For instance,I posted the plant in the photo above last week in my discussion area, and Jojo, our Perennials editor knew exactly what it was. So I have one less mystery to deal with - and a thousand or so more to go.
Will I be able to finish all this cleanup before next winter??
Sure you will. Don't wade in and try to do it all at once. Choose one small area and do a thorough job. Or choose one task for the day (or the hour) and stick to it.. Either approach will allow you to achieve a great deal and to look back on your labors with some sense of accomplishment.
How did This Get Here?
I know for certain that I plant smaller plants in multiples. Thus I am quite certain that I never planted a drift consisting of one purple crocus, or one blue Iris reticulata - especially when there is a drift of about 50 of them 4 feet away. So how did that lone (and lonely) flower get there?
There are two possible answers in my book. The first - unlikely - is that the sole bulb was part of a larger drift - except that all of the others died. The second - most likely - is that the chipmunks and other underground burrowers decided to do a little garden design work - and so rearranged some of the bulbs. Don't laugh - it happens more that you might believe.
I don't know about you, but I really prefer to do the design work in my yard myself. So I wait until the foliage on the misplaced bulb has withered and then dig the exile up and allow it to rejoin its friends.
Is this really a bare spot - or is there something under their still dormant?
If I had followed my own advice - and the same goes for you - I would have kept track of what I planted and where. That way (other than the things moved by those designing squirrels) none of us would have to ask that question. But unless you are so organized that its scary, even the best-intended and meticulously updated charts and plant lists can leave us with a few uncertain spots. The plants that used to be there may have died. So where the chart shows a delphinium, the garden shows a true blank.
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