Front garden pics... and a foundation leak?

Tulip  bulbs are in and almost blooming, and we've got Dusty MIller, a yellow poppy, lithodora (tiny blue flowers), a purple Columbine, a few seedums, and a ton of purple Irises.



The Irises will probably take longer than normal to bloom, seeing as how they've just been transplanted. I was a little rough splitting them apart. They were VERY compacted and in a bad way.

Tulips and seedums ... oh and bugger me Elmo if the picture on the flat of tulips didn't say "RED TULIPS". These look decidedly pink.

I am not a 'pink' kind of person.

I have wanted this for so long.  Yay, me.

More to come.... 

Oh, and btw, we had our first big rain (read: I watered the #@&^ out of the garden after I installed the dirt, but before I planted the flowers) and it leaked water from the outside of the house into the basement where the old coal chute used to be but was 'sealed over' long long ago in a galaxy far far away.

Not a puddle, but moisture. Enough to be a concern.

So before I put the flowers in, we dug up the dirt right next to the house, and out about 3', in a slope away from the house. We tacked in some 6 mil plastic sheeting, and laid it on the slope as to divert water away from the foundation of the house. Then we used concrete adhesive and glued it to the house, cutting it off a few inches above ground level so you can't really see it at all. 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Not Chamomile? Nope.

When Beth came over last week to take pictures of our home, she pointed at a bunch of flowers, growing in a 2' bush like clump, and asked, "what are those?"

I matter of factly regurgitated what I had been told that they were.

"Chamomile."

She looked at me quizzically and asked, "Are you sure?"

To which I promptly responded something in the overly confident affirmative.

















Which of course, got me wondering.
And researching.























This (above) is Chamomile. This is not what we have.

And now, you know what? I have NO IDEA what our plants are.

So, if you've come to my garden in the past years, and you've been happily handed a clump of potted flowers with the assumption that you've gotten this lovely smelling chamomile.... please don't make any tea out of it until we figure out exactly what this sucker is.

Composite flower head, multiple (layered) bracts, alternate lobed leaf arrangement on stem. Plant height approximately 2 feet tall. Bushy in nature. When crushed, stems, leaves and heads smells faintly of menthol. Pleasant smelling.


















I'm starting with the Aster Family.
Only some 5000 more plant identifications to look at.
http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Families/Asteraceae.htm

UPDATE: I think I found it. Could this be Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium)?? If so, don't make tea out of it if you are pregnant -- but it's ok for a headache. --Whew!

I'm Sorry....

To the man who was hired by the City of Covington to mow the lawn next door: I'm sorry.

The Day lilies we planted two years were so gorgeous, the soil that we tilled and fertilized so productive, the beauties that have been painstakingly growing in our yard have simply multiplied and thrived.

I have been watering and fertilizing them in anticipation of carefully splitting the bulbs and replanting them in carefully chosen locations throughout our small neighborhood of Seminary Square.

Perhaps you remember.... you were here today. I'm sorry I missed you.

I am really REALLY sorry I missed you.

















You see, my husband and I carefully dug up over 200 bulbs this week. We planted about 90 of them in the back yard of our next door neighbor's house; a house that will soon be remodeled by the Covington Center for Great Neighborhoods, and then hopefully purchased by a family who loves gardening, and yes, even daylilies.

It was a 'pre-gift'. A way to let the new neighbors, whomever they might be, know that we're glad to have them in our neighborhood. We bashfully thought it might be a way to encourage folks to take an interest in our little developing chunk of Covington.

That's why we carefully replanted the lilies in their yard, heaving many 5 gallon buckets of fertilized water over to make sure that they could rough out the transplant, and maybe (just maybe) bloom in a month or so.

I know they're hardy, because this is the time of year we transplanted them into OUR garden two years ago, and they bloomed for weeks and weeks right out of the gate.

We spent HOURS digging, splitting, moving, digging, watering.... and then it rained right on schedule. It was perfect. Two days later and you couldn't even tell they had been stressed. It's why I like to spend careful attention to not bruising the leaves... to gently tug apart the bulbs instead of chopping them, which works just fine, really, but the lilies do tend to get droopy and there is a level of casualties with that approach. I didn't want to waste a single bulb. :-)

The last two days I'd been checking out one of our windows and looking over at them like a proud mama... but I digress.... I wanted you to know that I'm sorry.

I looked out the window... sometime after you had left the scene.

















And you know what? I'm sorry you left before I could put my left foot up your backend for what you did, you horrible excuse for a "lawn care" employee.

I swear if you showed back up right now, I'd be in serious trouble for taking a shovel and smacking some sense into that fart-sniffing jerkmuppet tadpole brain (do I assume too much.... perhaps) of yours.

What the heck were you thinking? Or is THAT presuming too much as well?

















What took me three or more hours of careful thought and planning, you mauled in seconds, you idiot dirt jockey.

















Seriously, the freshly, carefully turned soil didn't give you a clue?

What? The tall healthy plants reminded you that you hate your job, your life, and the people you meet everyday?

You should know that I really don't like you.

I don't like lazy, stupid people in general, but your willful idiocy just tops the cake. You are the Pièce de résistance of idiot savants.

Without the redeeming 'savant-y' part.


















I'd love to find out who you are and ask the City of Covington to terminate your employment contract. There are plenty of decent folk who need a job and can tell the difference between a 1" blade of grass, and a 2 foot tall day lilly flower bed.

And by the way--- the grass was already short-- what the heck were you mowing over there?!?


Personally, I'd rather someone else have your job. Obviously, you don't want it.My rationale is that anyone that stupid is bound to do something far dumber, and dangerous, and perhaps should not be in a position to handle flammable liquids.



Not as long as I have a match nearby, anyway.