Let the Rearrange Commence

Change can be ugly. Case in point: Chunks of garden being ripped up, an awfully unpretty, anti-fall-color kind of aesthetic. The dream is that come the next super-dry summer, it will look fabulous and will not need daily attention. Water-thirsty areas are being dealt with now, now when the soil is not bone dry; it's time to divide and to conquer. 

Here are a couple projects in process at Chickadee Gardens with the hope that your gardens are enjoying fall color rather than the November mud in which I seem to be playing.

Starting off with rudbeckia, a fabulous plant for pollinators and foraging birds in autumn, specifically goldfinches. I could not keep these watered enough this summer, even with waterings every other day. They had not been this thirsty in the past, but these last two summers were exceptionally dry. This is one of about eight such patches of them, so it's no small feat to relocate them to heavier soil in the chicken yard where they will continue to grow, spread and provide food for wildlife. This photo is from summer.

The aforementioned clump removed as well as about three quarters of the Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' (foreground, right), which also had trouble staying hydrated.

This is about half of the rudbeckia dug out of the labyrinth garden. 

More dug-up rudbeckia clumps on the lower right of this shot. You can just make out the gap and bare soil in the center which was where the first photo was taken. All areas where rudbeckia had spread are now opened up and planted with either yucca or Diplacus aurantiacus (syn. Mimulus aurantiacus) and gravel. Garden beds were getting crowded with rudbeckia, so it seems a good move for the rest of the garden to give a little air circulation.

Moving on to another rearrange, this photo illustrates Eriophyllum lanatum, Oregon sunshine, at the edge of the labyrinth this spring. While I love this plant and the fact that it's native, it was taking over this area and closing in on gravel paths.

The bare soil is the aftermath of a mad afternoon of digging. Note the crammed yucca in the background.

The Yucca 'Blue Sentry' was moved forward from its crowded spot a couple of feet back. Now it can luxuriate in the open air.

Gravel added and job done. For today.

This area at the edge of the labyrinth garden has never been planted and is always brown with dormant clover from June through about December. 

Enter Eriophyllum lanatum, whose clumps were spread throughout about a third of this soon-to-be newly planted area. It can now spread to its heart's content in a super-dry, sunny location.

I also planted several Dorycnium hirsutum, hairy canary clover, a sub shrub kind of plant that has proven itself to be incredibly drought-adapted by forming a tap root and going deep into the soil. They are silvery gray and lovely. I will also plant several Teucrium chamaedrys as well as a generous sprinkling of native wildflower seeds such as Madia elegans, tarweed, Gilia capitata, globe gilia, and Eschscholzia californica, California poppy. As the bed matures I hope to tuck in native penstemon and salvia.

As seen from the wide angle on my phone camera. The new area is outlined with rope.

Here it is planted up (with the teucrium to be added later), not much to see but it's a good "before" shot to remind myself of the "change can be ugly" phase.

Another small area of grass removal as the garden marches forth, I took out the corner of this area to plant one special salvia:

Salvia 'Celestial Blue' given to me by a dear garden friend who surprised me with it as a gift. I can't wait for its purple blue flowers to appear, a rather large salvia at 3 - 4 feet tall. They will look great juxtaposed to coral, hot pink and orange flowers behind.

A California native salvia that I hope will be at home in my garden. 

Although it's a small victory, if you've ever dug up field grass or sod, you can appreciate my sore muscles. More to come, many more water thirsty plants being relocated or removed, many more drought-adapted replacements going in. Change is in the air, the Great Autumnal Rearrange is in full swing and that damned eternal hope is currently springing forth from my cold, wet, happy self.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you. Happy gardening to you all.