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Friday 22 August 2008

Shaking Things Up

I am aching from head to toe this morning .. sorry no pictures .. once I get the urge to DIG and MOVE .. well .. it is a GOOD thing I don't have a camera in my nasty gloved hands if you know what I mean .. note to self .. "NEED more garden gloves !"
I chopped down a long time plant with stubborn roots that had the worst infestation of aphids I have ever seen .. and since I sent volunteers to my neighbor's side of the fence (thankfully she didn't mind .. at the time) well they were also INFESTED .. so I couldn't do anything about that problem on the other side of the fence .. Heliopsis .. just the run of the mill cultivar .. plain Jane ?
In any case an older plant .. stubborn to leave but finally without breaking the shovel (pitchfork helped a lot too) it was out and in the brown bag for recycle garden waste ..
Next was to sadly cut down my beautiful 10 foot butteryfly bush (Nanho Blue) .. NO ! stop the screaming !! I wasn't getting rid of it .. it was moving into where the buggy heliopsis was (perfect spot ultra sun and SPACE to spread out .. but you have to cut back to a reasonable size for it to transplant with less shock .. so that mission was accomplished with great "Triple Mix" in the mix of things .. fingers crossed it is going to look gorgeous come Spring time when it smiles at me ?
There were an assortment of other shake ups .. Gravetye Beauty clematis to the raised bed to keep ZD climbing rose company (and a huge wow to how much that climbed in its first year !) .. Angel Face rose joined them along with a little mini shrub rose (for which I must find a tage to .. sweet little blooms delicate colours .. yet one tough as boots baby !
I tried moving some ccone flowers that were crowded ... I hope they hang in there ..
I feel guilty for loosing track of "who is who?" .. BIG sigh
Next as I mentioned to Hunky Gardener .. is my wonderful Russian Sage .. new and better location with much more stretching space .. hope to convince the body it can handle the work ?
Pictures later down the road ? .. ouch ouch groan groan ... BIG sigh !

9 comments:

Andrea said...

hahaha. This is awesome. OMG, I can't believe you are chancing to move it. Goodluck with that! I love Heliopsis. mmmmm. Okay. calling terra Nova. RING RING. whee. Okay. mim done here.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I do the same thing about once a week. I've got a bad back to start with. But tell me that when I see something that simply has TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW ON THE SPOT! Katy bar the door! Lay down on a nice smooth ice pack. I do that each and every night for an hour or so, up and down the length of my back. Also do stretching exercises twice per day, everyday. It's magic!
Brenda

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hi Brenda .. good advice girl ! but we gardeners are headstrong aren't we ? I have 4 screws and a bone graft with a couple of lowerback discs .. so I get the bacd back thing ! .. I have a BIG heating pad .. but ice packs for my neck (what would we do without them ?? I can't even think ) ..I have such a long list I want to do before Canuck winter time arrives .. but yes .. mind the back ! LOL

Andrea .. you know we (gardeners) are totally nuts .. get the shovel out and do some creative 'destruction/reconstruction" routine .. I know I am chancing it with my beautiful buddleia .. but it really needs more space and that heliopsis .. ugh !!! .. don't get me wrong, I love some heliopsis .. I have 'Summer Night' and it is a beauty .. this old one just needed to GO ! .. hey .. was that Terra Nova I heard on the phone ?? LOL

Hi Nancy .. I know .. I take some awful chances and pay the price later on .. but this was an important mission .. my specialist once said "if you are going to do something to cause pain .. make sure it is something you enjoy !!!" so in the end .. I followed his advice ? ; )

The Hunky Gardener said...

I am so stoked that I was mentioned on your post! You totally made my day!

Have a great weekend and garden 'til ya drop but not literally! lol!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Dear Hunky .. of course I am going to mention you ! You are a fellow Canuck .. a hunk (wink wink) and most important you are a GARDENER !
Have a great weekend too ! .. P.S. Can you believe it is almost September ??? jeez !

Anonymous said...

Ok, Joy, now I understand why you cut the prized buddlea down to size. I didn't see this post cause I was reading the one above it. It all makes sense now. I can't stand aphids---glad you are rid of them. Sending you some good warm tea and a jet tub bath for your aching muscles.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Thanks Anna .. I can use those comforts ! : )
The heliopsis was a MESS .. so getting rid of that was coming soon in any case .. Nanho Blue is the more resilient of the two buddleia .. gray green almost a slight fuzzy foliage .. they tolerate drought and tough conditions better .. so I'm hoping it will adapt to going through this shock .. it doesn't have a problem with aphids .. just the darn heliopsis !

Anonymous said...

I transplanted a few buddlea and they did grand. They even lived through a hot, horrid, drought transfer. I can't believe they made it==but they did. I sure wish I had them now! I'll get another.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Anna ... it was Nanho Blue that I hacked down and relocated .. I think it has a good chance .. the gray green fuzzy leaves are an indication of drought tolerance .. heck it should be 'Joy" tolerance when it comes to garden plants .. you have to have at least two of these .. the smell is still hanging in the air here .. HONEY scented .. wonderful !!!