gathering...

...up donated plants, marshalling the troops, as it were. Getting ready to do the planting I have been pondering across the street, near the entrance to the Golf Course. The harsh reality of the truth is more apparent each day this project drags on. When I first went over to talk to the course supervisor he readily admitted that all his budget is used for things that enhance the actual playing surface of golf. Of necessity, areas where golfers park their vehicles, and asphalt is blistering in summer heat, are at best neglected, or more likely ignored.

I've been asking fellow plant lovers for perennials they have that might need dividing, knowing that early spring is the best time to dig, divide, share. A friend offered Stokes Aster, another said she had some yellow daisies. I have lots of little white early-blooming daisies I can dig and quickly relocate.

I dreamed up/pencil sketched/drew a sort of plan and left it for the landscape guy, and already have no idea what I suggested, other than a couple of large crepe myrtles. Hoping more of the digging cohorts will come up with donations as they begin to get out and poke around in the warming sunshine. I've also dug up a number of agapanthus from the few starts from south GA years ago, as well as a bunches of snowdrop bulbs that originally came from my grandmother. Plus there are several volunteers/children of the butterfly bush also imported from south GA., that are remarkably prolific in the leaf mulch here. Pretty heat tolerant, if they will just get through the first summer.

All enough to get over there, hauling my donations in my wheel barrow and start putting things in the ground.  My contact guy has agreed to supply labor, and mulch. My biggest concern at this point is keeping them watered long enough to get established. I know there is irrigation, but do not know how effective it will be in the areas where I propose to plant, provide colorful bloomers that will perform from spring till fall.

Spent about five hours digging holes, getting the little starter plants from my yard in the ground on Thursday morning. I had plenty of help with several trusty guys who did the hard part, digging out roots, clearing the aggressive privet out from the area I wanted to plant. Lots of smilax where some lorapetalum was growing, now uprooted and relocated. It was a very productive day - I just hope the things will either get rained on or watered well enough to survive transplanting.