The Hens and Chicks are Taking Over

I looked at the thermometer on the wall ....the temps were just right. I hustled (if an old lady can hustle) and went out the door to get some work done. I decided to take it one garden area at a time. Yesterday I decided to do the little garden by the driveway. I pruned the rose bushes and transplanted a little Rainbow Knockout Rose to this area. I cut down some dried material and picked up a bucket of leaves. Everything looks good except the Dianthus. I decided that after 8 yrs of trying to grow this...I would give up. It was here when I moved here and hasn't looked good each spring. I went to the garage and filled my bucket with soil. I planned to freshen up my pots that hold my hens and chicks and Sedums. I gathered them all and found the little guys in the ground surrounding all of these pots. I dug them up and pulled out the dried material and put these new ones in their place. They looked so nice and fresh. I had them going down the side of the house in a narrow mulched strip last year. I don't think that I will put them back there...they were always full of grass clippings and didn't look nice. I moved them into the garden one at a time.

I was able to roll the strawberry jar into a place that had been reserved for it. I put it up on concrete circles...so the bottom would be protected. It really wasn't hard to do this way. This is going to stay here and not go on the deck. That way no one will have to lift the heavy thing and take it to and from the deck. Audra came home from school about now. I said, "Doesn't everything look fresh and shiny?" She said, "I think one of those shiny hens is smiling at me."

We put the purple chair back in it's place of honor, between two rosebushes. The concrete shell was freshened too. Dried dead hens were removed and new ones put in their places. Fresh soil was sprinkled over the top and we put it in place.

The blue bowl like planter is doing well. The sedums are waking up and thinking about growing. I didn't have to put soil in this one, because I just planted it late last summer.

The fish box that I scavenged from my daughter was tidied up. A new sedum was dug out of the ground next to the box and placed in the middle for color. I'm going to look for something taller and colorful to add to this planter.

In the last picture you can see some of the little garden. Before long the Mum plant in the foreground will be bigger, the purple Sage will grow tall and blossom it's purple blossoms, the rose bushes will be in bloom, the Mandevilla will begin it's climb to the porch rail with bright pink blooms...I can hardly wait.

Balisha