7/04/2016

Yet another "operation rescue" plan...



Each summer I find perennials I want to rescue from the wild garden and tie a ribbon on them.  I make a list and in the spring I do move some if I can find the list but mostly I simply cannot find the plants or the ribbons.  So my new plan this year is to mark them with a huge  neon ribbon and move a lot of them in September.  In addition I have been taking pictures, making notes, and documenting where they are.  As you can see the wild garden is like a jungle when everything is blooming.


It is especially critical because many of the plants along the greenhouse (100 ft) have survived because any drop of moisture during the summer drained off the roof of the greenhouse and kept them alive... but now that the big storm took the roof off the greenhouse I doubt many of these perennials will survive...  

I have a lot of red maltese cross but this is the only surviving white one.. It is high on my list to rescue.  There is a gorgeous apricot one that I would love to have but I am resolute in never buying another perennial..




This isn't a particular favorite but it's an oddity because it has bright yellow flowers on its purple foliage




























When I was marking this lysimachia I discovered a lovely small pink achillea right next to it... I have the perfect spot for it.  I used to have a red with yellow centers achillea called "Paprika" that I have been searching in vain for.




This is all that is left of a large clump of  Joe Pye Weed and it is so great for butterflies..


All in all I found and documented the position of about 30 perennials to move this fall.  Hopefully with the photographs and the locations documented this new plan will work...  If not, I am great at more new plans...










But some I will never find unless I clear a space around them immediately before all the weeds grow up.  One is this delightful dwarf, double perennial geranium.  It is a tiny plant (about 10" high) and the only double I have.  I had marked it in the spring but I could hardly find it yesterday so I will clear around it today..




And another one is a struggling little clematis buried in a huge clump of roses.  I especially want to save it but have no idea where to put it.  All the clematis  I bought this spring are doing beautifully.  I can hardly wait for them all to mature.











I am so grateful for all the perennials that not only survive but THRIVE with no water and no care and bring me great joy.. This is a large patch of knautia which is not particularly showy in the garden but it is a wonderful cut flower.. It is so unique and I never see it offered.

 Behind it is a big showy patch of perennial geraniums and a monster of my least favorite lavender, "Jean Davis.".  It was advertised as a pink lavender but is closer to dishwater grey...but it lives, thrives,  and smells wonderful..

And as a positive last thought.... The chain saw guy finally showed up unannounced one day.... covered in tattoos and in a massive pickup and he had to spit after every 5th word. ...but he worked like a demon for two days and got most of the downed trees cut up...  He would have finished but late in the second day he cut into an old apple tree and hit a yellow jacket nest.  He wants to come back so we will have him in the fall.  It will take DH until then to cut   all the branches up and haul them to clean green.. The larger stuff we will burn in the wood stove in the winter. 

6 comments:

Marilyn said...

You can have your very own treasure hunt in your wild garden :)

margaret said...

you have so many lovely flowers and love how your garden looks, good to read the tree feller turned up but sorry to read you lost the roof of the greenhouse must have missed reading that post or more likely forgot as memory is playing havoc with me at the moment

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Oh Man, moving all those lovely perennials is a labor of love. My daughter recently moved into a home with a neglected garden. Since she wants to turn the area into a patio, I have been digging out everything I could find a place for at MY house. I hve vowed never to buy another annual unless it is the geraniums I like to keep on the front deck. You have a lot of plants in your wild garden I have never heard of.
xx, Carol

Marlynne said...

What a lovely Wild Flower Garden! I hope it stays alive!

Susan Elliott said...

The garden and flowers are unbelievable!! I must must come visit. Not sure where I'll stay cuz I'm allergic to animals but there must be a motel nearby...

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Looks like you have an amazing garden. My favourite has always been the cottage garden where everything grows willy-nilly and provides so much colour. Just a thought that might help you 'find' ones you want to move - if you have some old panty hose cut them into narrow strips and tie them around the plants you want to remember to move. Make sure you tie a little loosely, but they will stretch as the plant grows and are a little more noticeable than just a piece of string.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts