Emily Martin Cochran

Here’s a quick tour of what’s happening in our garden right now! The previous owner of our home was a master gardener and planted so many beautiful plants and shrubs. She also planted the yard for each season, so we always have something in bloom!

Currently, the daffodils, ajuga, and hyacinths are showing off some yellows and purples! Unfortunately, the freeze we had at the end of spring break got the buds on the loropetalum (Chinese fringe flower), so I don’t think it will bloom as beautifully this year, but a few buds are trying to bloom. It will be a few more weeks before the azaleas begin blooming, along with some irises and tulips. In the meantime, we’ve been clearing out leaves and old foliage and setting up a new container bed for veggies!

Garner experimented with growing a few veggies last year, and the tomatoes and peppers were successful. In the fall, he started some greens from seeds with varying results. We determined that the in-ground beds don’t get enough light in the fall and winter, so he ordered a container bed. We placed it in the front yard since that gets the most sunlight year-round, and we’ve been working to fill it with leaves to raise the planting area. Once the leaves compact, we’ll put a mix of compost (from our yard), vermiculite, and peat for the growing soil.

Garner also tried starting seeds indoors this spring, so the plants would be more mature before planting them outside. We set up a grow light in our basement bathroom, and we’ve successfully started some lettuces, broccoli, onions, and tomatoes in addition to a few petunias. Since we’ve made it past our last freeze (we think), we’ve transitioned the seed trays outside, and we’ll plant some in the front bed and others in more containers around the side garden. Garner has several seed catalogs marked with the veggies he wants to try this summer, including more tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, peppers, and a watermelon!

I also need to do some pruning to get several shrubs ready for spring. We have one azalea that is not doing too well. On the advice of my mama (who has the greenest thumb of anyone I know), we’ll stump it and see if any new shoots grow back. The lantana and fig tree also need some shaping, so they don’t get too big for the space.

Other than that, we’ll be fighting the neverending battle against weeds. Dandelions are partial to our yard and have proliferated in just a few weeks. We also have lots of random ground covers that are weeds, so it will probably take a few weekends to get everything pulled up and freshly mulched. I also want to clean out the ornamental gutters that had strawberries in them last year and plant wildflower seeds. We couldn’t enjoy the strawberries because the birds would get them before we could!

Despite the work it takes to maintain a yard, it’s worth it to see the azaleas and hydrangeas in full bloom. The garden and yard were one of the selling points of our home (at least for me), and it reminds me of my mama’s garden growing up, which makes this place feel all the more like home.

Once we get more things in bloom, I’ll do an update! I hope spring has sprung where you are!