Monday, May 5, 2008

Ornamental maintenance

I am pretty focused on edibles this year, but I still get a lot of enjoyment out of the ornamentals. I need to do some work on those, too. I am still preparing to move away from this house, so I have more to dig up and move to Mom's yard.

Things to move this month:
- From the front planter: Bee Balm and Salvia. Mom has a lot of Sedums, but I guess I should move those after I take a lot of cuttings. I will fill the front with annuals - maybe I can find some good stuff at the Oley Vo-tech plant sale.
- From the alley - everything but the mint. The peony, the salvias, the iris. The passionflower won't sprout until almost June, then it will cover the back fence and attract all those rowdy bees.
- From the the back yard: I can move the rest of the iris after they bloom. I'll miss it anchoring the end of the border, but I can plant some early summer veg or herbs in their place. I should move the Bloodgrass, too (done).

Cuttings to make:
- Salvia - they are all looking strong, so I want to progagate more of them. I am especially loving the Salvia nemorosa 'Caradona' that I bought almost dead for 50 cents from the clearance rack at Lowes and nursed back to health.
- Sedums - I will cut them back to 4" soon, when they are 8" tall, and I can root all the cuttings
- False Indigo - It is going to bloom this year, so I don't want to disturb it, but I also don't want to leave it behind - so cuttings are called for. I read that I should stick cuttings in May, and that I need to have one bud node below the rooting medium.

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