Adding 10 cubic yards of mulch, top soil, and compost to the gardens

Last week I ordered 10 cubic yards of mulch, top soil, and compost with an even amount of each material to my gardens. It took me about 30 hours total to use it up, and my main project was a flower bed full of mostly tree & itoh peonies, 2 musa basjoo banana trees, and 3 Asian pear trees.

Here's about half the pile as I've already used up the other half to improve the soil in my new flower bed.

Update on the sempervivums

Sempervivums usually reach their full size by around July, and start flowering over the summer if they are mature enough. So far, most of them have produced many offsets. Here's the latest blog from 5 weeks ago. http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/2012/05/sempervivums-hens-and-chicks-waking-up.html#more

One way I have figured out how to prevent people from stepping on them or deer from eating them is to place rocks around these plants.

This is a very unusual one as it split itself into 9 large offsets instead of simply producing them.

Sempervivums hens and chicks waking up

Last spring, I added many sempervivum cuttings to my collection. Only a few of them produced their own offsets, but this year, it looks like every species may start producing them. They usually start growing by around April, and now they are almost full size. This year, the new ones are about twice the size they were last year so there's a good chance that some of flowering.

Here's the original giant sempervivum that can get 9 inches in diameter when there is enough growing room, and partial shade.