Tweaking and experimenting in the garden

Star flowers. They capture the color of the sky and bring it to earth in a flower.

It’s been a spring of tweaking the garden a bit because, well, not all the plants are where I want them and I wanted some new plants.

So far…

I had a crew come in and take out two gigantic Viburnums that had grown well, served well, but were on the decline.

In their places, I planted pawpaw trees, two different varieties for pollination.

The same crew removed some shrubs up by the sunroom in the spot I’ve reserved for three Camellias, hardy ones, which I expect will be shipped to me in a few weeks. I’m going to call that border “The Garden of Southern Follies & Delights”, for obvious reasons.

On Sunday, I myself dug up the six blueberry plants I planted by the side of the garage last spring because they just looked so puny.  I re-planted them in a narrow bed on one end of the veg garden where there were once three apple trees and now there is just one apple tree. Fireblight took the lives of the other two last year.

It sounds like that was a bit of work but the blueberry plants were/are still quite small. I was able to pop them out with the help of a perennial spade and then just as easily replant them.

Just a little tweaking, a ten minute job, really.

Where the blueberries were I am going to plant some jostaberries. I ordered them Sunday and hope they arrive soon. They are bare root so now is the time to plant them. I’ve never grown them before and don’t know anyone else who has grown them, so it will be a nice experiment to see how they do.

Other tweaks?  Oh yes, I bought and planted a quince tree.  There was an open spot for it in another bed.  At least I think it was a open spot. There might be a few perennials that come up around it. I’ll just move them around as they come up.

Oh, and don’t let me forget I want to move some of the violets, and there is that forsythia that is obviously in the wrong place, even though it is in its third place in the garden. By now it should be used to being moved around and won’t mind me digging it up again.  I wonder where I’ll replant it…

A typical spring in the garden.  Tweaking and experimenting.  All gardeners do it.

And for as long as I garden, I hope to always have plans for tweaking and experimenting, and the courage and strength and fortitude to carry them out.