each did have some random things thrown on top over the last few years. I sorted and then started putting contents back in. Had that pull to do something else between loading up each box. I can't say that it was a fun project, but it is done.
Each box is now filled with different sizes/shapes of pots. I have saved many nursery pots over the years that I thought would eventually come in handy. Box #1 contains square pots ranging in size from 2" to 5". I'll continue to save this size when I get them with new plant acquisitions from Black Creek. Box #2 contains round trade gallon size pots. I have so many of these that I will not be saving any more for years to come. Box #3 contains extra large round nursery pots that shrubs and trees come in. I have enough of these for now too. Box #4 contains carry trays and cell inserts for seed starting and growing out plugs. I'm not sure if I will even keep these. They are such a mish mash of what purchased things came in, and after the seed starting efforts this year, I think I would rather go with very standard uniform 1020 nursery trays and inserts. Seems like I could make more efficient use of light shelf and greenhouse growing space if they were all the same size.
I carried all the miscellaneous gardening supplies which aren't used for seed starting and growing out plants over to the conservatory basement. I need a full day to clean and re-organize that space as well 
Cleaning and organizing can be just as tiring as gardening!
I did end the day with about an hour of raking leaves out of the beds around the stone retaining wall that defines the parking area. It runs parallel with the greenhouse and was one of the many things that I wanted to be doing instead of working on those deck boxes I uncovered a little yellow ring neck snake. It surprised me as much as I surprised it, and it quickly slithered away.
Bonnie came over just as I was finishing. She was still wound up after her work day and wanted to do something physical in the gardens. She used a thatcher that she attached to the back of the riding mower and did my small front lawn. Then she spread the bag of Scotts Triple Action Turf Builder that I got last year and never used. There was plenty left over for her to use on her small front lawn too. It feels pretty good when you use those kind of supplies up. We sat for a bit enjoying the evening as the sun was going down, but Bonnie can't sit still for long and was soon off to take River for one last long walk before turning in for the night.
Wednesday
From the extended weather forecast, it looks like it could be good gardening weather for the entire 10 day forecast. Just a little sprinkle this morning which looks like it will only last an hour or two. Small chance of rain on Friday, but otherwise partly sunny, partly cloudy, and mild. I can get quite a lot done in the gardens with that kind of weather. I just have to pace myself. I wasn't sore yesterday after the hours spent at it on Monday, but I am sore this morning after the hours spent at it yesterday. Mostly aches and pains with my back. That is the part of my body that always hurts the most, sometimes upper back, sometimes lower back, but so far no repeat of the pinched sciatica nerve that had me incapacitated a few years ago. After running a bunch of errands in the morning, I spent about 7 hours in the gardens. Same pace - 20 minutes of work and then 10 minutes of rest.
One of the errands was to find two trellises for the Front Island Bed where I want to plant my two new clematis. I went to Lowes and found exactly what I was looking for. I got them placed in position but before I plant the clematis, I need to spray the mile-a-minute weed that started overtaking that bed last summer. That led to getting out my battery powered pump sprayer, but where the heck did I put the battery charger? I had been using it at one of the kitchen counters but after the season ended I "put it away". I found it after a bit of searching. Of course, with my OCD it made perfect sense where I put it in the basement with other battery chargers, but it took a while to remember 
The Front Island Bed was in full sun by that time, and although it would be perfect for weed spraying, it was so intensely hot that I moved on to a shady area instead. So, I need to do that sometime today after the rain stops.
The Lemon Garden was in shade, so I planted 18 new perennials that I had for that area. After taking stock of what is left in my plant haul last evening, I found one more that I missed. So, I need to circle back today and get that missed one planted.
When I take my 10 minute breaks while working in the Lemon Garden, I sit on the low stone wall that surrounds the back patio. From there I had full view of a nearby lilac and decided that some of the lowest branches needed to be lopped off. I got the loppers, laid down on my side on the ground, and lopped away. I raised it up about a foot, just so the ferns, columbines, and lily of the valley that surround it are more visible. Finished that little job up by hauling the branches to the burn pile.
Then I took a few minutes to disassemble the four paneled trellis that had been in front of the propane tank in the Lemon Garden. I moved it out of the way on Monday, but decided to disassemble it for easier storage until Mike has a chance to refurbish it.
Another little job that I did was to prune the wisteria off-shoots that were starting to wind themselves around the railing of the conservatory deck. I have been training it to grow as a single trunk that branches off into left and right laterals along a simple post type support like I saw one time at Mt Cuba. Last year it finally started looking like I wanted it to. Can't say that very often
Then it was on to the Arbor Retreat to finish the cleanup that I started there on Monday. I worked on getting the accumulated leaves out of the shrub area. That part isn't all that easy. There is such a huge amount and using a rake isn't effective. I have to crawl in among the shrubs and hand pull the leaves out to an open spot, and then use the rake to gather them and load them into the big trashcan on wheels. It is uphill too to take the loaded trashcan over to the leaf compost area. I took a lot of breaks and didn't quite finish the job, but it is close. Maybe another 3 or 4 loads.
As with the breaks I took when working on planting in the Lemon Garden, I had full view of another shrub from where I sit on the Front Stone Steps when working in the Arbor Retreat. This shrub is a very mature hydrangea 'Quick Fire'. The more I eyed it, the more I thought one branch needed to be removed at ground level to fix the symmetry of it. Walked back uphill to get the loppers that I had left by the lilac, lopped that branch off, and hauled it to the burn pile.
By that time, I knew I had to sit down for a while, a lot more than 10 minutes 
Mike got home and started working on the gravel around the greenhouse. His brother Richard stopped in and we sat nearby. Thank God Richard was there to jump up to help Mike with the little things that he needed. I don't think I could have managed it. At some point Bonnie came over too at the end of her evening walk with River. She and Richard moved my big outdoor deck type boxes over to the newly spread gravel area on the south side of the greenhouse. Then she and I moved two nursery benches to the newly spread gravel area on the north side of the greenhouse. I finished the day out by moving all the various unplanted pots of things to this new staging area.
I have a bunch of tasks in mind to do today when it stops raining. If I can keep up the pace that I've been doing the last two days, I'll be a happy gardener 
Slow and steady progress, and taking in how beautiful my gardens are this time of year. The second and third weeks of April are the prettiest in my gardens. I wish my fellow online gardening friends could visit to see it in person!
Tuesday
I worked outside yesterday, really pushed myself. It was sunny and hot, but there were two quick 15 minute rain showers. I was dragging all day, so I got into a routine of working for 20 minutes and sitting for 10, but it still was quite a lot of working time with the many hours I was out there. I called it quits around 6:00, took a cool bath with Epsom salts - I was overheated and a hot bath did not sound good at all, then laid down with exhaustion and fell fast asleep.
I planted some of the plants from my recent plant acquisitions, making fairly good progress. I started with the 15 hellebores from Barry Glick that a few Mid Atlantic friends went in on. He has been raising his own strain and I've been wanting to get some for years. I planted them in the garden that I call the Pond Path.
Then I worked on the Arbor Retreat garden. I raked and hauled off accumulated leaves in the larger section, not the smaller section where the shrubs are. I got the loppers out and cut back a lot of dead branches of a lilac in that shrub area to make it easier to get at the leaves. I hope to finish that up first thing today. I needed to get on my hands and knees to pull out some of the leaves that get matted and tangled in a low growing mounding azalea and around the hellebores clumps. That part is pretty tedious and took an hour in and of itself. I pruned out dead peony stalks from last year and ratty hellebores leaves. Then I planted 6 phlox that look like phlox divaricata but are actually some kind of hybrid. The nice long swath of alliums that I planted along the walkway last fall are getting ready to bloom.
After that I moved the four panel trellis in the Lemon Garden. I had thought it would be good for hiding the propane tank for the kitchen stove, but it never really did the trick. Mike is working on framing the decorative screen that I hope will be a better solution. I got the black composite screen last spring, but needed something to frame it and anchor it in the ground. I recently found black composite 2x4s online, so that little project is now underway. I'll still use the trellis in that garden, but boy does it need some work. It is starting to rust so it needs to be painted, and parts of it where the panels attach to each other are falling apart. Mike has been talking about getting a sand blaster - seems like we have quite a few things that it would be really useful for.
Then I started working in the Turret Garden doing the same kinds of things that I did in the Arbor Retreat. Raking, cutting back ratty hellebores leaves, and some planting. I got the 11 lamium 'Purple Dragon' planted from the recent Black Creek haul. I love the way this plant looks along the low stacked stone retaining wall. It started dying out in recent years and it has been on my list to fill it back in.
For the planting, I've been using my "Laura version" power planter auger. It works really well. With the sturdy handle on the high powered drill, it doesn't often get away from me, but every once in a while it catches on something while augering and takes me by surprise. It happened just once yesterday - really wrenches my arm when it does and somehow it put a big bruise on the back of my left hand. Still, much easier for me than using a shovel!
Before calling it quits for the day, I started cleaning out the garage. I do this every couple of months because Mike tends to clutter it up to the point where there isn't much room to walk. That is one of the things where we are complete opposites. I can't concentrate on any job at hand if there is a lot of clutter about, whereas he just pushes stuff out of the way enough for the work surface he will be using. I hauled out at least 15 empty cardboard boxes, consolidated all the tools and various bits of hardware which he left out into a single pile for him to put away - he says my idea of where they should go isn't his idea of where they should go, threw away a dozen half full bottles of water and soda, emptied pails of water that he had been using to clean something, folded up a tarp, and other miscellaneous stuff like that to reduce the clutter footprint. Looks better but still could use a full day to actually put things away.
I was so physically exhausted by the end, but so mentally satisfied. I was wondering if I would be stiff and sore this morning, but I feel ok. I hope to get another full gardening day in today too 
Sunday
Wednesday was my annual road trip to Pennsylvania to the amish nurseries. Mike drove me and two Mid Atlantic gardening friends in his big boxed in service truck so we had plenty of room for plants, shrubs, and soils. The five hour round trip and all that shopping make for a long day, but boy did I get a nice plant haul!
Our first stop was Conestoga Nursery where they sell trees and shrubs. I got two nice sized sky pencil hollies to plant near the grotto. In addition to the hollies, I got three shrubs - lilac 'Monge', cryptomeria 'Globosa Nana', and a Coral Berry 'Proud Berry'. The Coral Berry has been on my wish list, the cryptomeria wasn't specifically on my wish list, but something evergreen, shade tolerant, and deer resistant for the Stumpery was, and I looked at several possibilities before choosing the cryptomeria, the lilac was pure whim. Also at the shrub place I picked up another 'Spotty Dotty'. I love this Chinese Mayapple and it is the only place that I've ever seen it. I have two from previous trips and they are doing well. I was also really excited to find tree peonies for $28. That is almost unheard of. Tree peonies run upwards of $75 - $100 wherever I've seen them before. I picked up two different pink ones.
Then we went to Black Creek Greenhouse, our favorite place. I found Bergenia 'Peppermint Patty' that I had on my wish list after seeing it on Garden Answer a few days ago. Picked up two clematis, both are pink - 'Princess Diana' and 'Rosalie'. I also got a bunch of Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash' and Lamium 'Purple Dragon' which are needed to fill in gaps in lines of previous plantings. More groundcover - Sweet Woodruff and Lady's Mantle for the Lemon Garden. Also for the Lemon Garden I picked up two yellow dianthus 'Hello Yellow' and two white gauras 'Graceful Blush'. Two hostas to add to Hosta Haven - loved the name 'Yellow Polka Dot Bikini' so I got that one and the other is called 'Wrinkle in Time'. The other perennial odds and ends are a few Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Frost' and Lobelia Starship 'Blue'.
Then it was on to the annual and herb section of Black Creek. I just couldn't pass on those Proven Winners annuals. My friend Jill spotted the double impatiens we've been wanting, so I got 'Wisteria', 'Apple Blossom', and 'White'. A few Superbells, Supertunias, and Superbenas too. I got fresh mints to put in my 5 mint containers - even though mints are perennial and basically thugs, I keep them in containers and they rarely survive over winter. And last but not least, two nice hanging baskets of streptocarpella as the thriller and creeping jenny as the spiller.
It rained on Thursday and Friday. It was sunny yesterday but the winds were horrific. The weather has really been awful for gardening so far this year. Only a few days here and there where it hasn't been cold, raining, and/or windy 
Today may turn out to be ok, and if so, I'll try to make the most of it. That new plant haul won't get planted by itself missy.
