Flats Out!

Last night was the last potential frost on the docket, most likely, so I moved the flats out to harden off.  If it looks like we might get frost again, I'll move them into the kitchen for the night and put them on towels on the floor.  It's easy and kind of fun to have the jungle in the there for the evening!

When splayed out, it's hard to believe these will fill 2,000 square feet of garden with blooms, plus a few other gardens of other people, but they will.  Yes, I need to remove that moss on the siding.


Looking around outside as I did this, the lilac is doing very well this year.  I love the look and the smell, but don't cut them for indoors.  I'm incredibly allergic to them...


And the standard grass shot.  Everybody's looks fantastic this year, we've had a lot of rain, the weather's been nearly perfect, and it looks like that's going to continue right into May.

First Planting

I'd started some morning glory (Heavenly Blue) from seed this year on the 7th of April, and they're already bursting out of their pots on the 25th.  Our long-term forecast looks great, and these are all close to the house, so I'm risking it and planting these very early, to twine up the drain pipes.

Morning glory don't transplant well, so a minimum of disturbance is absolutely required.  Take the whole dirt ball and don't disturb it.  If it has to be disturbed, do the minimum possible.  And water it in well immediately.  Some shock is always to be expected.

If you can plant the seeds in place, that's always best.

Mid-Spring

We're about a week before the annuals (860 of 'em) go out to harden off, so we're nearing the end of the bulb season.  Unfortunately, my old camera died peacefully as its flash capacitor broke, so I purchased a "new" one, a Canon PowerShot SX160IX.  It's the latest PowerShot I could find that I liked that used AA batteries, since I have many, many rechargeable ones.  So all future shots will be with that camera.

But, as always, simply click on the shot to enlarge the image to its fullest size!

Indoor gardening is going well, with the hibiscus regularly pumping out blossoms this year.

The plants are growing in the cellar and have about a week left before transporting outside for another week to harden off.  Then they go into the ground for summer.

About a week ago, these were cheerfully looking in at the growing plants.

While these were looking in more hungrily than cheerfully...

The Jane magnolia is doing very well.  One blossom is here.  The tree has, perhaps, ten thousand...

I like the grape hyacinth.  These are planted in an impossible spot under a tree.  They bloom beautifully in late April and then go away until October.

I keep the phlox restricted just because of the shorter blooming season.  It's pretty when it blooms, but unspectacular the rest of the time.

And the standard lawn shot.  It's hard to believe it'll be time to give it the spring organic feeding shortly!