Spring 2014 had been dry, but Karla had an unexpected gift a few days before her planned project day... rain! Real, ground-softening, life-giving rain. Weeding, digging and planting is so much easier a few days after a rain.
One of the Divas of the Dirt had to arrive late and one had to leave early, but for most of the day all eight of us were at Karla's - sharing meals, news and many a garden task.
What a cool decoration on Karla's serving table - a gardening bag with plants tucked in... and the food was delicious: Strawberries, blueberries and red raspberries on a glass server, crispy skin chicken sausages and an egg casserole with a base of small rolls.
The centerpiece on the dining room table was made of pots of herbs in a basket - it was enormous and the herbs smelled wonderful.
Outside, we had a pleasant surprise - the Asiatic jasmine had been dug up - it was gone! This imported groundcover can work well in a space confined by concrete walks and beds made of cemented stone blocks, but it can be an invasive thug where borders meet lawn.
Karla's idea was that in the long border that was now cleared, we should move, divide and transplant the existing crowded ferns and Heuchera. And look how pretty the bench looks, repainted in a happy new color.
While some Divas worked on the long bed, others might clear out the weeds from the border near the gate - there should be perennials buried under those live oak leaves.
Karla had asked Mindy to bring the tiller - the area to be planted was large enough to need our electric digging assistant.
Waiting in the crepe myrtle bed was a flat of lipstick red Impatiens - that will add pop to the border! And a little pruning of crossed branches on the crepe myrtle can get some filtered sunlight down to ground level.
As long as we're near the patio, let's take another look at the Dish Flowers made by Karla at last September's meeting.
Karla had started the annual oak sprout removal near the patio so it took less time than usual... Oak Sprout team - first to be done.
Some work was being done on the front beds and progress was made in the back - Barbie came with Mattie to help supervise.
The long bed was coming along - those impatiens will look good.
A break for lunch came just at the right time - we were glad to sit on chairs at a table for a while.
On the serving table were bowls of Chicken-Rice salad, a Crunchy Broccoli salad and Rosemary-Raisin muffins, along with Watermelon slices made into 'Sandwiches' - slices of watermelon with Feta cheese and basil leaves inside, dressed with balsamic vinegar.
This combination made a very pretty plate, indeed!
And dessert was spelled Desserts - the pie had a graham cracker crust and a creamy filling blending pineapple, mango and toasted coconut.
In addition, Karla presented a Heavenly Delight cake topped with kiwi fruit, blueberries and strawberries.
By the time we finished mulching everything and packed up our tools, the left side of the long back bed looked good.
The patio was cleaned and tidied, ready for relaxing.
The right side of the long back bed looked good, too.
Up in front, the borders were renewed and mulched and ready for summer.
Photoshopping Karla's finished garden into a poster was amusing!
While we were working, Mattie drew our attention to a dangerous-looking tree in the next yard. It was actually leaning heavily on one of Karla's live oaks and if it fell, it could land on Karla's house. After our garden day, Karla found out her neighbor planned to have the tree removed in a few months.
But Mother Nature speeded up the timetable! Just a few weeks after we spiffed up Karla's garden, the tree split in a storm, with pieces coming to rest in both yards. The neighbor called Davey Tree service, warning them that they'd be working in the garden of a Diva of the Dirt so Watch out for that Garden! Guess that warning worked because there was minimal damage from the cleanup.
Since the stump was in the neighbor's yard, Karla had no need to buy bags of soil to fill another hole in the ground. Instead, the tree's departure left a hole in the canopy of overlapping tree limbs and leaves. Some sky was now visible and sunbeams reached down to Karla's garden.
This post, "2014 - May KARLA'S GARDEN DAY" was written by Glinda/AnnieinAustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog
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