New Roof, New Plants!
May 5 - May 11, 2025
Weekly journal of a Midwest gardener… getting a new roof does affect the garden!
Monday, May 5, 2025
I was a little surprised when the roofing crew showed up today instead of tomorrow. I scrambled around and moved smaller pots off the back patio, mostly geraniums and some herbs. Was there damage to other plants around the house? Well, I can’t say truthfully that no plant was harmed, but I think most of the plants will look a little better in a few weeks after I fluff them up a bit, cut off broken bits, and give them a good watering if we don’t get rain.1
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
The roofing guys came back early and finished the roof and general clean-up shortly after lunch. As soon as they left, I headed over to CourtsYard and Greenhouse to buy more plants… flats of petunias and a bunch of salvias.2 Then I got gas for the mower and mowed and trimmed the lawn.3 After that, I watered everything, including a giant hosta in front that was looking so lovely until it got covered with a tarp and then had old roof shingles dumped on top of it. I try not to look at it or the nearby bed of heuchera that got the same treatment.4
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Plant shopping! I spent most of the afternoon going to CourtsYard and Greenhouse, and buying more plants,5 even though I was also there the day before, also buying plants. Then I went south to a place called Miss M’s where I bought six kinds of thyme.6 On my way home, I talked to my younger sister who decided the hanging geranium she bought was too-too pink, so after stopping at McCammon’s (another local garden place) to see what they had7, I went back to the greenhouse and bought a hanging geranium for her that was more coral orange-pink than too-too pink.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
I did two of my “favorite things” this morning: get something done before breakfast, and beat the trash collector with one more bag of trash. What I got done was weeding, which resulted in two more bags of weeds in the trash bin.8 After this magnificent start to the day, I dropped off plants at my sisters’ houses and spoke to a group of seniors about spring gardening!9 And let it be noted, I went an entire day without buying any plants, though I did receive a shipment of trial plants—mostly petunias and impatiens—which aren’t on the market yet but should be available next year.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Brrrr… how chilly a morning in the 40s seems. Fortunately, last night, I brought in the tomato and pepper plants that I’m starting to harden off. It was just a bit too chilly for them, but I put them outside again later once it warmed up. After recording a podcast episode, I treated myself to a visit to Soule’s Garden, which just opened up for the season today. Later in the evening, I brought the tomato and pepper plants back inside for the night.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Tox-Away Day! I was surprised at how long the line of cars was to drop off toxic stuff, but also happy to see it because it means more people are taking the time to properly dispose of toxic stuff rather than just tossing it in their trash bins. Once home, I took the tomato and pepper plants back out and then moved my plant purchases around a bit, mostly taking those that will go in the back to the back patio to wait their turn. Then I started planting in the front. As the day heated up, I retreated inside to water houseplants and tidy the house up a bit before cleaning up to go to church.10
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Happy Mother’s Day. I am finishing this entry early before heading out to the garden, though I’ve already been out long enough to pull some radishes and cut some lettuce. I’ve noticed more violas coming up as volunteers where I scattered seeds. The Amsonia is in bloom, and the first strawberry has turned red. It’s cool and lovely, and I’ll be in the garden if you need me for anything. I’ll be listening to an audiobook, Unnatural Causes by P. D. James, as I mow, trim, and water.
That’s a Week!
In the spring, it seems like we go from endlessly waiting for “frost-free” to hurrying up to get everything planted right now. Thankfully, I know everything doesn’t have to be planted immediately. I’ll keep my new plant purchases watered and plant them as time allows over the next week or so. If I can, I like to do most of the planting out in the evenings. I think the plants recover faster if they don’t have the sun beating down on them just after planting. It’s kind of like tucking them into bed for the evening. They go to sleep as the sun sets and then wake up refreshed at dawn in their new forever garden-home!
Quotable
“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.” - Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Glory of the Garden’ (1911)
Have a great gardening week!
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The roofing company guy mentioned “the sooner, the better" for replacing my roof because of all the plants he could see coming up when he came out to do the first estimates in late March. But time flies, and I didn’t want them to be here the week before Easter, so here we are, early May, getting a new roof.
I felt trapped while the roofers were here. Of course, it didn’t help that the driveway was blocked with the new roofing materials and a big ol’ trailer for the old roof. I had parked my SUV where I could get to it, but my truck was trapped for the time being.
I was extra vigilant in looking for nails or other debris left behind by the roofers. I even wore safety glasses while mowing instead of my usual sunglasses, just in case I hit something that went flying into the air and straight toward me. The roofing crew used a giant magnetic roller to pick up most of the nails that ended up in the lawn, but I still found a couple of nails, plus some bits of roofing material.
Could I have done more to protect that hosta and heuchera patch from being smashed by the roofers? The roofing company guy said he once built a scaffold to put around a customer’s Japanese maple tree to protect it. I suppose I could have done something similar for the hostas and heuchera, but honestly, I had no idea they would get that badly damaged. I don’t recall such a thing from the last time I got a new roof, in ‘07. Of course, the garden was different 18 years ago!
My excuse for going to the local greenhouse two days in a row is that my youngest sister needed more impatiens and said she was too busy at work to get off in time to go herself. Dang, I had to go to the greenhouse again? Oh, how I suffer for my siblings!
When I bought the thyme, I commented to the cashier, “It was about time I tried these.” It took her a minute, but then she laughed. I’m sure it had been a long day for her.
McCammon’s had a couple of plants with interesting foliage that Court’s didn’t have, so I bought them. One was Alternanthera Yellow, which is a tropical groundcover. The other was Iresine hybrida ‘Blazin’ Rose,’ which has the common name of “Blood Leaf” because it has dark foliage with red veins.
I have no qualms about disposing of weeds in the trash instead of in the compost piles.
Where were you when you found out about the new pope? About the time I started my garden talk, my phone was buzzing with text message alerts because Leo XIV had been named. We paused to find out who it was. A couple in the back who had come in late because they were listening to the announcement on the radio in their car told us, and then I continued.
Yes, I do try to make sure the inside of the house doesn’t get trashed while working in the garden for longer hours in the spring. Mostly, I try to stay on top of any little messes and clean as I go.