Sunday Morning

It's a beautiful day already. Large puffy clouds are rolling by. The wind is picking up a bit, but that should help dry out the soaked ground. We got a lot of rain in the past 4 days. But today should be mostly sunny and 70. It's already 61 degrees.

I had my second cup of coffee in the yard. I wasn't able to stop myself from doing a few things as I walked around. I pulled more nutgrass from the front bed. This stuff is going to be the death of me for sure. I spread the sheet over the hoophouse and rolled the plastic cover back. After many days without sun, the tomatoes and sprouting seeds will need a little protection. I took cuttings of the three lantana plants I bought on Friday and stuck them in the cloner. I also stuck some more pineapple sage. It roots so easily, I can't help myself.

The half price fern whose pot was smashed when it arrived at the store was transferred to a terra cotta container for the front porch. I'll move the small indoor ficus outside in a few more days to keep it company. I need to get a new coconut fiber shell for the hanging basket I plan to put up there too. Not sure what will go in it just yet, but there will be some flowers and some trailing annuals on the short list. Maybe red verbena if I can find it.

Today is a great day for starting seeds according to Farmer's Almanac. I'll sow the rest of my veggies and put them in the hoophouse. I'm done with starting seeds indoors with the temperatures remaining above freezing for the next 10 days.

I also plan to work on the front slope. I need to transfer about 200 plugs of periwinkle now that the ground is soft enough to work. I've got my batteries charged and the auger is ready to go.

This evening, I'll finish the drawings for the new project. I had hoped to do some work on that today, but scheduling conflicts between me and the subcontractor doesn't allow it. So, I'll be heading to Charlotte on Monday and spend most of the evening working on the model. It's due no later than Monday, April 6. That gives me a week. It's a much less intensive model than the previous one. I'll have plenty of time.

I'll update later with some pictures. It is Sunday after all. I want to record all the beds today now that we have some sunlight. The grass needs to be mowed too, but that can wait until another day. It'll be too wet to do more than beat the blades back to the ground.

If anyone needs me, I'll be in the yard.

12:05pm - 64 and very windy. Not a cloud in the sky.

Let's see, what have I done? I got the hill planted with 200+ plugs of periwinkle.



I moved all the rocks that were around the oak in the front yard to the white bed border. I want to let the periwinkle do what it wants.



I planted out 9 pussywillow cuttings that were rooted in January. The giant whites went down into the gully. The red, black, and coral embers went along the top edge of the wall that lines the gully. In between this summer, I plan to sow sunflower seeds and hope to keep the squirrels and birds out of the garden.

I found the Stargazer from last week. It's about 6" tall today. It has a tiny friend coming up behind it.



The purple queen is coming back around the oak tree. It should grow into a huge mass this year.



I also planted my datura inoxia next to the basement door. It should smell really nice this year since I use that door more than any other coming and going.

And then I checked the wintersown containers. Lots of progress.



Dogwood seedlings


baby hostas


Unknown daylilies, probably from Stella D'Oro.


A baby white crape myrtle. It's been this size for two weeks now.


Black gum, dogwoods, rose of sharon, and mock orange seedlings.


Cherry Laurel seedlings. Originally, I had planned to use these to create the living hedge at the edge of the driveway. Instead, I will use them in the gully. The birds love the seeds and they will sucker if pruned too hard. I need to pot these individually, but with frost coming tonight, I think I'll wait.


That's all I had planned for today. I would like to plant out some more wintersown containers, but most of what I see looks really tender after 5 days without sunlight. I'm going to wait. I need to run to Lowe's to pick up a couple bales of straw for the tomato bed. With the hoophouse being way too full these days, I can use the bales and a couple of old windows to make a cold frame. I'll only need it for the next two nights, I hope.

As I said in the comments, the sunset last night was amazing. I was laying on the sofa watching tv when the living room got really bright. I had to walk outside and then went to grab my camera. The colors are a little washed out in the photos, but there were just that many colors as the sun began to go down below the horizon.