Cry Me a River

Pouring rain now for two days, almost 3 inches already and still coming down.

Seed sowing

Another very cold day, below freezing overnight, and now in the low 40s but feeling colder.  We got so spoiled in mid March, thinking the potted plants should go out, and digging in the ground to make the new bed for the stewartia at the top of the driveway.  I wanted to dig out the bed for the magnolia and other plants too, while it is still cool, but this is too cold!

I sowed seeds today, a good 6 weeks before last frost.  Sowed two flats:

Nasturtium Empress of India, a deep red.
and
Zinnias Button Box Mixture, they only grow to 10 inches high.

Later, in three weeks (by April 20), I'll sow a flat of mixed color nasturtiums, Alaska Mixed:

Also, in three weeks a flat of Zinnias Cut and Come Again Mixture, which get to 2 feet high:

That way I should have multi seasons of zinnia and nasturtium flowers.  This is a lot of warm (red and orange and yellow) in the garden.  The nasturtiums will go under the doublefile viburnum where the pincushion flowers are now (which I don't like, they're coming out.)  The zinnias can go anywhere in the middle of the garden.

I have more zinnia seeds, but I think I'll keep those over for another year, I have two sizes to complement each other: Zinnia State Fair Mixed, which will get to be 3 feet tall, and Zinnia Lilliput Finest Mixed, growing to 18 inches high

I also have cosmos seeds to sow, but maybe I'll just direct sow those in the ground in early May, out in the meadow.

Okame cherry

Cold today, really cold, it was in the lower 40s, but felt much chillier.

The Okame cherry tree is in bloom. It's the earliest of all the flowering cherries to bloom, and here it is on March 27!  Even before the forsythia, which is just yellowing up now, but not really in full bloom yet.

Can't wait for this to fill out in a few years.

Between the Rain Storms

More rain is on the way, but today was nice, a little cloudy, a little cool in the 50s, but pleasant outside.

I cut the mulch area around the new Katsura and the pear tree to be a little wider and neater, and split a 1 cu. foot bag of compost on them.  Then I did the same with one of the willows (still need to do the other two).  The willow took a full bag of compost (1 cu. ft.)

I added two cu. feet of compost to the front walk bed.  Boy does that "neaten" it up.. looks so nice now.  Tulips and onions are poking up.

Spent the better part of the morning watching Olmstead's cottonwood being dismantled and taken down.  It's completely gone now.

Too Windy Today for Chores

The rain finally stopped after 3 days of cold gloom (1.55 inches).  Sun came out but it was windy, too gusty to do much in the yard.

I did pick up bags of compost at Bosco's.  They no longer have the 2 cu. feet bags, just a 1 cu. ft. size.  I got 12 bags, so that's 12 cu. feet (.4444 of a cubic yard)

Rethinking the porch

Cold, gloomy and rainy today.  We got 1.35 inches overnight.

I decided to re-do the porch.  No one ever sat on the love seat, and the place has always been too crowded.  So we took it out, and I put the propagation plant stand in that spot.

This will give me space for my cuttings without having to worry about them in the sun and rain... there really was no protected spot for them outside, and the plastic zipped cover that went over this shelf stand was a pain to manipulate whenever it rained.

Imagine this nook all decked out in plants and foliage and blooms... this is going to be my "conservatory" now.  No one besides me ever used the porch, and it's too small for entertaining... so I'm turning it inward as a private retreat, not a summer porch looking out over the yard!  We'll see how this works.

Rain today

Gloomy, rainy, in the low 50s.  A let down after the record breaking warmth and taste of spring we've had over the last three days.  But the rain will water in the Preen I spread about.

I stopped by Moscarillos and Gledhill, and they are open, but have nothing out yet. Absolutely no woody plants, and only pansies in containers.

I bought two packets of nasturtium seeds, I'll spread nasturtiums under the doublefile viburnum this year.  Low growing, colorful.

First Day of Spring

Very mild again today, hazy sunshine, in the 60s.

I finished spreading the Preen in all the gardens.  Rain is expected tomorrow, so that will water it all in.  Potted up some pansies:

Record temps

In the 70s in the sun again today, and yesterday broke all temperature records by a mile at 73 degrees!

Spent a little while on the back hill pulling bittersweet off the roadside trees by the road cut, but then Jim and I went for a drive on such a nice day.

I put the rest of the Preen on the gardens, but need more to finish the Birch Garden and around on the east side.  Rain coming Sunday night will water it in.

Planted both female kiwi vines on the east side of the deck.  Just not sure about this.  How do they climb?  Do they have tendrils or root hairs?

Earliest Bulbs

Another spectacular day, the last day of winter.  70s in the sun again, light breeze.

I moved the iris reticulata to the front walk where they can be seen close up.  In the Fall I will plant snowdrops (Galanthus) so the whole area under the spreading Crimson Queen maple will be late winter ephemeral bulbs.  Later the tree will spread over the area, and the new grasses (Hakonechloa Beni Kaze) will fill in at the edge.

I put Preen on this area and the rest of the front walk and watered it in.

I cleaned up the Meadow's Edge garden, cut back liriope and some other plants, including the Worcester's Gold caryopteris (it has good buds).

I put my cutting of Blue Chip miniature buddleia in the blue flowered pot.  We'll see how it does there.  I'm still not sure about eventual size, miniature being the operative word.  It says OK for containers, but the blue flowered pot is pretty small.