Who was I kidding?

I got up this morning, had some coffee, and went back to bed. The slow steady rain is still falling. It's 72 degrees. So that's the perfect weather for scattering seeds, moving reseeded annuals, and doing some general weeding in all parts of the yard.

I moved a few things into the upper meadow, like amaranthus.



A gazillion cosmos that were growing in the rose garden.



Perilla.



I planted out my 12 Salvia subrotunda seedlings. I replaced them with cuttings from Montauk Daisy, Salvia greggii, and a red mum that survived the winter.



Looking back towards the house from the gully, it's filling in with pokeweed and Virginia creeper. I'm okay with that, for the time being.



I also divided a few wintersown things that were planted out in big hunks. Ox Eye Daisy, that notorious weed, has been spread all over the Crape Myrtle Bed. I need more white in that spot. Not many of my cosmos seeds have popped up yet. Maybe after all this rain they'll do something.

I plan to spend the rest of the early afternoon weeding in the rain. I'll continue to move things here and there, filling in areas where seeds failed to germinate. There's a lot of crabgrass out there.

Wintersown Germination.

In the hoophouse:

Ox Eye Daisy
Salvia Blue Queen
Dianthus Firewitch
Orlaya Grandiflora
Salvia officinalis
Dianthus knappi
Echinacea Harvest Moon
Rudbeckia triloba
Great Blue Lobelia
Dianthus Depford Pink
Monarda fistula
Ageratum
Penstemon Husker Red
Coreopsis Mahogany Midget
Pink Touch Me Not Impatiens
Siberian Wallflower
Lavendula Augustifolia


71 2-liters have germinated:

Chives
Red Mexican Hat - 2
Cardoon
Shasta Daisy White Knight
Diathus Firewitch - 2
Phlox Laura
Siberian Wallflower - 2
Chloeme - 2
Queen Anne's Lace - 2
Rudbeckia hirta brown - 2
Orlaya grandiflora
Rudbeckia hirta Cherry Brandy - 2
Drummond phlox
Potentilla
Evening Primrose
Ox Eye Daisy - 3
Red Lychnis
Great Blue Lobelia
Malva
Migonette
Lavendula Augustifolia
Bronze fennel
Buddleia White - 2
Obedient Plant
Helenium
Hardy Geranium Brookside
Gaillardia yellow
Fennel
Blue Flax
Foxglove
Echinacea purple - 6
viola tricolor
Touch Me Not
Buddleia purples
Golden Margureite
Chrysanthemum Robinson's Red
Amsonia
Marsh Mallow
Columbine purple
Rose Campion pink
Pearl Grass
Dianthus Depford Pink
Rose Campion white
Salvia Blue Queen
Culver's root
Garlic Chives
Double Red Monarda
Rudbeckia hirta
Hollyhocks
Bamboo white dragon
Verbena hasata
Malva mauritiana
Verbascum Wedding Candles
Verbascum Milkshake
Salvia Lady in Red
Dianthus knappi

Germination in the hoophouse has been good. I was expecting better, but I'm not going to complain. Just a quick count tells me that so far, assuming 4 hunks of seedlings per 2-liter and 8 containers of each in the hoophouse that should net at least two hunks, I've got about 556 holes to dig. This doesn't count the 125 Rudbeckia hirta cups that have sprouted and will need to be divided into at least 2 clumps at planting time. If I manage to get it all planted out, it will be beautiful. I still have about 100 tender/annual varieties to sow. I'm a long way from being done.

While checking on my containers, I moved the sprouted ones forward. I'll be watching for the second set of leaves before planting out. Doing this early reduces loss and makes for hardier plants. I used this same method last year with decent results.



I took some time this morning, after the wood was split, to pull back some of the leaves on the perennial bed. The soil is very wet. It needs to dry out a bit before I can plant. Hopefully, the sun shining on it with the light wind we're having will help. The low humidity certainly will. I shredded the leaves and scattered them in the meadow. This spring, I'll shred more leaves from across the street to put back down to reduce watering and continue to add to my organic mass.

I found two new crocuses under the leaves by the street.



Another Montauk daisy is coming back to life near the driveway.



Golden Jubilee at the birdbath is that beautiful purple that will turn lime green as it warms up. This one was self sown.



I planted all eleven of the penny nandinas. One was tossed into the woods. Five went into the beds behind the house. The other five went into the shrub island near the meadow. They all look sad right now, but each had fresh growth under the cold damaged leaves. One was suckering all around the edge of the pot.



I also planted out my cabbages. The carrots didn't germinate well, so I will probably wait until fall to try again. The peas didn't sprout either. I sowed the other half of the pack in place and covered the bed with plastic. The 8 plants in the background are Foster Hollies. They were a penny each too. The leaves are all brown, but the pith is still green. I'm going to wait before declaring them dead. Three tea olives were also part of that bunch. I've got them in part shade near the hydrangea bed beside the driveway.



Everything in the hoophouse and the 2-liter containers got a drink of water. I disturbed a couple of stowaways in the hoophouse.





It's 48 degrees and still sunny. I'm done. I need a nap.

On my hands and knees

I did some weeding today in the perennial bed. It felt good to get my hands in dirt, even if I was wearing gloves. The soil is extremely wet. I lost a few things over the winter. The guara, for one, just doesn't tolerate wet feet. The soil hasn't dried out since the fall.

I collected a wheelbarrow of weeds and a few leaves with them.



That was just from the border along the edge of the street. I dumped it into the compost bin twice.



The most exciting thing that happened to me all day was finding the first crocus bloom. Spring really is coming, but not before a cold rainy weekend passes through.



Anise hyssop "Golden Jubilee" is coming back. This is a self sown plant that popped up last year.



Lots of rudbeckias are hanging around.







Coreopsis "Full Moon" is doing great. I planted 12 of my divisions in the backyard today.



Coreopsis "Moonbeam" has new growth too. I didn't see any along the retaining wall. I paid a whole dollar for those 15 plants last year. They'd better come back.



I saw new growth on a few clearance rack mums too. Ditch lilies are ready for spring, like me.



Montauk Daisy



Purple columbine



Rose campion. These were wintersown last year. I thought they were lambs ear for a few months. I was wrong.



Dianthus Pinks are holding their own. These are clumps I rooted from a bag full that Jim at Frogview Cottage sent me.



All over the yard, daffodils are popping up. I even saw the tip of one on the front slope where I planted 200 back in December. As usual, those around the oak tree in the front yard will be the first to bloom.



It's 45 degrees. The rain will be here soon. Plenty of wood has been hauled into the basement. Lunch has been eaten. It's time for that nap. The rest of the weeds can wait.

4:42pm - No nap yet. I just had to check on the hoophouse. The seedlings survived the cold nights last week just fine. Not much growth, but plenty of sprouts. They know what they're doing.

Rudbeckia hirta. I think I may have overdone it with these. I have 125 of these little cups and every seed sprouted.



Like little soldiers. Dianthus and several others have already sprouted. In another month, it should be a sea of green in there.



Behind the hoophouse, the sedums I rooted this summer are coming back. The variegated sedum was shy. Here's the red.

The basement is dry.

For the time being, anyways. Ida has swept a large band of storms south from Virginia. At the moment, the largest cells are moving through the Triad area of NC. They should be here by noon. We've gotten another 2.5" of rain since yesterday morning. A roaring fire and a couple fans dried the basement floor overnight.

There's still some color in The Wild. It's been almost a month since I've seen hummingbirds, but the bees are still clinging to the pineapple sage.



In the cloner, the first roots are appearing. This one is Miss Huff.



This is a Montauk Daisy. I've never tried rooting these before. Looks like it works.



This morning, between rain showers, I hope to take more cuttings from several butterfly bushes. Yesterday I took cuttings of white. I know someone that needs some variety in her life. The new ones will go into the cloner. The white ones were stuck in soil and placed in a zip lock bag on the light rack. We'll see which ones do best.

Off today, no other big plans. Might do something on the kitchen. Might take a mid-morning nap. It's 45 degrees outside. It's windy.

4:03pm - I didn't do much. I planted a pampas grass I had bought a couple weeks ago. I also planted three cotoneasters in their temporary winter spot. I took cuttings, of course, and stuck them in the cloner. I also moved the Leyland Cypress I planted almost two years ago between the driveway and the basement door. It'll get much to large for that area. It now lives with the others behind the orchard. In its place, I put the Hollywood Juniper I bought this spring. I think the randomness of that evergreen will be more interesting in that area.

I also did a little work on the kitchen. I got the last piece of beadboard next to the behemoth done. I also installed the chair rail in the little vestibule that leads outside.



Two more pieces of each and that will be done. Maybe later. I need a nap. Must have been all the chili.



It's 50 degrees and has been raining on and off all day. I've got a fire in the basement and the house is comfortable. I've got to chop some more wood this weekend.