garden update-3/20

 sunday was a beautiful day-warm and breezy and perfect for working in the demo garden.  we have begun cleaning out the beds and making way for all of the new growth.  we are also changing some of the gardens a bit so keep checking back to see our progress.

 from the left, brenda, kortney and nancy are working in the rain garden.  it was totally overrun with weeds.  it took most of the time we were there for the four of us to get it cleaned up.

once the weeds were out, i put a heavy layer of leaves in the bed to act as a mulch for now.  we will hopefully have some real mulch soon but until then, leaves it is!

in between weeding the rain garden, nancy was busy tilling the walkways.  we had so much weed growth that we decided to just turn it all under and hope for the best.  the junior beds are being relocated to the new vegetable garden and this space will be an expansion of the herb garden.

two of the raised beds in the vegetable garden.  david plans to use a lot of raised beds to demonstrate small space gardening for home owners.

you know it is spring when the asparagus starts sprouting!

darry and david are determined to get that old satellite dish out of the garden.  if you happen to see a large blue morning glory roll by your house...

and as always, i brought a baked treat.  today it was pineapple jam tarts made with my home made jam.  if you want the recipe, click here

3/13-it's spring in the garden

 spring has sprung in the demo garden and we are seeing signs of plant life all over!  mostly what is out are weeds-or are they weeds?  many are actually considered winter wild flowers and we beekeepers are grateful for them.  they provide much needed nectar and pollen for honeybees.  in this photo, the top is a veronica (speedwell) plant that was purchased at a garden center.  on the bottom, the native speedwell which is one of those "weeds" in bloom right now.

two prolific weeds, i mean nectar plants, on the top is henbit and the bottom is red dead nettle.  both look very similar until you really take the time to look at the leaves.  henbit has round leaves, dead nettle has pointed leaves.  dead nettle also has red foliage at the top which becomes green as the plant grows.   

violets are one of my favorite flowers of spring.  i use them in my garden beds at home as a naturalizer.  they fill in the open spaces and provide lots of green.  

 every gardener loves hellebore's!  they are one of the first plants to flower in spring.  we have two varieties in the demo garden.  this one is located in our shade garden.

 this lovely hellebore is in the bed near the greenhouse and it starts out a pale lime green and by the time it is fully developed, the flower is a creamy white color.

 daffodils in the arbor with a cake eating ninja flower-sam!

 in 2009, fellow dcmg shirley lee and i planted daffodils around the gazebo.  here they are making a return appearance!

 blackberries

 blueberries

 remnants of fall-oakleaf hydrangeas

 grasses

and it just wouldn't be a sunday morning in the garden without cake!  we had an upside down pecan-persimmon cake.  when my tree at home has fruit, we wait for the first frost and then gather them.  after washing them off, i run them through a food mill and freeze the pulp for later use.  join us some time, i'll bring cake!