Thursday, July 9, 2020

Moving the Whoops-a-Daisy from the Bully Plants


When the Whoops-a-Daisy arrived, I planted it according to two basic rules - 1) Plenty of sun; 2) A place I could watch daily. Sure enough, it produced daisies before the Shastas from the previous year.

But the bully plants - Joe Pye and Bee Balm - absorbed all the sunlight. Yesterday I decided to move it before moss took over.


The soil was dry already, even though we had inches of rain not long ago. I found a wild rose and evicted it from its spot, sunny but on the western side with the new Crepe Myrtles and Chaste Tree.

I filled around the daisy with Peat Humus, perfect for our clay soil. Those who sneer at clay, as I once did, should know it is the most mineral rich soil, super at the ion level. The Peat Humus will soften the clay, get mixed by the soil creatures, and feed the daisy. I put wood mulch over that layer, to keep moisture in and add to the organic supplements. Wood is great in the long run.

I soon had a few more chores. Ranger Bob decided that a front yard bird bath would be good, and the concrete one in the backyard was being overwhelmed by Poke Weed. Call me crazy - I don't have enough money to be eccentric. But I thought it would be fun to mulch a Poke Weed and see how well it would do with extra care, watering, and no competition.

I like Joe Pye because it creates its own shade, starving the grassy weeds. However, the new plants were being surrounded by grass, Triple Crown Blackberries, Poke, and an alien weed of impressive girth. I used the big loppers to chop down the major weeds mentioned and put collars around the Joe Pye.

Joe Pye is decorated with bees, butterflies, and pollinators.