A Day’s Worth of Dirt Rings

Yesterday I spent practically the entire day working in the yard. Having been gone for several weekends in a row it was time to get some work done. And the title of this post…well, I was pretty filthy when I finally came in shortly after 6pm yesterday. I had arm rings, neck rings, dirt covering my legs and feet; I was awesomely filthy! All the filth was well worth it as I ticked off items on my to-do list.

This photo is really for Chel because it shows our nasturiums coming up in our front flower bed. They are coming along nicely and I hope they take over the bed throughout the winter until spring bedding plants can be put in. I don’t really like the yucca but I’m planning a succulent/cactus bed in the hopefully not-too-far future, so hopefully I can move those out of this bed eventually.

I also planted a ton of bulbs in this bed which I’m hoping will become a plethora of blooms come spring.

This guy has been having too much fun with the Shumard Oak that we planted a couple of months ago. I’m hoping that this damage isn’t going to kill the tree. I also found evidence of the buck rubbing against our weeping cypress.

One of the interesting things about our yard has been the abundance of fungus that pop up. It doesn’t even have to rain and a new fungus springs up from the ground.

We’ve been planting azaleas around some of our pine trees but we opted for the Turk’s Cap hibiscus around one of the trees. I am definitely open to purchasing another color for another tree, such as pink or white.

Before I was able to mow the yard I had to go around and pick up pieces of wood and debris that we haven’t picked up since we started felling the dead pine trees. We have been avoiding mowing that area but it was starting to drive me crazy so I spent a couple of hours moving wood into burn piles. I was pleasantly surprised when I bent down to pick up some wood and found a patch of Spiranthes orchids growing. I looked around a little more in that area and found others. Later on as I was mowing the rest of the yard I found other patches and managed to avoid those areas.

I like how little unexpected natives are finding themselves in my yard!

The pond is lit up in yellow right now with what I think is Bidens laevis lining the shore.

Also blooming is the climbing hempvine, Mikania scandens, spreading itself along the ground and over some of the plants along the edge of the pond.

I still have a lot to work on in the yard, but I’m glad I spent some time to try to tame a bit of the wildness. This week I need to start more seeds in anticipation for spring.

What is going on in your yard or garden? Oh, come to Sprout Dispatch and see my oakleaf hydrangea!