De-Neglecting (Bloom Day, part two)

 I've been working to un-neglect the Neglected Bed, which so far has meant pulling out the ivy that has been smothering it.

 

 (Sorry, no picture of ivy running rampant.  I bet you can imagine it, though.)

 I actually started the de-ivying about two years ago, with a plan to replace the rotting timbers forming the terraces.  But the ivy was all intermingled with the timbers, and it was actually the ivy, not the rotten wood, holding everything in place.  I got discouraged, and abandoned the project.  I stopped caring for this bed at all, the ivy grew over everything, and I named it the Neglected Bed.

Ivy growing through the timbers

At the end of March, taking a break from whatever other yard chore I was doing at the time, I started pulling out some ivy.  And more and more, until the surface of the bed was free from ivy.  I still don't have a plan of attack for the timbers, but I'll get there.

A pile of ivy

 

Look - there were plants under the ivy!

I took the following photos on Bloom Day, then decided to save them for their own post:

It seems I missed a few pieces of ivy here among the euphorbia.  This is the only time of year I like this euphorbia, with its version of "flowers" (later on, it gets sprawly and leggy).  But this makes up for it enough to keep, at least for now.

 

 My only non-purple phlox, banished to the neglected bed, is an attention-grabbing pink.

  

I used to have a blue and white columbine here, with giant flowers.  Its offspring has reverted to blue-purple, as columbine tend to do, but has maintained the huge petals.

  

Can I call this Gaillardia blooming?  Probably not. (A week later, it is in full bloom!)

And last Wednesday, my Sunsprite Rose had its first bloom of the year.

 

With all this going on (and more to come), I'll try not to neglect this part of the yard this year.