Yesterday, I was able to get the bee balm, horsemint, harebell, and asters into the ground, as well as one more Hibiscus moscheutos and one of my six Sedum kamtchaticum to continue my central rock garden. Just as I was finishing up, it began to rain. We are set to receive rain for the next week which should pull us out of the drought we've kind of been in lately (mostly from our spring heat wave).
I've been pulling a lot of wood sorrel (Oxalis spp.) and ragweed (Ambrosia spp.), as well as some creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) and lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album), along with a few other weeds that I'll be trying to identify this season.
My husband found some red hawkweed (Hieracium spp.) in our orchard that I transplanted into Steve's garden, which is unique compared to the mostly yellow flowers on our property. Steve didn't shown a lot of browsing interest in hawkweed in his last garden, but I always love giving him the option. If anyone is interested, it did grow well among hens and chicks (Sempervivum spp.). I can't wait to see the flowers when they open.
Since I left most of last year's plant tags in the garage over the winter, I went through them yesterday so I'd have a list of what I planted in the 2020 season. I'm not sure what happened to my geranium or poppy mallow, but I have a feeling the rabbits destroyed them over the winter. ?
Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum)
Sempervivum 'Hot Mix' (Sempervivum sp.)
Lady Godiva Orange English Marigold (Calendula hybrid)
Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' (Echinacea hybrida 'Cheyenne Spirit')
Mallow (Malva sylvestris 'Mystic Merlin')
Althea 'Red Heart' (Hibiscus syriacus 'Red Heart')
Rozanne (Geranium hybrid)
Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
Planted outside the enclosure:
Oso Easy Italian Ice Rose (Rosa sp.)
It's neat watching the natural processes that occur as the garden shifts into a more manicured area that includes specific plant species. This puts the area is in a transition state. Allowing particular plants to dominate this season should help them to better dominate next season. I'm learning which weeds to look out for at different times in the season. I love watching bees visit when flowers are in bloom. I've encountered toads and now snakes.
Here's a small snake I found hiding in the enclosure's grasses. I moved him out to an even grassier area of the yard and realized that even the possibility of his presence is a good argument for removing grasses from the tortoise enclosure (especially since Steve isn't a grass eater). While these snakes aren't likely to injure Steve, I would rather reduce the possibility of an incident by decreasing the amount of plants a snake can hide in.
My next updates include adding extra dirt to make my central rock garden into a small hill, which will provide Steve with a slight barrier and climbing interest. I would also like to purchase a few more pavers to set up some more pathways for human navigation.
Hopefully the rain promotes some good root growth for the new plants, and when it's done, maybe I'll have more blooms and better photo opportunities. Some of the asters have buds so there's more color on the way!
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