Seedlings.

It's only been a week. No spinach yet. Other things are coming up nicely.

A smattering of collards. I don't really care for them except in their raw form.



Pole beans.



Bush beans.



Yellow squash.



Cabbage. These will be plucked and separated once they've gotten a little larger. I'm going to plant them among the perennials by the driveway. I will eat these. I bought 9 red cabbage plants from the Bonnie's rack at work. I'll need to pick up a pack of Brussel Sprouts soon.



It's 77 degrees. No rain in the forecast for the next 10-15 days. The temperatures will remain in the 90s the entire time. Tomorrow, 97. I'm sick of summer.

I sowed seeds.

Spinach, Swiss Chard, Copenhagen Early Market Cabbage, Orient Express Cabbage, Dill, Collards, Broccoli, Dixie Hybrid Early Squash, Blue Lake Bush and Pole Beans. I also spread 10-10-10 and pelleted lime.



The humidity has returned with a vengeance. It's 81 degrees, feels like 88. Afternoon storms are a possibility. Something new to surprise me is becoming more common. A yellow hardy hibiscus (or so I'm told).

Growth

The fragrant border - May 16.



June 7.



The upper potager - May 18.



June 7.



The Perennial Bed - April 30.



June 7.



A container of sedums and sago palms by the basement door - May 18.



June 7.



I love to watch the gardens grow. I no longer take a picture a week of any area in the yard. The backyard is not filling in the way I expected. There was no huge flush of flowers once the crimson clover went to seed. The meadow bed does have tiny seedlings, probably weeds. A few cosmos have popped up here and there. I'll be working on that in the fall and next spring, moving, dividing, sowing more seeds. It's a work in progress.

More rain last night as thunderstorms rolled through the area. Within an hour, 1/4" of rain fell. Lightning flashed and the thunder rolled. Sleep came easy. It's 64 degrees this morning. 84 is the expected high.

Reds.

Time marches on, and soon you realize it marches across your face. The sun turns my face red on hot days whether in the garden or at the store where I rarely find myself inside out of the heat and humidity. The reds are also starting to appear in the garden.

Another poppy bloom, same plant as yesterday.



Red spider zinnias. I was so disappointed by the less than impressive size of these flowers last year. When I ordered seeds, I expected huge swaths of large red daisy-like zinnias. The flowers are about the size of a dime. Later, they'll be the size of a quarter. They look good in mass plantings, and I allowed them to reseed last year scattering seeds here and there. So far, they've only come up where the original planting was.



Lilies. I don't know the variety. I planted them last spring where they grew to about 6" tall and did nothing else. This year, they shot out of the ground with vigor and are just starting to open. If you look closely, you can see a Rudbeckia bloom about to unfurl.



Gerbera Daisy. Only one of the two reds have returned. Several of the white are blooming along the back of the house. This is surprising since Gerbers aren't exactly fond of the cold weather we had in January, nor do they like wet feet in winter. But a few managed to survive. The purple violas behind the gerbers are going to seed. I had planned to collect a few and scatter them around, but I missed my opportunity. This fall, I'll just have to move plants like I did yesterday.



Over the past 2 days, we've received more than 2" of rain. More possible today. The potager is taking a liking to this new kind of weather. Water from the garden hose keeps things alive during dry spells, but real growth happens when it rains. The row on the left were the last ones planted out. They share the same first name as me and John Wayne.



The beans, squash, okra, cucumbers, and nasturtiums in the upper bed are growing too. It will warm up later this week. I expect to have squash in 4-6 weeks.



Finally, the fourth attempt at growing Oakleaf Hydrangeas has begun. The root of the mangled plant has put out new growth. My cuttings don't seem to be doing much. It's only been two weeks. There is still hope.



It's 57 degrees, cool and cloudy. Today I've got to work on the AC unit. A cheap part needs to be located and replaced. I'll do that after I've had another cup of coffee. I had hoped to mow the yard, but the hateful lawnmower detests wet grass. I'd probably slip and lose a foot anyway. It's best to just leave it alone until it dries out a bit.

The Potager.

It's been slow going in the potager beds without much rain. The top dressing of horse manure and pine shavings dries out quickly. I'm watering nearly every day just to keep the soil below moist. A good hard rain is in order. Still, things are growing. Even the okra has germinated.

Most of the beans are up. I replanted one teepee this morning with asparagus beans. The flat Italian beans did not come up. I blame the squirrels.



Squash.



Cucumbers.



I planted nasturtiums throughout this bed to protect against squash bugs. Along the front edge, I've got dwarf red ones. They should trail over the front once they get going. Along the back with the cucumbers, I have a vine variety. They will grow up the same trellis as the cucumbers to a height of around 6'.



In the three lower beds, 53 tomato plants have survived. One just shriveled up and died. I think I'll have plenty.

Black Krim



Green Zebra



It's 64 degrees and sunny. I've given everything a good deep drink of water from the hose. The high today should reach the 90s again. The chance of rain for Saturday has been removed. We are now under a fire watch as humidity levels will begin to fall overnight.

On the windowsill in the kitchen, the first roots have appeared on my variegated hydrangea cuttings. I'm rooting them in water. The cloner needs to be cleaned soon. None of the camellia cuttings made it. A few salvia have rooted. All three butterfly bush cuttings survived. I'll be taking a look at the rest of the cuttings soon to decide if they just need more time or should be culled.

9:48am - It's 73 degrees. I sowed a few more seeds today, trying to clean out the seed box. Coleus has finally been sowed. They should germinate quickly with the heat. In the garden, a few new things have appeared.

Buds on achillea that were wintersown in 2008/9.



Clearance purchased Tennessee Coneflowers. Planted last fall in the crape myrtle bed.



Wintersown in 2008/9, White Swan has a bloom and many buds.



Clematis Etoile Violette





Off to work in an hour.

Horse poo.

I made the 15 minute journey into the countryside for a truckload of poo this morning. I arrived about 8:15. Thirty minutes later, I was on the road back to the house. I was back home shortly after 9am.



It's good stuff, well rotted and aged since last fall. They use pine shavings in the barn for the horses, so there was plenty of brown to go with the greens when they tossed it into a pile.



Before I left, I had moved some soil from two of the beds to the third bed at the top of the picture. I pulled the cabbages. With the temperatures ranging above 80 for almost a week now, even the stone head cabbage was starting to bolt. I'll try again in the fall. The snow peas never had a chance.



I put six cubic feet of the manure in each 4' x 8' bed.



In the larger, 4' x 16' bed, I put twelve cubic feet. My wheelbarrow is 6 cubic feet. This stuff is very nice and fluffy. Before planting next week, I'll borrow a small tiller from Carla and use it to till the stuff into the soil. I also built 2 more teepees for pole beans. I think I have 6 varieties, so I'm not sure where the others will go just yet. Maybe on the fence to the backyard.



The remaining poo was spread in the area of the new fragrant garden. Yes, there is a joke in there, but this stuff smells great. It's got an earthy, woodsy smell. No hint of the original origin.



I pruned the peach tree a bit. I transplanted a few datura seedlings to the fragrant bed. I pinched a few butterfly bushes. I took pictures. Before it gets too hot, I plan to mow the yard. The view from the hammock will be decidedly better this afternoon than last week.



It's only 77 degrees.

3:39pm - The yard was mowed. The hammock was stretched. I planted out a few things in the shady spots. I sowed my sunflower seeds. I'm about to stretch the hammock again. Right now, it's not the humidity. It really is the heat.

Spring Cleaning.

I spent this morning cleaning up the hoophouse and storing all the pieces in the basement. The cardboard under the concrete pavers has nearly disintegrated. The pavers were used to create a makeshift path through the upper meadow around the fruit trees and down to the lower area of the back yard. I also used a few to provide a walkable surface between my three lower beds. In a couple of weeks, I'll be getting a truck load of compost for the two beds that still need more soil. It's good stuff, made by the neighbor of a coworker.



In one bed, the wintersown cabbage are doing great. I hope they have time to head before it gets really hot. I never have much luck with spring cabbages. I need to remember to do them again in the fall.



Ahh...feels good not to see all that "trash" in the backyard.



Now it all resides in the driveway. It'll be gone in another month or less. The high temperatures in the 80s this week should cause some rapid growth with my seedlings.



More "trash" will soon become lattice and trellises for pole beans and cucumbers. These came from a grove behind a coworker's house. She told me to take all I want and come back for more if I need it.



The figs have been repotted.



Lots of planting out this morning. I'm taking a chance on no more frosts, I know.



It's 57 degrees, up from a low of 52. The high should reach 70 shortly after lunchtime.

Got New Shoes.

And I gotta break them in. So this morning, as soon as the sun topped the trees out back, I was in the yard. First on my list, two raised beds in the current tomato patch. I pulled the cabbage for a stir fry tonight. The smallest ones went into the compost bin. I planted them too late.



These beds are merely stacked landscape timbers. I haven't drilled or hammered the rebar yet. I'm afraid I'll change my mind before spring.



From the kitchen side of the house, the potager looks nice. I may keep it. I picked up several buckets of small rocks, tossed lots more into the woods, and finally did something about that black garbage bag of soil that was laying at the end of the tomato patch most of the summer. I raked everything smooth and filled in the holes where I had dug the stumps. Next spring, I'm going to be rooting a few figs for the area behind the largest bed. I'll also move my fig out of the shrub island here. The butterfly bushes in that bed need more sun, so they'll go on the slope where I planted grasses and asters. The blueberries need to be moved too. I didn't give them enough room and really just wanted to get them in the ground for the winter. The thundercloud plum tree in the perennial bed will be moved in a few weeks as soon as the leaves start to drop. I'll put it in the bed where I had corn and beans this year. There's not enough sun to really grow much there in terms of veggies, so hopefully it will be happy enough. Lots of plans, huh?



While working on the tree yesterday, my mom got a good look at my old workboots. It wasn't long before she suggested we go to Wal-Mart and buy another pair. I give them 3 months before they're in the same shape as my others.



It's currently 51 and cloudy. This morning's sun went away quickly as I got busy working. If the clouds and wind remain through the night, we might be able to stave off an early frost. They're forecasting 36 degrees by 7am tomorrow. Next week, we'll be back in the 70s during the day. Oh please, oh please, oh please don't let it frost yet. My yellow brug is trying really hard to open. Fortunately, it's under the canopy of a large oak tree that still has most of its leaves. I'll cover it tonight with a sheet and hope for the best. I want to see this one bloom at least once this year.

For this afternoon, I plan to rake and shred the leaves collecting in the front yard and driveway. I'll use them to mulch the areas I raked clean this morning.



It's only noon, but it feels like I've done an entire day's work already. Tomorrow, I have to go back to the store. I wish I had another week off.

3:04pm - Rounded up all the leaves and used the blower/vac to shred them. Also picked up enough stone the tractor turned over in the gully to finish the daylily border.



That's a full size bed sheet sewn together to create a sack of sorts. It works great. Thanks again Kris!



I used the last two bags of Cypress mulch on the rose garden. Broken bags, half price, etc.



I spread the chopped leaves on the butterfly slope between the raised beds.



Possible location for the patio. The soil here is like concrete. Nothing but periwinkle and poke weeds grow here. I can't really mow it because of all the small rocks all over the ground. Pick one up, another two take its place. The hammock used to hang between those trees. It's in the basement for winter storage.



All the frost tender plants are in the basement too. I'll wheel them back out in a couple days once the chance of near freezing temperatures has passed. I've decided this year not to have so many indoor things to take care of. The brugs will take up most of my space under lights.



That's it. I'm done for the day.