There is so much to do in the gardens at this time of the year it is easy to get engrossed in the work and to forget to step back and observe the miracle of spring happening everywhere. The whole valley behind our house is literally turning green before our eyes. New wildflowers are sprouting everywhere. Squash bugs are back – ugh. Birds of every type abound; woodpeckers, finches, crows, hawks, vultures, black-capped vireos, cedar wax wings, scrub jays, purple martins, hummingbirds, cardinals, and many others I can’t easily identify. More butterflies are spotted every day now; pipevine swallowtails, sulphurs, giant swallowtails, fritillaries, buckeyes, and admirals. It is all such a feast for the senses.
It’s always a rush to use the valuable time between the really cold weather and the really hot weather to get new trees, shrubs and perennials planted (or moved to new locations), and this spring has been no exception. We inherited many new plants over the past year or so from friends or job sites which were needing to be put in the ground. Among them were a beautiful sycamore tree, two large wax myrtles, a persimmon tree, a pear tree, and a fig tree, which we have now settled into their new garden homes. We also removed all of our pyracanthas as they are quite invasive in our area, and are seen as extremely undesireable.
For the past couple of days I have been hunting small perennials to dig up and move to the new courtyard beds. So far I have transplated an agave pup, some coreopsis, licorice mint, catnip, native red penstemons, and cedar sage. This is a great way to save time and money in getting a new perennial bed going.
Lastly, I began direct seeding some summer annuals like Laura Bush petunias, African daisies, and dwarf zinnias two days ago, and some of them have already germinated.