Weeding and such as...

It rained yesterday. My rain gauge cracked and split at some point over the last week, so I can't tell you how much we got. There's no water in the basement, so I'm assuming less than 1 inch. The ground in soggy wet this morning, so I've decided to spend some time weeding in the back meadow, trying to remove as much periwinkle as I can before the Robins force me to move elsewhere. I worked on a small portion while my second cup of coffee turned cold on the bumper of my truck. I'll get to the rest of it in good time. I've got lots of plans for the day.

I was up early, having gone to bed about 9pm. The trip and training session to Winston-Salem had worn me out. Lots of new ideas for the coming year in the Garden Center are still swarming through my head. I'll need to put them down on paper as soon as I'm back to work on Thursday. Yes, my vacation starts tomorrow, but with two large shrub orders scheduled to arrive the day after tomorrow, my own schedule was switched to facilitate putting the plants where they belong. At least the store will be ready for the weekend. I hope they have nice weather. I won't be here. More on that later.

Before heading outside this morning, I checked the 4 Marseilles fig cuttings in the cloner. I moved them all here rather than trying to root them in the orchid mix. I'm determined to have this fig in my yard by summer's end.



The Black Mission fig I showed yesterday, which may or may not be properly labeled, has grown even more roots in the last 24 hours.



Heading outside, the little bluestem grasses I transplanted into the meadow garden has new green growth.



So does the spirea in the shrub island. This one was transplanted last summer right after I built the bed. It needed more sunlight than it was getting in its other location. I hope it's covered with blooms this spring. I'd like to root more of these.



Ditch lilies by the mailbox are putting out lots of new growth too. We'll get another couple of hard freezes that will burn this foliage, but that's what happens every year. It didn't seem to affect them at all when it came time to bloom.



On the slope, about 2 dozen of the 200 daffodils I planted this winter have sprouted.



The red maples by the street are starting to bloom. All they needed was a little warmth. The flowers are tiny and red, mostly insignificant. You can only see them if you know what you're looking for.



By the garage door, at the top of the retaining wall, I've finally realized what these are. In the fall of 2008 I received some Carolina Cherry Laurel seeds from a City-Data user. She also sent some hardy palm seeds. I cannot remember, or find in any of my notes, the name of this palm. She told me it reseeds for her and she moves the babies around the yard. I'll transplant these to the perennial bed where I have other tropical-like foliage in another few weeks.



I pruned the fig I grew from cuttings this year. I stuck the branches where I want them to grow at the corner of the yard along the street. I did this with butterfly bush last year and had great results. I'm hoping the crape myrtles and this fig do the same. The crape myrtles I've done are Dynamite. It's a dark red mid summer bloomer. The cuttings inside in the orchid mix have leafed out, but no sign of roots yet. Patience, grasshopper.



And then, I pruned the double pink Althea I purchased last year for a song on clearance. The soil they were potted in was mostly bark and these were always wilted in the Garden Center. We marked them down. I bought the last one just as someone else came in looking for them. You snooze, you lose.



The limbs of the althea were also pushed into the soil around the Neighbor's Corner. I've already got seedlings of the purple and white single vartieties back there. Crape Myrtle seedlings, Ligustrums, Loropetalum, and lots of other huge shrubs are being forced to compete. The winners will shield the backyard from the prying eyes of neighbors. The losers will be removed at some future point.

It's still foggy. At 47 degrees, I'll be working sleeveless in a couple of hours. Tomorrow, more rain is in the forecast. I'm preparing to do some work inside. I'm just not sure what my focus will be on, yet. I'm guessing the kitchen.

A good day.

Today was my second day in a row off from work. When I have two days off, I always feel compelled to make the most of it. Yesterday, with the rain, I spent my day in the basement up to my elbows in dirt and cuttings. Today, I was outside.

I got the swing leveled by digging holes for the front support posts. I cut off the extra chain that annoyed me when it *tink tink tink'd* against itself. I did collect some leaves and mulched them for one of the lower potager beds. I drilled more holes in the timbers and hammered some rebar. I took more cuttings and stuck them in the cloner. (I know, right?) I cut down some of the frost damaged annuals, pulled others and tossed them, seeds and all into the gully. I sorted and packaged another trade envelope that arrived this morning. I paid the power bill. I took the stovepipe down in the basement and cleaned it out. I cussed a lot trying to get it back in place. I spent some time online doing research for the plants I haven't grown yet, but have seeds for. I drank some coffee. And some sweet tea. By 3pm, I figured the gully had dried out enough to split some wood. Forty-five minutes later, I had split three logs. I was out of gas. The splitter was not.



I spent the next 30 minutes watching the sun travel low across the sky. It was a pretty nice way to end the day. I tried not to make notes of all the things I plan to do this winter and next spring. I can't even sit still without considering what I could do to make it better. Click to embiggen.



I got up to check on the fire I had built in the heater when I came inside to grab the camera. I couldn't help but notice all the things I did like.

Little bluestem glows in the late evening sun.



Mr. Lincoln might just open again before the cold, wet weather arrives on Saturday.



A single pink rose was pointing straight up.



Passing through the gate, the redtwig dogwood begged for attention.



A lady bug was sunning itself on the other side of the fence.



Another camellia bloom has opened. Lots more to come.



The neighbors drove past while I was bent down to examine something in the perennial bed. I'm not sure they know what my face looks like. I decided it was time to head inside. It's 71 degrees in the basement, 68 upstairs, and 61 outside. Last night, as the temperature dropped to 37 outside, it was nice and warm upstairs with just the central air fan circulating warm air from the basement. I'm hoping when the cold weather arrives that I won't need to run the electric heat except as a backup. I need my money for more dirt, seeds, and plants.

It was a perfect day. You're gonna reap just what you sow.



It's time for dinner, a shower, and some laundry.