I didn't have much time for gardening this week but I did get one major project done: laying down newspaper and mulch all along the sunny side of the house. That area is supposed to be grass, but it gets all weedy and gross and it's difficult to mow because there are a lot of small stumps. With the mulch down it looks a lot neater, and next spring it will be ready to plant up. I left the newspaper off the front right corner of the bed because there's a bit of mint growing there that I want to keep. I know mint has a tendency to take over, but I have so much space to fill that it might not be such a bad thing.
The house both shelters that area from the coldest winds, and also reflects afternoon light. So I think that bed will probably be the warmest part of the yard in winter. I'm hoping to plant some things that are iffy for our region, like gardenia and dahlia. And I'd love to grow a fig tree, and this bed seems like the only good place for it. Also the herb garden will probably expand into that space. ooh, maybe a bay leaf! They're not supposed to survive our winters but Nancy has one in her sheltered backyard that's the size of a small tree. I'm going to have a lot of fun planning this bed over the winter.
In other gardening news, the nasturtiums are coming up! We have seven little sprouts. That's only a third of the seeds I planted, but I'm hoping there will be more by next week. Also, the goth pansy bed looks great. I'll take a picture when they've grown a little. Right now the little plantlings are too far apart and it's hard to get the different colors in one photo. All the perennial herbs look good except the tarragon, which has gotten all leggy and half-dead. I don't know what's wrong with it, but we rarely use tarragon anyway so I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't survive.
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