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| Beautyberry is often used to keep away insects. The root system kept me from digging it up with easy, so I moved on. |
Do I believe one weather website or its competition? We could have a thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon, or not. Accuweather seems to be optimistic about rain happening, most of the time. Weather.com seems to be against it. In fact, Accuweather has a wet week ahead, starting with Tuesday, but Weather.com declares us dry until the weekend.
Monday started early. Sassy wanted her breakfast and a walk. I let her inside while I aimed at a few gardening chores. The dead KnockOut had to go, and I wanted to move Beautyberry there from the backyard.
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| Monarda, Purple Bee Balm, or Horse Mint. |
Step One - dig the Knockout, roots and all. That went well because I let the plant shuffle off this mortal coil (Hamlet, by Oxford), over the winter and spring. No, I will not say that watching the KnockOuts fade was the "winter of our discontent."
Step Two - dig up the Beautyberry under the tree in the backyard. That proved to be more daunting than removing the KnockOut, so I gave up. Next to it was a very healthy Bee Balm, which came up easily and soon soaked in a rain-barrel. I soak plants, bare roots, and transplants in rainwater as long as 24 hours.
Step Three - rake grass up and pack it around the Butterfly Bush I want to thrive this summer. Grass and clover are quick to decompose and feed the soil creatures. I covered the thick layer around plant with cardboard, weighed it down with old logs, and watered it.
Step Four - retrieve the soggy Bee Balm from the barrel, wheelbarrow it to the front, and plant it with peat humus and rainwater. I left some of the Bee Balm behind in the backyard, so another plant will fill in, to be divided later.
I question the scary gardening theme of plant shock. Perhaps a new plant is just trying to get its roots in sync with the fungal community after transplanting. Mints are thirsty plants and respond with great energy to watering, so I expected a mid-afternoon droop in the heat. Instead, most of the Bee Balm looked happy, healthy, and ready to grow.
Looking across the rose garden, I saw the Mountain Mints, no longer barely there, as they were last year. I should have known - the one buried and lost under the mulch popped up and grew anyway. Mountain Mints love sun and water. Three of them are rising tall, ready to bloom, but not quite blooming. They are scattered among the roses to provide beneficial bug support for the roses.
Buckwheat Again!
This non-grain is now my favorite all around, and easy to sow. Buckwheat is already blooming all over the yard. My only regret is not covering the rose garden mulch with even more seeds. They bloom early and attract a lot of beneficial insects. Even better, they elbow weeds aside, so the gardener can pick his weed, Buckwheat, instead of tearing weeds out of the ground. Buckwheat is shallow rooted and easy to remove, but why pull it? The plant will bloom in the shade and thrive in the sun.
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| "Stop lying about me." |
Everyone Lies about Hosta
When I think about a plant category, I look up several articles about it. Hosta is widely known as a shade plant, perhaps because it blooms well in deep shade and also spreads through its roots.
However, Hosta loves the morning sun and the afternoon shade. And who doesn't? Roses are similar, except they must have more sun to bloom. And they do not spread on their own. And they have thorns.
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| "We like the sun." |
