The tomatoes are in.

48 plants went into the lower potager beds this afternoon. Here's Granny Cantrell.



The peonies are about to pop. These will be red. I also have pink.



The orange rose is ready to bloom. Yes, I have aphids. No, I don't spray. The ladybugs are here. I might hose them off with a jet of water at some point.



The 6th Street fig is doing well.



All that's left besides a container of hosta, 4 6-packs of impatiens, and some tree/shrub varieties still in the shade. I even planted out some Cornus florida today. 54 of these containers hold sunflowers for the upper meadow and butterfly slope between the potager beds. Others have 6-packs of pineapple sage, petunias, and celosia. I'm hoping to get them all planted by the end of the week. The long boxes in the front are my window box planters. I put them inside the wood boxes I built last year. I'm waiting to make sure I have plenty of growth before moving them to their permanent location.



The rain tonight will probably stay north of us. It's 72 degrees and clear. Great day.

Making Pretty.

I'm tired of the junk at the end of the driveway. The wood pile is there to stay for a while. At least until I get all the planting out done. This morning, Laura and I had coffee and she left. She will be in town for a few more days, and I might get to see her again on Saturday night if the schedules work out. It was good to have her here. I miss my Lo.

After she left, I started planting out. Using my bulb auger on the end of a cordless drill, I planted out a few containers before Carla stopped by.



It's a mess of oak tassels and elm tree seeds and maple seedlings. But the pile is getting smaller. And the yard is getting prettier in my mind. A little more rain would have been nice, but I'm not about to complain. I'll take what I can get.



I handed over some seedlings to Carla with instructions. I sent fig cuttings and dug plants from my yard to add to her hill. She's got a slope down to the street that gets mostly full sun all day. I've been helping her fill it in with perennials. She wants more blooms. She's gonna have them. After she left, I planted out more containers, filling each hole, and watering well by hand using a container. I'm trying not to waste water on things that got a drink last night.



All that's left now are a few rooted cuttings



Most of the nearly 200 two-liters. I've probably planted out 50, maybe? The six packs are pineapple sage and other annuals. They'll go in when they're a little bigger.



and those with no sprouts, those that need more sun, and the sunflowers, herbs, and tomatoes for the lower potager beds and upper meadow.



I'm making pretty. It's getting there. In another couple of weeks, all my planting will be done. Since I took yesterday off to get myself reacquainted with the hammock, I feel a need to do some work today. No loafing around. I'm about to head out to find a spot for some hardy geraniums, some hardy hibiscus, and some hardy ageratum. I hope the rain they're promising us next week comes through. The weather has been nearly perfect the past few days. Cool in the mornings and evenings, warm and breezy during the day. I can't complain. The hammock never stopped rocking.

It's too hot.

It's 84 degrees and the sun is baking everything. It's too warm to plant out as much as I had hoped. Many of my wintersown seedlings still aren't ready. I did put out some echinacea Harvest Moon, Columbine, Painted Daisies, and a few others I forget. The majority are just sitting there still. Maybe next week.



I did mow the yard again. The wild onions and clover were getting out of control. In the backyard, I found this little blue flowering thing. I'd love to know the name.



On the front slope, the violets have taken off.



Around the oak tree in the front yard, the Purple Queen is returning. All those little green sprouts are Dayflower. Ugh.



I did a lot of weeding in the perennial bed. It's presentable now. Along the privet hedge, I planted some ferns I collected from Robert's property yesterday. They're just starting to unfurl.



The red clover went into the upper potager bed.



I tilled it into the existing leaves and soil. There's still some cardboard that hasn't broken down. I also built teepee trellises for pole beans and put my metal trellis back up for the cucumbers I'll sow in a few weeks.



The long view.



I used UV safe nylon clips to finally attach the concrete wire trellis to the four posts. I've got plans for a few vines this year including Morning Glory.



Near the swing, I noticed cosmos seedlings. There are lots of datura seedlings too.



Self sown Four O'clocks are popping up in the Shady Corner. A few more weeks and I'll stuff that area with brugs. A few hydrangeas that were rooted last summer survived. No sign of the variegated one yet.



I've had a nap in the hammock and have the sunburn to prove it. I've eaten lunch and am thinking about dinner. I'd like to do some more in the yard, but there's laundry that is calling my name right now. I'm tired, ya'll.

The Big Dig.

It's that time again. I'm preparing myself for the digging that will need to be done this week. I've lost track of how many containers I've sown since I started on December 21. There are a lot of them.

I've got 2-liter bottles stuffed with seedlings. Most have some germination in them.



I've got those pansy containers and styrofoam cups in the hoophouse. I took the cover off last week when it appeared we'd have no more freezing nights and only the occasional chance of frost.



The tender annuals and cuttings on the metal shelf are doing well too. I'm sure the rain and coming 80 degree weather will cause some rapid growth later this week.



There are also the overwintered plants that spent three months in the basement. I could probably plant these out too with the understanding that they will need to be covered if a frost is predicted. Many of the brugs will be stripped of foliage before planting. Aphids have returned with a vengeance.



The Black Mission fig tip cuttings need to be potted into individual containers. These will be given out to people at work, my sister, and anyone else that wants a fig tree.



Tomorrow morning, I'll spend a couple hours working on sorting and preparing for the big dig on Thursday, when I have a day off that's not promised to someoene else. On Wednesday, I'll be heading to Robert's to repay him for the electrical work he did in the kitchen last fall. We'll be choosing shrubs and landscaping the front of his house.

I'm not looking forward to digging all these holes in the rocky soil here. The mattock will get a workout. So will my back and shoulders. But the results will be evident in a few short months as these plants grow and bloom. At least it will be warm.

It's 57 degrees this morning. We saw some heavy rain and wind last night. Today's high will reach 63. More rain in the forecast today. Scattered seeds should start germinating this week.

Tomatoes and tender annuals.

The forecast called for 34 degrees last night. At 4am, it's 39 degrees. At 7am, it will drop a few degrees before rising again. I hope we make it without a frost. Just in case, I covered my seed rack containing the tender annuals that have been sprouting all week. There's a lot of pineapple sage out there.



The tomatoes and all my overwintered plants are in the basement. I forgot the fern and the tropicals on the front porch. Que sera, sera. The sprouting tomatoes are inside. This is my second batch. I'm using the wintersown method this time.



Possibly our last cold night, the 10 day forecast looks positively wonderful.



It's now 36 degrees.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

And I'm off from work. I have to go meet my sister again today, but this morning, I'll be in the yard in half an hour. I've got some plants to move, rooted cuttings to plant, and I want to do some general cleanup.

In the 10 day forecast, there's still no freezing temperatures. I'm not about to believe that our last freezing day will be March 9. It's a really nice thought, but I know better.

It's currently 45 degrees and clear. Last night it rained, and then rained some more. The clocks need to all be set forward an hour. Welcome to Daylight Savings Time. It'll be nice to have the extra hour in the evenings.

10:54am - I've gotten a few things done.

I stuck some cuttings. Left to right, top to bottom: unknown spirea, unknown spirea, yellow knockout, burning bush, burning bush, row 2; unknown spirea, unknown spirea, yellow knockout, white spirea, burning bush. The lower tray: top row, Carla's current fig, possibly a Celeste or Brown Turkey. Bottom row: black missions from Carla's former house. I don't label when I do things like this because they're more likely to die. I've put them on the seed rack by the woodpile on the shady side. The leftover fig cuttings were stuck here and there in the yard.



I planted out eight quarts of wintersown dianthus "Depford Pink". They're along the top of the wall below the lavender and knockout roses.



Blue Spruce sedum was divided and planted along the top of the wall below the butterfly garden. That's where I have the 200 daffodils.



To delineate the end of the butterfly garden, I moved the three clearance cotoneaster plants from the upper meadow to the front slope. Beyond this, I'll let the vinca, violets, and whatever else run wild. Maybe.



A few feet from the edge of the "lawn" at the top of the same slope, parallel to the street, I planted six rooted gardenias. I also moved an Endless Summer Hydrangea to the very end of the line.



Forty-eight wintersown Rudbeckia hirta were planted in various spots in the yard. They're still tiny, but I know lots of the plants will survive. Mother Nature will cull the weak ones. I may have to intervene at some point.



Eight calla lilies, purchased for 25 cents a piece went into the perennial bed near the ever blooming camellia. It's drier here in the winter than elsewhere, so they might return. I had them in a yard in Charlotte on Country Club Drive when I rented a house there.



I also pruned the neighbor's rose bush, planted out a couple of Arizona Cypress "Carolina Sapphire". These trees reach 30-40' tall and 20' wide. They have a bluish color and grow almost as fast as Leyland Cypress. They were developed by Clemson University for use on the East Coast. In front of these, I moved two rooted cuttings of Elaeagnus. They're really well rooted, so I expect them to thrive in the full sun. I've sort of left a path to the stream back there. I know in the next few years, things will grow in and block it. I'm okay with that.

I moved some sedum from last year's clearance sale to the front slope, now known as the Butterfly garden. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be rooting more of it and the Blue Spruce. The dry soil should work well. I've got a few overwintered cuttings of a taller sedum that I need to plant today. I don't know. Somewhere. Why?

It's 52 degrees. I've got a few more things to do and about an hour and a half to get them all done. I have to be in Cheraw at 3pm. The third cup of coffee is cooling off.

12:12pm - I'm going to stop for the day. I planted some rosemary in the bed at the end of the driveway on the sunny side.



Along the bottom of the retaining wall next to the driveway, I divided and planted Coreopsis Full Moon. I moved these from the perennial bed. I pulled back the leaves and cut back the dead foliage from Coreopsis "Moonbeam". There are Stella D'Oro daylilies and orange ditch lilies in this bed all along the wall. I planted out 12 more wintersown Rudbeckia containers here too. Let's see if all this yellow and orange clashes with the blues and pinks above them in the front beds this summer.



Five butterfly bushes were transplanted to the butterfly garden. I placed them at the top of the slope. Between them, I planted 6 overwintered clumps of tall sedum. Milkweed, lantana, and other butterfly plants will be scattered through this bed.



I've got a follower in the yard. This robin went everywhere I did, plucking earthworms from the dirt I was disturbing. It came within 6 feet of me several times.



On the agenda for my next day off, the front bed. The pansies will be done in a couple more months. Heucheras are putting out new foliage and the Japanese Maple will be leafing out soon. I've already installed penny priced nandinas, rooted gardenias, and tea olives. For summer color, I'm going to plant echinacea and shasta daisies to brighten up this bed. It gets a little sun in the mornings and evenings, so these two should do okay. I may root some more Montauk Daisies for late summer blooms.



It's 54 degrees and sunny. I need lunch and a shower.

Things are going to pop.

Violets. The weeds I've learned to live with.



Camellia blooms.



Wintersown seedlings ready to be planted out.





Fancy daffodils. I planted the Eucalyptus last fall.



Tulip foliage. Will they bloom? Planted in the fall of 2007.



Ancient tulip foliage.



New growth on the unknown shrub, possibly cornus mas, probably not.



Lilies?



It's exciting to see these things return or grow. Thunderstorms and heavy rain passed through last night. It's 52 degrees. The high today might reach 70. There's fog this morning. The clouds have rolled out.

Second cup of coffee stroll:

Across the street, forsythia is starting to bloom. My own, rooted last spring, are putting out new leaves, no blooms.



New daffs in the perennial bed.



Daffs on the front slope. 200 went in this winter.



The Belle of Georgia peach is coming to life.