The Azalea Bed

As is most of our garden, the Azalea Bed in the back yard is a work in progress.  As we work to create, unfortunately the squirrels often work to uncreate it.  They shredded a waist-high azalea and reduced it to just the trunk and a few inch-long sprigs in just a weekend. They've not-so-creatively pruned most of the remaining azaleas in the bed.  Liquid Fence seems to deter them a bit, but I've not been using it much with all the rain we've been having.

This spring, we have done a good bit of work in the bed.  We've added six Heuchera (three Tiramisu and three Miracle) another Polemonium, three new miniature Hostas, a Fragrant Dream hosta ;and three small Carex. We've also added one Bloodgood and one Laceleaf Japanese maple. So far, the squirrels are behaving themselves.

Here's a photo taken last Friday, before we planted the maples.  I love the blue urn on the pedestal.

The small tree just to the left of the blue urn is a redbud seedling we brought from our old home. It was in a pot for four years, and it's doubled in size in the year since we planted it. It's surrounded by three Hydrangea macrophylla blue lacecaps. I don't know the variety name. I planted them two years ago from four-inch pots. The first year, the deer ate them to the ground. Last year, we moved them to the Azalea Bed where the Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' hydrangeas were and moved the Oakleaves to the back bed to replace the Lacecaps. They grew quite well, but our dip into below zero temps that one day in January nipped the buds on most of the stems. Still, they are growing quickly, and I'm hoping for some blooms this year.

The green mound to the right of the larger ash tree in the right foreground is a clump of Cranesbill geraniums. I used to know the variety, but I've long lost the name. It's a light pink, and right now it's covered with buds. Just to the left of the ash tree is a grouping of three Hellebores, and again, I don't know the variety.  They were mutts I purchased at the garden center last year. This year, they bloomed for the first time.

All the azaleas in the bed were planted in front of the house when we moved here almost six years ago. They had been trimmed with a chain saw (I kid you not) and were a ragged mess when we moved in. We pruned them and moved them to holding beds in the back until we could sort them by color. We had a number of different coral colored ones, a couple fuschia, two different varieties of pink and one very large white. The large white is over to the left of the Azalea bed. All the fuschia and pink ones are in the bed, and I've given all but two of the coral colored ones away.  Those are going to our neighbor as soon as the ground is workable. 

The bed also has a clump of Jack-in-the-Pulpit we moved from elsewhere in the garden. They were here when we moved here. It also has some purple Heuchera, a variety of Hosta, more Polemonium, an Aruncus dioicus 'Knieffi' and at least one fern. I'm very pleased with how the bed is coming along. Now if we can just get the squirrels to cooperate.

Comments

[Gail]

It's beautiful...and will be fantastic in bloom! Won't spring ephemerals and wild flowers fill in the ground nicely~~Kim you've done a marvelous job! Gail

[Frances]

Hi Kim, oh those dastardly squirrels! I hope they can behave and allow that beautiful garden to grow well and prosper! You are winning against the odds of critters it semms. :-)
Frances

[Karen]

Oh, I so hear you on the squirrels! They mostly attack my sunflowers and scrabble around where I've planted seeds, I haven't had them denude a shrub yet. I would be steaming mad!!! Love all that you have planted, it's going to be quite a showpiece garden when everything gets growing. Congrats!

Hey, I did ask my mom, the seed queen, about the pre-sprouting thing and she said that she always does it so she can see what germinated before it goes in the ground. Beans and squash were both on her list of "yes" for pre-sprouting indoors. I think maybe root crops like carrots or beets you would not do this to, but I'm not sure. Good luck!!