A touch of the nerves

Earlier in the week I was frustrated. This morning, I woke up at 6:48, looked out the window before getting out of bed, and nearly had a stroke. I could see what looked like frost on my truck. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue as we've had several frosts and all my wintersown plants have made it just fine, some even through the snow last weekend. But yesterday, I made the decision to leave the hoophouse mostly uncovered to start hardening off the plants I want to get out into the yard soon. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't actually frost, just heavy dew. Maybe I need to wash my truck soon?

I've got several lists of things I want to do today. Farmer's Almanac says it's a great day to sow seeds. I've got a native coreopsis I collected last summer that would be great for the gully. I suspect the birds will think I'm laying out a buffet for them. The tomato bed needs tilling, one last time. The front slope needs more sprigs of periwinkle. There are acorns that need to be pulled. Plants in the basement need hardening off. I've got more fig cuttings that need to be put in soil to replace my dead and dying ones. There are leaves that need to be raked and shredded. A few plants in the hoophouse need to be set out in the yard. And a hammock that is just screaming to be used later this afternoon. But first, there's a second cup of coffee with my name on it. There's also laundry that needs to be done. I'm waiting for the temperature to hit 50 before getting dressed and heading outside. Sounds like a good time to do a few dishes and dream of the days I can complain about the heat.

One sad note. I finally tossed the last Kongmansia cutting this morning. I bought two nice, healthy cuttings from a guy in Winston-Salem last fall. They rooted well and spent the winter in the living room. One began losing its leaves in late November. By Christmas, it was dead. The other one began losing leaves shortly after that. This morning, the trunk was mush. I don't know what I did wrong with those two. All of my other brugmansia are doing well. The Ecuador Whites are about to outgrow their containers. The orange and yellow NoIDs are putting out lots of new growth. I hope at least one of them blooms this year.