Azaleas are blooming.

Across the street, the azaleas and wisteria are in bloom. That's 18 days ahead of last year. The dogwoods are blooming too.



In my yard, a single azalea bloom was found yesterday.



My two clematis vines are growing by leaps and bounds. I've never had luck with these before. Maybe ignoring them helped.





The Muskogee Crape Myrtle is leafing out. It's way too early for this.



The maple trees in the gully.



The Asian cabbages are bolting.



In the perennial bed, I think I have problems. Reseeds.



And I planted out 10 brugmansias. I'll take Nell's advice. If a frost does come, I'll use containers and buckets to cover everything I can.



It's 54 degrees. Another upper 80s day is in the forecast. By Tuesday, 90.

Odds and Ends.

In the backyard, there are three clumps of daffodils that I look forward to every year. These were planted by Mrs Russell, I assume. One day, I want to divide and move some of these to other areas of the yard.



The periwinkle along the edge of the woods is blooming. It's spectacular this year even though I hate the stuff. It spreads everywhere and is so invasive.



The annual seeds are doing well on the rack outside. Marigolds, convolvulus red and blue, African Daisies, and salvias have all germinated.



In January, I stuck tip cuttings of Carla's Black Mission in the hoophouse. They're putting out new growth and a few have started rooting. I pulled one from each container to check.



This morning, the skies are gray and blue. It's a little cloudy at 52 degrees. More rain will be coming in this evening. It should be in the low 60s most of the day.



I'm still exhausted from the weekend.

Organized.

Late Wednesday evening, I finally got my plants organized. I dumped many containers with no germination or dead seedlings. I put everything at the end of the driveway. They'll get morning sun here, but be protected next week when the temperatures reach into the upper 80s. Welcome to summer, folks.

Wintersown pot ghetto


Picked over annuals


Organized and arranged


There are only 3-5 wintersown containers I plan to keep. There are dogwoods and cherry laurels growing on in individual cups. There are a few seedlings and cuttings I plan to put in the ground at some point. The rest just need to go.

In the garden, I planted the Kongmansia and 4 squash cups.





carrots, strawberries, peas, and borage


Cabbage and lettuce


I also planted out lots more annuals like zinnia and a few morning glories. I'm trying to get my purples in the bed by the front door. This summer, I'll take cuttings from my rose bushes and propagate some reds to mix into this bed. At some point, the Japanese Maple will need to find a new home as the area transitions into a rose garden mixed with purple salvias and lavender. Coreopsis "Moonbeam" will be added here along the edge in the fall when I divide the two I have growing in the perennial bed.

On one of my daily walks through the yard, I started pinching plants. The agastache, petunias, pineapple sage, butterfly bushes, and lots more got pinched. I'm hoping to inspire more growth and bushier plants. It may mean losing some early blooms, but it should be worth it in the end. Another week or so and I can pinch the zinnias and other tender annuals.

I spent some time sitting on the front steps trying to figure out what I want from the entry. I've decided that since I already have lots of broken concrete in the gully, I'll rip out my old walkway, break the pieces into irregular chunks and lay them in a curving pattern. The bricks of the steps will become my firepit in the backyard. I'll tackle the steps from the driveway to the front yard at some point this summer. They're in really bad shape and just need to be rebuilt from scratch.

Today is a work day. I'll be off again on Friday. Depending on circumstances, I might get another load of leaf mulch from the landfill. I want to extend the white bed in the rear corner along the wall marking the property line. I've got the stones already for the edge, I just need to work some organic stuff into the clay and rock back there. I'd like to plant castor beans along the wall and let the moonvines grow through them. We'll see how I feel on Friday.

Productive Morning

Got to be brief as I am about the leave for work. At the crack of daybreak, I headed outside. All the plants in the hoophouse were moved out and the structure was taken down. It's laying in the basement right now, but I'll put it up for storage in the joists later this evening.

The tomatoes are looking good. Planted out some more indoor grown plants and got a load of leaf mulch from the landfill. Seedlings are filling out too. Now for the pictures.

Pink Knockout Rose I picked up yesterday. The benefits of unloading trucks are unimaginable.


Yvonne's Salvia


Brugmansias




More wintersown containers to empty.


More cuttings and seedlings to plant out.


Pineapple sage along the driveway bed.


The driveway bed is done. Bamboo will become teepee trellises.


Blue Spires Salvia rooted from overwintered cuttings planted in the front bed.


Lantana in the front bed on the slope.






Wintersown Artemesia planted in the same bed.


Hoophouse seedlings.


TOMATOES!!!!!!!


Look at those roots.


Leaf mulch where the hoophouse was.


Good black stuff. I'll till it in tomorrow.


Peas are up and growing.


The White Bed is done too.


That's all I got done this morning. Another hour and I would have gotten wood mulch for the driveway bed. The landfill is closed Saturday because of Easter, so I hope to have some time next week to get that done. Off to work now for a very long day. 22 racks of flowers and assorted plants should be delivered before 4pm.

1:56pm - lunchtime. 64 degrees and light rain. Thunderstorms are in the forecast. It should taper off this evening and move out by morning. The garden center is jumping today. Half the store is out there working. It's our busiest weekend all year.