A NIGHT IN THE LIFE - busy bee

I dug out these yellow daylilies on Monday but then it got too dark and for once I did not feel like putting on my headlamp.  I felt tired. Actually tired of gardening. 

It was a strange feeling.

While we have done an absolutely enormous amount of work here this year this feeling still felt unfamiliar and it took me a minute to understand what it was.  

The daylilies sat above ground for days until this evening when we were able to come home earlier than expected, otherwise they were going to have to wait even further, until early next week. 

Dug up. 

Split.

Drying out.

 

Have you ever bitten off more than you can chew in the garden? 

This is not my first time.

Now you understand my motivation for taking advantage of today's unexpected window of opportunity.  Once in the yard I felt refreshed and glad to be outside, so much so that when it got dark I donned my headlamp and happily kept going for another hour.

I prefer to tease apart plants when dividing but this was one giant mass of roots and a flat-edged spade was definitely in order.  These taller yellows will join the shorter reds I divided in the spring.  There is no question that I am going to enjoy having them intermingled rather than in side-by-side clumps AND there are going to be plenty more of them since they had not been divided in a donkey's age.

The clump made 8 very decently sized smaller plants that are sure to thrive next year, daylilies being daylilies.

 

The cup in the photo was for slugs, which I detest, but at least there are fewer than there were in my Toronto shady gardens. 

Mint and Chives had to come out. One of the few times I have put plants straight into the compost; it felt terribly wasteful, another unfamiliar feeling.  I decided I am going to take them all out but will wait until I have the time to guerrilla garden them this fall.

The Hardy Geranium I divided the other week is coming in nicely. I do not think we will get another bloom but the plants are very healthy. Under the glow of my headlamp I transplanted Petunias from the Sun Garden since I had to make room for moving around the Rudbeckia I started from seed (which I hope will look the same as a gift I received for the Lakefront Garden earlier this year).

While this little fella I found stunted and hidden under a Petunia may look like the rest of those Rudbeckia, it may actually turn out to be a red one I direct sowed but had thought none had survived.

To be certain I just need to get a bloom before the frost comes.

Tick tock.

Good night!

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Sharing with Fertilizer Friday.