Spring's Almost Done...Almost!

Today was the day that 12 flats of annuals finally came out of the cellar and went into the most shadowed portion of the garden to begin hardening off (click to embiggen):



Throughout the next week or so, I'll move the flats outward into the sun.  Right now, the most tolerant plants (marigold and zinnia, mostly) are at the front where they'll receive some late afternoon sunlight.  By the end of next week, all the plants will be in the sun.  Our temperatures at night through the period won't go below forty, and usually stay well above that.  I'll pull them in if there's a frost projected, of course.

While that heralds the start of official garden summer, spring isn't done just yet. The tulips, those that remain, are in bloom.  And you can see I seriously need mulch in this area...



Bonus photo!  Our new puppy, Riley, rather enjoys the lawn.  This was the lawn just after I chopped up the spring trash for the compost bin, so it's a bit of a mess.  The robot is out mowing it now.