When I get started...

I never know when to quit. I weeded a large portion of the slope out front this morning. It took several hours of working on the hill with my feet straddling tiny plants I didn't want to crush. I left a part of it the way it was. Too many cosmos seedlings and rudbeckia to remove the weeds without damaging the plants.





I scattered seeds from Sweet William dianthus and my three columbines. The loose dirt should help with germination and growth. More weeds will sprout as soon as it rains. I did find a bunch of plants I had forgotten about.

Lavender, grown from cuttings over the winter.



Lantana from cuttings.



Divided bee balm. I don't remember which one I took this from. It could be the red. It might be the pink. There's supposed to be a purplish color out there somewhere too.



From all the seeds sown, only one of the annual monarda citriodora made it. I probably weeded out a few today that were just getting started. I'll have lots more next year as these reseed heavily.



I moved on to the red dogwood next. It's been dying for a couple years. I really hate to cut down a dogwood, especially one this old, but it needed to go before it fell into the street. This year, only half of it leafed out. The other half has been falling into the yard and street whenever the wind kicks up. There were very few blooms.



The stump shows the center has already been eaten away. Carpenter ants scattered when the chainsaw passed through the center of the tree.



Now, if I could just do something about those things on the neighbor's property. Next time I see the mowers, I'll ask them who pays their bill. I'm going to need to get permission before hacking those back.



From the street, the house seems more inviting for now. Along the top of the slope, I've planted gardenias that I rooted from Carla's shrubs last year. I think six survived the month without rain. Another two were planted this morning along the stone retaining wall that borders the property. Two dogwood seedlings were planted between them. I consider it penance.



It's 82 degrees and muggy. The clouds haven't disappeared like we were promised. Instead, the chance of rain has been extended through midnight. I had hoped to spend some time today at a pool in Charlotte.

Figs, peaches, and ginkgo.

Rooted last spring in an outdoor sandbox, the unknown Sixth Street fig is showing signs of producing a nice breba crop.



What I still think are Black Mission cuttings (maybe?) have nice large leaves. I took one of these to my mom on Easter.



The tips from Black Mission cuttings are rooting just fine. I potted these last week after leaving them in the hoophouse most of the winter.



Shy baby peaches are afraid of the camera. The tree is absolutely loaded with swollen growth at the base of many flowers.



The ginkgo seedlings were moved about a month ago from the spot at the end of the driveway. I had tossed an unsprouted container into the edge of the woodsy growth there last spring. I was able to move 3 plants. All three have leafed out in the gully where I planted them.



Finally, Dogwood seedlings are up and growing in several containers. There's also about 20 sprouts in the winterberry container. We'll see if they're actual winterberry seedlings or if some weed made its home there in a few weeks.



It's 59 degrees. The high today, 94. Yes. 94. Let me say that again. 94. I'm going to see a woman about some poo for my beds this morning. Horse poo.

Regarding Daffodoils.

In the fall, I planted 4 bags containing a little more than 100 mixed daffodils each. Obviously, they weren't quite as mixed as I would have liked. I counted 5 non-yellow blooms this afternoon. Three are on the front slope and another two in the backyard.

The slope.



The backyard.



The uncommon one.



Though it's hard to see, the dogwood leaves are the size of mouse ears.



It's 63 degrees. The sun is shining, sometimes. It's a nice day to work outside. More rain possibly this evening.

Clearance

Everything must go, right? We won't discuss my personal life, but at the store, I spent the better part of the morning clearing out and pricing all the distressed plants. Some were things that had just been there too long. A little trim here and there, and it will mostly be good as new. I marked everything 50-75% off. As I was preparing to leave, my boss announced that any item on the clearance rack would be 50 cents for the next few hours. Fine. I brought home $7 worth of plants.



I got hardy ferns, lamb's ear, and two hanging baskets of gerber daisies (white, of course). I kept the tags with their actual name, but they're downstairs. I'm not.
The worst damage was to the ferns.



I got my clearance hosta and ferns planted in the north bed.





The gerber daisies were separated into 8 plants with 4 placed on the sunny side of the white bed, and 4 to the rear of the house.



I've got veggie sprouts in the potager. Beans



cucumbers



The asparagus I planted last week has grown a single sprout.



Tiny seedless grapes. Either Mars, Reliance, or Himrod. The tags got misplaced when I moved them this winter.



TOMATO BLOSSOMS!!!!!!!




The Potager



Over in the perennial bed, the knockouts are living up to their name even with only a couple hours of sunlight a day.





Linaria in 6-7 hour sun.



Black Eyed Susans are pushing up stems.



Poppies



Echinacea



Datura metel bloom about to open. I need to walk outside after dark.



Daylily seedlings. Collected from trades and along parking lot medians in Bethany Beach, Delaware.



True leaves on my dogwood seedlings.



And finally, a single solitary sprout in my Japanese Maple container. These were collected from Jackie's house in Virginia. I sowed them in mid-November. This one will be red.



5:50pm - Everything got some water. Planted out Sue's hosta too. Planted from the cloner: 4 Persian Shield, 11 petunia, and the third lantana. The kongmansia is just starting to push roots. I found more seeds for the white garden. The nicotiana germinated during my trip. I may save them for next year. I've already planted cotton seeds on the 25th.

Easter Sunday

I went home to the parents' house today. I took and planted many perennials and annuals in my sister's flower bed. My mom isn't a flower person, though she did mention something about hanging baskets. I have a few to spare in the basement. I'll see what I can whip up for her before Mother's Day.

I took a walk through the woods before I left. I found 4 small dogwoods. I dug them up and brought them back with me. I know it's a bad time to transplant these, but I'm thinking with enough shade and moisture, I can nurse them along till fall when I can plant them out. I also found two small yucca plants.



In exchange for planting the bed, I had to dig up some irises that haven't been divided for a long time. I brought back a few.



It's sunny and 63 degrees. Sunday's picture added to the Sunday Ritual.



My favorite part of this garden so far is on the street side of the trellis. Here I have a couple of hibiscus, some shasta daisies that should bloom this year, some Black Eyed Susans, and a few other things. The driveway has been lined with seedlings from my wintersown petunias. So far, all the plants are a deep dark purple. I may need to purchase a couple of six packs if we get any reds in the store.



I'm exhausted as usual. Planning to spend this evening catching up on some rest. I did manage to get the tomatoes set in their locations, but not planted out. Maybe Monday after work I can get this done although rain is in the forecast, again.

My plans have been doused.

It rained yesterday. We were supposed to get some scattered thunderstorms in the evening, but it rained. And then it rained some more. Last night, just as I was settling into bed for an hour of tv, it rained again. And again. And again. Needless to say, the leaf mulch and the garden bed is way too wet for tilling today.

I have to work today, but I have a couple hours to get a few things done. First, I want to clean up the mess I left in the driveway. I need to do something with the hoophouse in the basement. I'd like to plant out my wintersown petunias along the edge of the perennial bed. That depends on whether or not the soil is too wet there. A little hole, a spoon sized scoop of seedlings, and some tamping down is all I need to do. Maybe they'll appreciate the extra moisture.

One thing is for sure. My body is not appreciating all this work and gardening today. The only spot that doesn't hurt is the tip of my index finger and the lobe of my left ear. Every other part of my body just aches. Once I get moving, I'll be fine. If I get moving is a better way of putting it. For now, there's a cup of coffee that needs some attention.

It's sunny and 55 degrees. High today will be in the mid 70s again.

10:48am - 61 degrees and sunny. Got some more things done today before work.

Planted 12 begonias, a white brugmansia, a rooted gardenia cutting, and a rooted osmanthus fragrans cutting (the only one to survive the winter) under the dining room window.



18 Carolina Cherry Laurels were transplanted into cups.



20 Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) seedlings were transplanted into cups. Each cup contains 2-3 seedlings.



Potted the two passionvines with a trellis.



Overwintered cutting of a red mandevilla is in a cheap hanging basket by the basement door.



Planted three more white brugs in the back beds.





And I noticed my tomatoes have bloom buds.



I also planted out a pan of mixed zinnias, petunias, rock soapwort, and a few others. Off to work in a bit. Long day. Tomorrow I will spend the day at my parents'.