A Tale of Two Gardens
The April Gardening: it was generally the best of times this week!
We LOVE spring!! All of our houseplants moved outside this weekend and you can almost see them shouting with glee. ,
The rains last week washed most of the pollen down and the flowers are in bloom with bees and butterflies happily dancing from flower to flower and bush to bush. The trees are full-leafed now as well and completely shading our front yard, and part of our garden.
We finished the trellis at the Upper Garden for the Kiwi’s, Goji’s and an assortment of grapes.
Mulched
They all got weeded, “card boarded”, and mulched. The filberts, Japanese walnuts, pecans, and Chinese chestnut got weeded and mulched as well. Having several downpours prior sure helped with pulling the weeds.
Garden Prep
The “Upper” vegetable garden went from sad to looking like somebody took notice. It’s soon to be cultivated and planted as well.
That’s our water stove house with solar panels on the roof. This cabin property is not yet fully off grid, but that’s our goal.
Meanwhile at the Lower Property – “Homeplace”
Down at our home place in the woods, so much Spring bursting forth in the landscape.
- Mahonia Fruiting
- Knockout Roses Blooming
What’s Blooming in April
Our April blooms in NC zone 7a include:
- Clematis showing off her beauty
- Deciduous (including Flame) azaleas ceding the whole yard with sweet fragrance
- Ferns and Hostas (not yet blooming but definitely lighting up the landscape)
- Our Doublefile Viburnum in full glory
- The Forest Pansy Redbud heart-shaped leaves showing their deep maroon luster.
Clematis Rosemoor
You can see more of this amazing plant on Amazon.
Flame Azaleas – Rhododendron calendulaceum
Doublefile Viburnum
Call your local nurseries to find Double Viburnum in your area, or you can purchase on Amazon.
Planting Tomatoes
And so much more! In the Home Vegetable Garden, we made headway into the frost-free season.
New Raised Beds for Tomatoes
Our tomato planting article includes a video clip from this weekend’s planting.
Planted this Last Week of April in Zone 7a
- Bush beans
- Bok Choy
- Peppers
- Leeks
- Onions
- Herbs-Parsley, Dill, Cilantro
- Tomatoes
- More flowers
- Marigolds
- Nasturtiums
- Celosia
- Alyssum
- Mandeville
- Irrigation system tweaked and working
It certainly took a lot of time and energy, but…
It’s a good tired at the end of every gardening day.
Salamanders in the Yard and Garden
Nikolai found this baby salamander while raking the landscape, and Coleman found a big one as well.
Salamanders are Amphibians
As Nikolai informs (and corrects LeAura) in the video clip below, salamanders are amphibians, not lizards.[1]https://www.savethesalamanders.com/what-are-salamanders/
Salamanders breathe through their skin so tend to only surface when the weather is wet. Otherwise they roam in moist cool and damp soil, above and below ground.
Salamanders do help with garden pest control. However, they’re not discriminate as to their diet, which can include harmful and beneficial insects and invertebrates.
What’s Happening in Your Garden?
That’s a basic rundown on our week. It’s likely many of you are just as busy and enthralled by all the life that is bursting forth.
Let us know how it’s going for you. We enjoy seeing pics and reading about your garden ventures.
Pictured below… our garden gnomes and also our garden mailbox where we keep our small tools handy.
G. Coleman Alderson is an entrepreneur, land manager, investor, gardener, and author of the novel, Mountain Whispers: Days Without Sun. Coleman holds an MS from Penn State where his thesis centered on horticulture, park planning, design, and maintenance. He’s a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and a licensed building contractor for 27 years. “But nothing surpasses my 40 years of lessons from the field and garden. And in the garden, as in life, it’s always interesting because those lessons never end!” Coleman Alderson
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