Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Monday Progress

It seems that I end up sketching the garden several times over throughout the season, and then I end up losing the sketches and I'm in the same predicament I was originally. Where did that plant go? Is there room in that bed?

So I'm trying something new to keep track of what I do have in the garden (newly purchased and already established plants). I worked on clearing out the back bed along the fence today (where, even without a site map, I realized I lost my bleeding hearts that lived back there). The area to the left of the St. Francis statue gets more sun (close to part sun) than shade, and on the right hand side of the statue, it gets part shade to full shade. Now, I've had a Blue Billow Hydrangea growing in the part sun side since I moved in three years ago and planted him there. He's grown, but doesn't seem as happy as he could be, so I decided to move him more into the shade. Boy, did I underestimate how big he was! The plant had gotten so wide that it was too heavy to lift, so I had to drag him across the bed to his new home. (I'm hoping this extra effort was worth it.) I then moved some ferns that also were in too much sun also. (I'm not sure if the garden seemed shadier the year we moved in because of the constant rain that season, or if we have lost a significant number of tree branches which has opened up the light in the back. Either way, it was moving day also for two hostas being overpowered by my hellebore and a trillium that doesn't really do anything but give a few leaves.)



Since I had a whole lot of space open up on the part sun side, I planted my new quince and hydrangea over there, along with the pussy willow along the back fence (all new purchases this spring). Since I lost the bleeding hearts and would like the tree stump to be covered up as well, I had planted vinca vine there earlier this spring. The holly (also planted three years ago) is doing well and getting bushier. Even though the garden is constantly progressing, sometimes I feel a bit down that it doesn't look like a photo shoot for Better Homes and Gardens already. But then I remind myself that when I moved in, there was no garden. Just boring grass. So I guess I have come a long way.



Continuing the tour, I decided to put the chocolate flower seedlings in the ground since they seem to be a little stagnate under the grow lights.  The black eye Susans and shasta daisies from last year are coming back in, as well as some lemon balm and one of two iberis plants that survived. This area has been a challenge and didn't really get the attention it deserved last year. The soil still needs improving, and the bricks are a new addition to try and keep the soil off the patio when there are heavy rains.


And have you noticed my weedy grass yet? I'm torn over whether someday I'll get the flower beds just to my liking, rip out the grass and reseed with eco lawn seed, or just cover it all over with wood chips. Since I constantly spread myself thin in the garden, I'm not even attempting to fix the lawn this year.

Not bad for three hours on my day off. Now I just need to weed, photograph and label the rest of the garden. Hmm.

 

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A long wait for spring

Sleep tight, strawberries and lettuce.
Despite the warmer than normal temperatures we were experiencing in March, there had to be backlash. It's been the month of April, where plants that are already three weeks ahead of schedule are rolling the dice with the temperatures. We're in the midst of a three-day freeze warning (yet again), after last week finally brought much needed rain (over an inch I believe). Last night it didn't drop as low as they predicted in my part of town, but I've been out covering the greenhouse that holds agertums, dahlias and petunias with an old sheet, as well as the strawberry patch which is blooming like crazy.  This is suppose to be our average last week of frost. At the end of the week, we're suppose to be having temperatures in the high 70s yet again. Where has April gone?
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It's going to be a hot one today


It's estimated to reach 83 degrees today- yikes! I've spent the better part of the morning using my kitchen timer and moving my sprinkler around the front and back gardens. While the majority of the back garden has been watered, I'm prioritizing out front- trees first, flower beds second. The soil is still very dry, which makes it a little harder to pull out the tiny maple trees sprouting everywhere. According to drought.gov, the portion of Connecticut I live in is under a severe drought. (I hadn't actually planned to spend the day watering and I'd like to go out and run some errands soon.) I need to buy wood to create a new grow bed for lettuce, and I need to buy more Fafard dirt.

I'm wondering if I'm going to get much of anything when it comes to cool weather crops this spring. Even though I am ahead of where I am last year (my first lettuce crop photo was taken April 25), these hotter than normal days are not ideal for spinach, lettuce and peas. (That's the March 19 sowing shown above, taken four days ago. They are taking their sweet time to grow).

I did sow my tomato seeds yesterday, and I have some peppers and eggplants seeds that are already growing under the grow lights in the kitchen. The ageratum seedlings and geranium seedlings are starting to bloom, and the ageratums are out living in the greenhouse now. (I haven't used my cold frame for much storage this year.) Yesterday was tricky when the wasps tried to build a nest in there, but luckily they didn't get too far and I knocked it down when they were gone for a moment. Rob ordered the large decoy wasp nests to hang since I really don't want to spray. So now our neighbors are going to think we have a major infestation-- hopefully the wasps will, too, since apparently they are territorial!

While dragging the sprinkler around the front yard, I found that someone has been chewing my tulips off at the bud. They're a little tall so I'm not convinced it's a rabbit. I know a groundhog/woodchuck is in the area (two years ago my neighbor told me she let them live under her shed and last year she said "something" was living inside her shed, hmm) so my guess is that it is him. Usually I have someone nibble on that side of the front garden every year, so he must be delighted with the tulip additions.

The timer beckons...
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Wordless Friday

Wisteria along the front arbor.

Moss phlox

I love when nature thinks of things I never could plan.
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It's dry and windy

So windy, in fact, that my greenhouse blew over today in the driveway. It was a horrible feeling when I pulled into the driveway and saw it upside down. The casualities? Agertum seedlings I had just started to harden off, broccoli seedlings, onion seedlings, and lettuce and spinach sprouts. I'm hoping the plants put up a fight, despite the harsh treatment. I planted the majority of the onion and broccoli seedlings today after the spill, since I figured they were already shocked, might as well transplant them. (*Fingers crossed*) And now there are bricks on every shelf of the greenhouse, hopefully to prevent such awfulness in the future.

I was surprised today when I went to direct sow seeds of radish and swiss chard just how dry the soil has become. According to drought.gov, our state is in a moderate drought right now. Crumbling the soil in my hand, I understood how soil erosion could take place. How literally your best soil could just blow away. It's a scary thought. I've been thinking and reading a lot more lately about what we're doing to our planet, and it makes me want to take "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carlson out of the library and read it. And all those predictions about global warming seem to be climaxing all at once- with a warmer (then ever?) March and a spring at least three weeks ahead of schedule, with everything being either genetically modified or sprayed with pesticides... it's depressing, and I'm beginning to believe this is how we'll become extinct as a species.

But enough of that depressing talk.  (I won't even go into the disappointment I felt when I saw a hawk had captured a squirrel. There was one at the feeders for the last few months that has some sort of spine injury because he has trouble walking, but he acts like a squirrel in every other way. I've grown to like him, and I'm hoping it wasn't him today.)

In good news, the tulips are blooming, and more daffodils seem to have appeared as well. I guess I didn't lose as many as I had thought. (Pictures to come.)

Oh! And of course, since I bought pea seedlings last week and started more indoors, the ones that I direct sowed on March 19 are starting to come up. Looks like we'll have more than enough this spring after all.
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No Peas for You!

Every day I go out and study the soil were I planted the peas on March 19, during that bout of unseasonably warm weather.

Will you sprout??

I may break down today and purchase more seeds, or even seedlings, to get going. The spinach I sowed is refusing to send up more than the basic two- to - four leaves. Apparently, anything I planted directly in the last month is on strike.

I'm impatient! Perhaps today I'll cheat and buy peas that are already started.
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