Anyway since Meg moved in here I've not done any burns around the pond, she's scared to death we'll burn the place down. Our Spring Peepers and Upland Chorus Frogs appreciate our not burning too. So my big flower bed by the driveway and next to our road had became more of a blackberry patch than a garden, what a mess!
All the big green stuff in the center is wild blackberries, the large grass is an annual grass that grows big black flowers(if you can call them flowers), this stuff needs to go, it is getting to invasive. Daisy was enjoying being outside and not getting soaked for a change.
Below is the second wheelbarrow load of blackberries, some canes were 12-15 ft long and 3/4 inches thick. The roots came out better than when it is dry.
Below is the actual flower bed, YEAH. I'll have to pull out all the rocks and dig out the remaining blackberry roots. This bed used to have tall bearded iris and monarda, yep killed the monarda. There is still some Apple Mint I'm sure it'll make new roots over the winter in this bed. Apple Mint blooms a long time and is an amazing butterfly attractor, but is very invasive.
Time to take wheelbarrow load number two to the ravine. Still a lot of work to clear this bed of invasives, but at least it is accessible now.
We received our order from Brent and Becky's Bulbs today.
Below is a Eremurus himalaicus (foxtail lily) root.
Thought it looked like a mean and nasty spider!
Does any here grow these and how deep should we plant it? It is supposed to get dense florets of pure white on 6-7 foot tall stems.
The Muscari 'Golden Fragrance' came in today as well, I was not expecting such huge bulbs (quarter size)on a muscari. Looking forward to seeing these banana looking muscari in bloom, totally new to me.
That was some rain huh! I flew out on thursday and was a bit scared of all that wind.
ReplyDeleteDigging up brambles is tough.
That foxtail root is hilarious. Looks like a little face, two eyes and a big smile.LOL
Have you grown foxtail lilies before? i have always wanted to try them.
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteNo never have grown foxtail lilies before. This one is really nice, the roots reminds me of a spider.
Having lost a house to Hurricane Fran I always have a hard time sleeping when the wind is really strong.
What a nice lot of work you did!! Will you be able to work a bit longer in N.C. before Winter? I'm actually looking forward to being finished with working outdoors before long... I love the Winter for a variety of reasons. One being that I can return to "Winter/indoor projects," watch the snow fall, and peruse plant catalogs and gardening magazines, and make Spring plans! ;-)
ReplyDeleteRandy, we have tons of wild blackberries. Their berries are tasty, but the plants are very agressive and crowd my raspberry plants, grapes, etc. I never thought about digging them out, they are so prickly, and my pruning just encourage their growth! You deserve a medal for digging out those mean blackberry roots!
ReplyDeleteI love Brent and Beckys. Cool bulb you have there! How lucky you are to have such a great space for flower beds. I look forward to seeing them more "developed".
ReplyDeleteHi Randy,
ReplyDeleteHis and hers wheelbarrows?! Love it.
I've been wondering how you all are surviving Ida's wrath. I'm glad you're still up and kicking. Blackberries are a bain in my neck of the woods too. I've found that digging them is not all the difficult but diligence is required. I envision great things in your driveway flower bed. Daisy is a cutie pie.
I love Eremurus! I haven't grown them myself but last summer I saw a huge display that knocked my socks off. The spider-root is definitely camera ready. I bet a Google search and you'll get more than enough info oh how to grow them. Photos next summer, please! And the fragrant Muscari sound wonderful. Brent and Becky's catalog is one of my favorites. Big time plant lust!
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ReplyDeleteWhen is doubt...Google!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-spring/Eremusp.htm
Thought I'd left a message already, but it's just as well since I got Floyd and Fran mixed up. So many trees came down in Fran. I presume fallen trees destroyed your house? -- that must have been terrifying.
ReplyDeleteWe have a ton of Blackberries here too. If I had a nickel every time I've been stuck..
I checked my go to source for bulbs (The Complete Book of Bulbs and Tubers by Hanneke Van Dijk and Mineke Kurpershoek). They say the eremurus should be planted in September in very well drained, nutrient rich sandy soil in full sun. They say don't plant them too deeply-an inch or two at the nose of the bulb. This particular one came from Afghanistan and northewestern Himalayas and was introduced in 1811. They say the plant can reach a height of 8-10 feet with the flower spike 3.5 feet long and it blooms the end of May with white flowers. It will be lovely!! And please don't burn your place down! When I lived in NC it seemed burns were a big thing but here in Tennessee they are not so big. Hardly any homeowners burn.
ReplyDeleteShady,
ReplyDeleteWe can work outside during the winter here, might get a week at a time one would not want to work mainly with ice and snow. The year we had 20 inches on snow in one storm, I could not get out the driveway for 9 days.
Tatyana,
These blackberries never produced even a handfull of berries, time to go!
Grace,
Yes we both have our own wheelbarrows mine now has a bigger fatter tire. The rain from Ida here was 7 or 8 inches in almost 4 days, could have been a lot worse.
Janet and Tina,
Thanks for the help on the foxtail lily, 8 to 10 foot tall awesome. Still no one that has grown their own?
SweetBay,
Fran dropped 5 big oak trees on my Clayton property and one landed on the fridge in the kitchen, after 17 weeke the insurance company declared the house a total wreck, so I sold what was left and moved to Rougemont.
That Foxtail Lily root reminds me of Ranunculus bulbs. We plant things later in the year, due to our much hotter climate. Our ground isn't nearly 60 degrees yet. I have a little thermometer, a gift from my Darling, that I carry in the pocket of my tool bag. People think I have lost my mind, taking the dirt's temperature. LOLOLOL!
ReplyDeleteAnd so, I may have done.....
I certainly did not mean to ignore all your hard work! And that is a lot of HARD WORK! We don't have blackberry brambles, but we do have dewberry vines, and they are terrible. Thick and tangled, and boy! if you get one in with a handfull of weeds and pull, it will rip the palm of your hand wide open! I wear gloves all the time because of them.
ReplyDeleteGood job. I think his and her wheelbarrows is a great idea.
I love the Eremurus but have never seen the spider like bulbs! Yikes! Wish I could help you but no clue of how to plant it.
ReplyDeleteCute video. Those roots do look like a big bug of some sort LOL. Helen
ReplyDeleteI couldn't remember what all garden bloggers were in those storms. Was the nor'easter in your area, or did you just get lots of rain?
ReplyDeleteIt's cool you have a ravine to put things in. I have several twig/brush piles for critters that I put things on that I don't want to compost. One of them is looking pretty disheveled right now, but the snow should cause it to be more compact.
Randy there's a house near here that used to be surrounded by pecan trees -- I think 5 of them fell on the house during Fran. They were about to salvage the house (which is over 100 yars old), but there was a lot of damage. I remember looking with despair at all of the trees laying on the power lines. Like a lot of people we were without power and water for a week. Doesn't sound like much but remember how hot it was?
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to visit here sometime you're welcome. I will have lots of Aromatic Aster to share. It's not at all an aggressive aster but puts up a lot of rosettes.
Randy, job well done. Blackberries, wild blackberries... we know about that! When we first bought our place, the land was untamed: blackberries, poison oak, scrub... fallen trees and brush that indeed was a fire hazard.. wild indeed. It took years for us to clean, pull, cut, stack and burn, but a blackberry vine still appears here and there. LOL
ReplyDeleteAnd tell Meg you only need a water hose close by while burning... it will be okay. ;)
Love the dog picture among the blackberries. Sounds like you have a pretty big project going on there making that new path - good luck with that!
ReplyDelete