Doggy Paddling & Circumstances Being A Pain-In-The-Butt

I know you guys haven’t heard a peep from me over the last couple of months.  Life really got on top of me and it felt like I was doing some serious doggy-paddling just to try to keep my head above the water.  I did write to you though – know that!  I just didn’t make it through the formatting and posting process to the blog.  But truly, there were things I wanted to share with you.  So, in a total divergence from my usual style, here’s a post I wrote in November, edited with updates true as of now.  In another post I’ll give a more chatty update!

Written in Nov 2021:

Total excitements! I got 3 beautifully tall and strong green and yellow variegated holly plants from the Hubs! 

Remember when I said that I had beautifully planted up and prepared one of my flower beds with spring bulbs (among the perennials that are already there) and had mulched it all over a day before I had the genius brainwave of putting a holly plant in the back?  That was maybe 10 days ago.  Since then, I have had two further brainwaves of removing a rose plant from the front garden, along with the tulips planted around it, in order to plant a holly shrub in its place; and also planting a holly shrub in the front corner garden at the corner of our newly built fence.  Hollys do well on my fairly exposed and windy site, and these will grow into lovely triangular shapes that will add some visual interest to my garden which is surrounded by the greenery of our croft. I can’t wait to put them in.  Of course, at the moment it’s bucketing rain outside.  (Update:  I’ve planted one Holly plant so far… I have to wait on Sonadh’s rose to be transplanted for one of the Holly plants to be put in its final place.)

I’m fairly sure I want to move my rose plant (Sonadh’s rose) to the backdoor area, near the non-existent steps.  I’ll have to estimate a bit with this so that I plant it in a place that won’t get in the way of the Hubs as he lays the concrete.  I’m running out of time before the weather turns quite inhospitable this far north, heralding our long winter.  In fact, I think I’m going to have to give up on that idea until spring.  (Update: This will happen in late winter, hopefully next month – Feb!)

Come to think of it, the transplanting I’m planning on doing in this garden shortly is the first big transplant here!  I guess you could call it a milestone of sorts.  After 5 years of taking the space from weeds and rubble to an actual garden space with lawn and some shrubs/ flowers I have come to see what is flourishing and what is struggling a bit.

I got given another rose bush 5 years ago, without any indication of type, and I’ve realized it’s more of a flowing, overarching rose rather than a shrubby rose.  So I think it needs to be moved as well.  The slope at our back door steps is going to look quite pretty next year after all this transplanting happens!  (Update: I am itching to move this now! The Hubs, however, hasn’t made any progress on our back steps – so it’s still a big pit of nothing.  But, come what may this rose will be transplanted in Feburary!)

I also want to move the potentillas I grew from seed about 3 years ago.  I’ve decided that I don’t like them in the front garden as this particular potentially (Monarch Red Velvet) have tiny flowers in a froth of stalks shooting up from the nice leafy base.  They don’t provide any impact and I think I’ve seen these types of flowers spoken about in magazines as ‘transparent flowers’ or something like that.  Basically, the eye doesn’t really register these flowers, unless quite close up, and that they don’t block the line of sight from exploring further into the distance.  And, as you should know by now (just look at my Instagram feed) I love big, showy flowers!  But flowers are flowers, and these have now been relegated to hopefully form a little casual hedge around the oil tank for the house. (Update: While I’ve put them on one side of the oil tank, I’ve decided not to place them all around it.  It’s hard work digging them up from their original location, but these things are super spreaders and they need to go for the most part.)

I will also be transplanting my Shasta daisies, but I think I might leave those until spring.  I need to wait on the Hubs to erect my clothes line first, as the shastas will be planted around the poles. (Update: I’ve taken the easy way out and have sown some extra seeds.)

And, of course, I have about 10 potted plants (winter hardy of course) that are slated for the backdoor slope that I just can’t put in until the new steps are complete.  It’s a good thing I decided not to be impatient or pre-emptive with this one because the Hubs is changing the plan for the steps as he goes along.  He’s a professional, so he can do that of course, and so now our steps are being widened a bit and a handrail will also be going in.  Plus, he’s now not just thinking about concrete steps, but slightly fancier ones.  We’ll see which direction this goes over the next while.  (Update:  the next while is still in progress; it’s whiling away. Sigh)

Between that and all the new spring bulb beds I’m creating there are a lot of spaces to be watched in my garden over the next few months – and still work going on with other spaces!  The last spring bulb bed (around a rowan tree on a slope) has been cleared and someday when there is a break in the rain, I’ll get out there and not only plant it up with about 150 bulbs but also mulch and maybe even put some edging in to make it look pretty.  Of course that’s if the arms and back allow – I’ll be harvesting rocks again for that you see!  (Update: The 700 spring bulbs are all planted and my back is now broken.  The rocks were all lifted and placed, and my back is now broken. I am broken… well at least until my next day off – have loads more ideas and things to do that need rock lifting and shovelling and general back breaking garden labour!)