Rehab Day Three, Flagstones

 I was able to get some more flagstones, and started digging them into the soil.  Because of all the winter rain we got, the ground is workable.  The soil in this area is firm, without rocks, and drainage is perfect.  The stones won't sink much even with a lot of traffic, though this area won't get all that much traffic.  So, I just dug out a couple of inches of soil and settled them enough so that they will be firm and solid under foot.  We are expecting at least another day of warmer weather, so I'm going to hold off on transplanting Dymondia until it cools off. 

Dymondia transplants better the more overcast and cool it is.  Here it needs daily watering until it recovers from transplant shock, which it seems to get even if the roots are undisturbed in their slice of soil.  Once established, a weekly watering is generous, and it will look lush even with only twice a month irrigation.  Dymondia with two waterings a month will look far better than the grass that got watered three times a week. 

While I was out there digging in the flagstones, a startled rabbit shot by--it was not expecting a human.  It was expecting fescue.  No more grass here, Peter!  It dashed over to the neighbor's nice big lawn that will probably get shorter now that my salad bar is closed for business.

Nine flagstones cost me 23 dollars.   Eight cents a pound, plus tax. 

Rather than show pictures of rocks, I will end with a couple of beauty shots.  I had forgotten how fuzzy Clematis buds are.

Fuzzy bud:


And I now realize something about the Austin rose 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh':  it has to have the most consistent flowers of any rose I've ever seen.  I went back through photos of this rose over several years. The flowers all look exactly like this.   All of them!



Which isn't bad at all.