Photographs and thoughts from Andrea Badgley's garden
This is a photographic status update on the garden as of May 21.
I saw this funky grass at the nursery and couldn’t resist: Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’. It’s a North American prairie grass, and so, of course, I love it. Also, the flowers are chartruese, which makes me love it even more. 
I’ve been simultaneously eager about and dreading the final round of seed-sowing. Seeds are a lot of work, and while I want the seeds to be in the ground and the plants to be grown and flowering, I didn’t want to have to put the seeds — all the many scores of them — in the earth myself.
But I did. What cost us $50 in seeds will give us an enormous number of plants that probably would cost $300-$400 to buy them fully formed at a nursery. The past two days I did a ton of tiny things in the garden that are currently invisible — I sowed seeds directly in the flower beds:
I also did the equally unexciting job of transplanting seedlings that I started indoors several weeks ago:
And, because all of those things require tons of waiting, and I want instant gratification, I took a trip to the nursery. Actually, I think I went to the nursery every day — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I got caught in a spring shower there yesterday, which was fun. The plants look so pretty in the rain.
In addition to the seeds I sowed, and the seedlings I transplanted, I also bought some already flowering plants (and an ornamental grass I’ve been waiting for) and put them in the ground:
As far as everything else going on in the garden, the indigo Salvia is in bloom — the first of the perennials to flower — and our buttery snapdragons look adorable against the blue. The yarrow has fat flower buds now, and the new veronica I bought a few weeks ago is starting flower spikes as well.
All the perennials I moved from the front to the back hill beds seem to be surviving, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they continue to survive and thrive out there. I spend a lot of time now sitting on the table on our back deck so I can watch the garden grow, and watch the birds at the bird feeder. We saw an indigo bunting yesterday! It was a gorgeous deep teal, almost a peacock-blue color, but a little less green.
The hardest work is done now: killing the grass, mulching more than 2000 square feet of flower beds, digging in rocky soil, transplanting dozens of plants, nursing seeds for weeks indoors before moving them outside, prepping the earth to sow seeds, actually sowing seeds in.
I’ve only got a few more things left to do (besides the constant weeding) — a few more transplants, starting some basil seeds. I think my gardening from here on out will primarily consist of maintenance, watching things grow, and enjoying it :-).
Here are some photos from early May. I always like to compare later in the season — it looks so bare now compared to how it’s likely going to look in July.
I’ve been sweating, wondering if the milkweed would survive the transplant to the back hill. For the past two years, we’ve had milkweed in the most prominant focal place in our front yard: right in front of the stairs that lead up to the front door.
It looks great when it’s fresh and green, but once it gets covered in aphids and starts looking super messy and leggy, it’s not really the best plant to have as a “look at me!” plant in front of the house. I redesigned the front bed to hopefully have a less messy look (though every bed I design is for butterflies, birds, and pollinators, which generally means meadowy “natural” plants, which tend towards the messy eventually) and moved the milkweeds out back where it’s fine for them to be covered in all the critters we’re growing them for. The aphids are part of the food chain and will get eaten by something else, and even when a milkweed seems coated in, the monarch caterpillars seem undeterred from munching the leaves.
I was fearful the milkweed wouldn’t survive the transplanting. Everything this year is happening later than it did last year, thanks to the late snows and freezes. The milkweed and Joe Pye were emerging April 15 last year. The dogwood and redbud were already in bloom at that time too.
I’ve been walking the garden every day to check on everything, and I think it’s finally happening. I think the milkweed and Joe Pye are finally sending up shoots. Though last year the milkweed were green and this year they’re red. Maybe I’m just catching them earlier than I did last year. I just hope they survive and I don’t have to replace them. The Joe Pye and the pink milkweed look an awful lot alike. I hope they’re what I think they are and not a weed.
This past week I also noticed the bachelor’s button seeds I planted are sprouting, and I put in a Mexican feather grass and a scabiosa out back since the grasses I want aren’t in yet (a pink muhly and prairie dropseeds).
This time last year I had already sowed wildflower and zinnia seeds. Temperatures are forecast to approach freezing on Sunday night. I think I’ll wait until after that to sow the rest of the seeds: nasturtiums, zinnias, dianthus, sunflowers. And next week, it’s FINALLY supposed to break 80℉. I’m hopeful things will really take off after that. Until then, here’s how things look. Not nearly as far along as last year, especially in the herb bed. I don’t think the thyme survived my divisions very well.
It’s two weeks until our average final frost date (April 29), and I spent this weekend sowing seeds: Cleome, Bachelor’s Buttons, Coreopsis, and Brazilian vervain, along with lettuce, tendersweet peas, and some more chamomile and feverfew.
I repotted my little bluestem and Scabiosa seedlings — their roots extended for inches beyond the hole in the bottoms of their beginner pots — and put all the seedlings outside for a little while yesterday and today to start hardening them off. I may be doing that too soon.
I also, for the first time ever, planted some ornamental grasses. I’m really excited about these, especially since we get a lot of wind. They are graceful in the breeze, with their blades waving. I bought two natives (Muhly and switch grass) and two others that I just like the looks of and that were the right size for the space I wanted to put them in.
All of these are planted in the new bed on the back hill:
Apparently it is still early for grasses. I have two more I want: a pink muhly for the mailbox, and three prairie dropseeds for the front bed. I’ll keep going back to the nursery every week until they come in.
I’ve got a couple more rounds of seeds to sow. The main batch is the week after the final frost date. That’s when I can put in the sunflowers, zinnias, dill, basil, Dianthus, and nasturtiums. And then, I wait. Wait to see if my transplanted perennials emerge and survive on the hill. Wait to see which seeds sprout. Wait to see comes up that I’m not expecting.
Every day, I walk the garden looking for new leaves, new buds, new sprouts. Birds hop around in the beds, nabbing insects and worms. The flower beds are much more interesting and lively than a grass lawn.
I love this time of year. I know things are happening underground that I can’t see, and that every day there will be something new to delight me. The anticipation is delicious.
For now, I took advantage of this grey morning to get out my real camera and document what’s happening in the garden right now. This time last year, the redbud and dogwood were in bloom, and a lot of the herbs were already out and green. Not so this year. Not yet.
We’re expecting to get a ton of rain tonight and tomorrow. I hope it doesn’t wash all my seeds away. Monday night’s low is 32℉ (0℃), so I hope everything survives.
I’m okay with everything holding off for a couple more days until this storm passes through, and it gets cold, and then it warms up again. Then the trees can bloom and my seeds can start sprouting.
I am now at the end of my week-long gardening vacation. For the first four days, I was in the garden all day almost every day, coming inside only quickly to eat lunch. I was so occupied in the garden — moving plants, edging beds, spreading mulch — I didn’t even come inside for my afternoon coffee.
On Tuesday I repotted tomato seedlings, trimmed rosemary, fertilized yews, planted a fuzzy lamb’s ear for our daughter, and then finished mulching the front beds.
After getting all of that done, I was able to rest on Wednesday — a cold, windy day. I took it easier most of the rest of the week, taking on various odds and ends before tackling the mulch on the back hill:
On Saturday, three Virginia Tech students arrived in a cold drizzle to spread mulch on the back hill bed as part of the VT Big Event, a day of over 1000 service projects in the town of Blacksburg, from the students of Virginia Tech to the residents of the town in thanks for supporting the student body throughout the year. It was miserable out there, and when it started sleeting, I sent them home. They had gotten about half of the hill done. The sleet turned to snow for my husband’s April 7 birthday.
The snow melted off pretty quickly this morning, Sunday, the final day of my gardening vacation. My husband started spreading the remaining mulch out back before lunch, and I took over after lunch while he ran errands with the kids.
As the mulch pile shrank, we realized we were going to come up short. I ordered 12 cubic yards, and I spread the final wheelbarrow full still having several small areas that need mulching. I should have ordered 14 or 15 yards and saved any leftovers for filling in throughout the summer. Next year!
Even coming up short, we were able to get the majority of the hill done, and I’m so happy with it. Check out the before first:
And then the after:
Now it just needs to start warming up, the plants need to start growing, and I need to fill in those empty spaces with perennials, grasses, and seedlings I’ve got growing in my office.
The blueberries are about to flower, the blue Salvia is working on its buds, and the Redbud tree is about to burst into magenta bloom. The Echinacea are pushing up leaves, as are the rue and the bee balm. Joe pye and milkweed should start pushing up leaves soon too. The milkweed was emerging April 14 last year, and Joe Pye weed as well.
We’ve got one more small snow in the forecast, and then some warm temperatures coming at the end of the week. I’ve got my fingers crossed there will be more green by next weekend, and lasting warmth.
Two full days of gardening down, and I’ve barely made a dent in the work. It would probably help if I didn’t keep buying plants.
I bought more plants anyway.
Today I bought:
I moved the final plants around in the front beds to make space for everything that’s going to go there. I can’t remember which day I did what,:
Today our daughter sowed some blue wheat, and we covered it with twigs to keep the birds from eating the seeds. It looks like a giant nest in the middle of the bed. have no idea if these will work or how they’ll look, but that’s the fun of gardening. If I don’t like the wheat, I can just put an ornamental grass in that spot next year.
Once I got all the plants in place, I started edging the front bed like I did with the herb bed — slice an edge using the half-moon spade, dig a trench using the shovel or a trowel — and then I started mulching.
The front bed is big, so I’m mulching it one section at a time. I hope to finish that on day four, and maybe the mailbox too.
At that point I’ll maybe be able to relax and rest. I’ve got a couple more things I want to do out back, and I’m hopeful I can get to those before this weekend: before the mulch.
The back hill is going to be a beast to spread mulch on, but for that I’ve enlisted the help of Virginia Tech’s Big Event, a student-run day of service where students help residents with projects like painting a house or mulching a garden. I’ve got my fingers crossed it doesn’t get rained (or snowed) out. I’m not sure if I can handle covering that big hill by myself.
Today was another day of moving plants. And of course, buying more flowers. Just a few little violas to put in the ground and add some color. Our daughter and I put all these in the ground:
I focused on the herb bed today. I started by ripping out the goldenrod I had planted last year. It spread aggressively, more aggressively than I wanted, and it was going to make a mess of things. I left what was up on the back hill from last year, but I ripped it all out of the front beds.
In the herb bed, our daughter planted the violas, and I trimmed the lavender. I cut all the dead flower stems from last year and pruned about a third of the plant material, cutting shoots from inside the mounds and around the edges as well. The lavender still appears to be dormant.
I also trimmed back all the woody herbs, like the Russian sage and the thyme. Poking around in the centers, I do see a little bit of new green growth, so I’m hopeful they survived last October’s divisions and transplants. The roses also have new growth, so I should prune those as well. The red bud has tiny buds on it. It will be in bloom soon.
Once I got the bed tidied up on the inside, I went around the edges manually with a half moon edger, dug a trench between the lawn and the bed to discourage grass from growing into the beds. Then I fertilized, and then I mulched.
Today is the first day of my annual gardening vacation! It was chilly this morning, so I bided my time writing and waiting for the nursery to open. I showed up promptly at 9am. I was the first customer there.
Today was a day to buy supplies — dirt, flower box liners, fertilizer — which meant a trip to the nursery. Which, of course, meant I’d come home with a car full of plants.
I was excited to see a bunch of perennials from my list already available at my local nursery, the Crow’s Nest, and especially a Miss Ruby butterfly bush: the magenta butterfly magnet that’s to be the centerpiece of the flower bed by my garden chair. My purchases on Day One included:
After adding new coconut liners to the flower boxes, replacing the soil, and filling them with fresh pansies and purple kale, I spent all day today moving plants around. In order to plant the front beds according to my plans, I needed to clear all of the current plants out. I moved the lilac from the front bed to the herb bed. I moved sedums, salvias, milkweed, and Echinacea from the front bed to the back.
Digging holes on the hill is back-breaking work. Under the dead grass is gravel and rock, and shoveling through gravel and on a steep slope is ugly. It’s a good thing most of these plants are drought tolerant. Still, I worry about their survival. It was a lot of work to move them. I hope they do okay.
Today was about a 6-7 hour day, and I haven’t even touched the mulch. Tomorrow I’ll finish moving plants around and start working on the herb bed.
We got another doozie of a snow. I think it was probably 8 inches, but I don’t know for sure.
I forged ahead anyway. I’m pretending this is the final snow, and I planted more seeds indoors today:
I cleared out all the pots that hadn’t sprouted yet to make room for these new seeds. Only 4 of the original 12 Scabiosa seeds emerged from the March 4 planting, so I started some more. The ones that sprouted look healthy, so here’s to hoping at least some of these new ones will come up.
I had planned to take this week off to garden, but was fortunately able to push it out one more week. I don’t really want to garden in the snow. Hopefully next week it will be a little warmer for digging around in the beds.
Andrea's Gardening Blog 