More Cleanup Around the House

Finishing up some of my post on my cleanup trip around the house...I said that I was starting with the garden by the garage. This is the first garden that people see, so it stands to reason that's where the cleanup should begin. This time I went counter clockwise instead of clockwise. When I go the other way, by the time I reach the east side of the house...I'm pooped and do a less than thorough job. I stepped out the door yesterday morning and OH NO! it was starting to drizzle. I had planned to spend the whole morning working on my cleanup project. I stood in the garage doorway and just started to put my bucket of tools away, when it stopped. Hooray, now I could get down to work. And work I did. The Stella D'Oro lilies had to have the dead debris removed. I have found that by leaving it until spring...it's easier to remove. In the fall, I would have to cut it down. Everything was sticking to my cheap gardening gloves...a decision was made...I would buy new leather ones. I dug some of the invading grass clumps out of the mulch and then picked up my tools and chair and went around the corner to the back of the house. The little Alberta Spruce on the corner has some wind burn on it. Our landscaper friend told us to just brush the brown off and new growth would soon cover it. I took a soft plastic rake and took a lot of the brown dried needles off. Now we'll see if it does what he said it would. There's a lot of wind burn on neighbor's trees this year. Going around the back, I cleaned up the deck garden. The Lady's Mantle needed some attention. This is a tough plant. I can see little new ones popping up around the mother plant. If I were younger, I would transplant some of these to the edge of the woods. I think they would make a nice border, but since I am cutting down my work load...I won't do this. I would have to drag the hose back there and keep them watered till they took hold. I'll just have to give some of them to neighbors, if they get too big. I uncovered lilies and perennial geraniums (Wargrave Pink). We have a short piece of black chain link fence left behind the lilac bush and also as a backdrop for this little garden. I'm looking at this spot and wondering if I should buy a clematis for here. I think it would be very pretty there...and the spot gets sun for about half the day. I've had my eye on the Pope John Paul clematis. I'll have to think about this some more. It just seems that the chain link fence is there just waiting for some beautiful vine. I have two large containers that needed some care. I dug the soil deep and got it ready for whatever I am going to plant. I decided to finish up and picked up my tools and then walked over to the bird bath. I filled it and after going up to the house, I filled the feeders. Only one more suet cake for you woodpeckers. So enjoy...I have only half of the back and up the west side of the house to do yet. Maybe yet today. Looking around the front of the house I noticed that all the daffodils that were drooping (in the above picture) were opening more and standing tall. I wondered if they would recover from the onslaught of wind that we had a few days ago. I'm so glad...I've waited all winter for these flowers to bloom and then to have mother nature pull a mean joke by sending strong winds...it would have saddened me. My next post will show a late in the season surprise :) Till then, Balisha