pine straw...and salvia give-away program...

The guys who are paid to tend to the yard have been coming every couple of weeks all winter long. So even though nothing is growing, they come around with their blowers, whizz through and move on to the next location in about twenty minutes, with leaves shooting up straight in the sky in a whirlwind-like frenzy.  Blow-and-go on the driveway and tear off to the next assignment before the leaves even have a chance to settle back to earth.

When they were here about a month ago, they were so enthusiastic with the blowers, all the mulch: some bark, some pine straw, some leaves (that they mostly blew off the parking apron weeks ago) was gone into the next county by the time they left. I know the boss thinks I am crazy, but I wanted those fall leaves to stay there, as insulation for roots in winter, and helping to conserve water in the hot summer  months. So when I called him to say they did 'too good' and all my mulch had been relocated, I told him he needed to bring several bales of pine straw to replace what they caused to vanish.

Those measly three bales have been sitting out in the bed for a week, waiting for me to sprinkle around my plants. I told him to just leave it for me to do, as I knew his  help would stomp all over everything I wanted to grow, bloom and spread. If they nearly uprooted bulb plants with the powerful blowers, I knew I did not want them in by flower bed again.  I have been out there spreading out pine straw, and discover that three bales is not nearly enough.  So I will have to go in my non-truck and get a couple more bales to finish the job.

But first I want to dig up a dozen or more volunteer salvia plants. If you are interested in having some butterfly-attracting, hummingbird-loving, red-blooming, pineapple-smelling salvia plants, let me know? They don't bloom until late in the summer, and usually get about four feet tall before then. Very easy to grow (a euphemism for so 'hardy' they can be invasive if you are not careful about where you plant them.) I just cut them back to a stump recently, and though they have looked dead since the first fall frost, they are already greening up. Please want some...