Angels in Workboots

Today was another "garden angel" day for the Master Gardener Tour.  I can't imagine putting the Stepchild Garden on tour without the help of these people!  What takes me weeks to accomplish (that whole "shoemaker's children" thing) gets done in a couple of hours!

Here Josh (not an official "angel," but a key player in the Stepchild Garden) gets a few delphiniums in the ground with their fun support posts.  Josh is family in more ways than one....who else would coordinate the t-shirt and the flower supports?

In this next photo, Debbie and Tony made quick work out of a previously-messy path that runs along the side of the house.  It's where the utility meters are, and where I've always just planted things that didn't fit somewhere else.  Debbie, Tony and Carra tore it all out and made it look beautiful with a collection of ferns, hostas, and obedient plant.

There is a Sun After All!

At the moment it is 57 degrees and sunny outside, and the meteorologists have promised this is the first of many days when we'll see high 50's or even warmer!  The sun has been out all day, and it has been the perfect day for working on the stepchild garden!

I had three yards of "flower mix" delivered this morning, and a group of us spent a few hours tidying the big mixed border in the front and topdressing the whole lot.  Four of the "garden angels" from the Master Gardener group were here, helping to get things ready for the tour in May.  What would have been a miserable task alone got finished in about four hours, and people got to do things they loved doing.  Alice was the pruning maniac, reshaping a bunch of the hollies and the buddleia, while Carra, Tony and Debbie cleaned up all of the nasty winter brown stuff and then topdressed.  The last of the "Eye of the Tiger" Dutch iris that I found in the garage finally got planted, and there are lots of signs of life all over the place.  Part of the tour requirement is that I have things in the beds labeled.......since I don't usually remove things that self sow, we're making SLOW progress in that process.....

In the back, Chuck finished the last of the trim work on the Not Shed, so it's ready for the final paint job and accessorizing.  The driveway was the "paint studio," getting a couple of flea market benches, window boxes and such done in the rusty brown finish that we've decided is going to be the color for all of the metal this year (except the fabulous purple chair from Murphy, which would never look the same in brown.....)