I am still weeding the South Garden! As I wrote last month, this 11′-13′ W x 106′ L space is quite overgrown, but that didn’t stop me from buying the following 358 bulbs for fall planting, including eight glorious peonies:
- 50 Romance daffodils (the cup opens peach to coral)
- 100 Louise de Coligny daffodils (apricot)
- 200 Gypsy Queen hyacinths (apricot)
- 3 Frances Willard peonies (cream/blush)
- 5 Hermione peonies (apple-blossom pink)
Peony Dreams
Peonies are my favorite spring flower (possibly my absolute favorite flower, period). In order to indulge my passion for peonies and have year-round interest in front of the house, I’m creating a large peony patch within the south garden. It will have pride of place in the center front, away from the shrubs and specimen trees that will throw too much shade on it.
However, over the last few weeks, I’ve cleared only enough space for twelve peonies, including the eight listed above. The “foundation” peony, a mystery non-bloomer, is well-positioned for full sun but had been smothered by a (now removed) thicket of weeds. Next to these nine beauties, I transplanted three more unknown, non-blooming peonies from the south garden into this weed-free section.
Fragility
Peony blooms are so fragile and short-lived that I dread their end even as they’re just beginning to unfurl. And I was nervous that I’d done everything wrong as I handled their rootstock:
- I’d waited much too long to plant/transplant (but I’d only received the new bulbs in October)
- Though the soil is moist and well-drained, I didn’t add any kind of fertilizer to it
- Maybe I damaged the roots as I dug them out
- I planted all of roots shallow, but maybe they’re really more than two inches deep, in which case they won’t emerge
Perhaps most importantly, peonies just don’t like to be transplanted. Even under ideal conditions, they may not bloom their strongest for 2-4 years after transplanting. I’d still like to transplant the few struggling peonies from the west side of the main house as well, but I think it is too late in the season to do so.
The above photo is of the west end of the south garden, where the Japanese maples would create too much shade for these sun lovers . This area just looks better than where the peonies will reign supreme one day.
So, why have I made so little progress despite hours and hours of weeding for the last several weeks?
Phragmites.
My Worst Invasive Grass
The prior owner thinks the phragmites somehow took hold in the hayfield south of the south garden. Although the garden bed drains well, sections of the hayfield sometimes have standing water after prolonged, heavy rains. This is the perfect invitation for this reedy nightmare. Phragmites’ rhizomes grow vertically and horizontally. Once they take hold, they will dominate every other nearby plant.
Since October, I have been removing this invasive wetland grass from the south garden with small hand tools and a shovel. Unfortunately, its rhizomes are intertwined with specimen tree and flower roots. The result: I’ve dug up several day lilies by accident, and more than a few daffodils.
And I thought the bamboo were tough to eradicate.
Phragmites removal may end up being the most difficult landscaping task I’ve undertaken, but it cannot be avoided if I’m to have a successful flower garden. So, I’ll continue to shovel and bag their underground canes and dead surface debris then learn how to properly dispose of them. Maybe it’ll be something straightforward like burning.
I suspect it will take years and a few different eradication methods to rid this garden of phragmites. Luckily, it has not extended beyond about half the footprint of this flower bed, even after several years of unchallenged growth.
For now, though, I must wait once again for several days of rain to end then continue my work in the south garden. I’m definitely behind schedule but ever hopeful that I’ll plant the other 350 bulbs before the ground begins to freeze.
No matter how tough it gets, I’ll still be excited about those twelve peonies and eagerly await their red shoots next spring. They’re the start of a wonderful centerpiece of the south garden that will thrive for many decades to come.
How to Rejuvenate an Overgrown Flower Garden – Fall