| Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 07:43 pm: |   |
Christmas eve
Yesterday, Tuesday, the temperatures were in the 50s again and all the snow melted. I found many holes excavated by chipmunks, I guess, around plant roots. Argh!! Those critters are cute, but not good for plants. I tried to collapse tunnels where I could. I don't know how many plants I might lose over winter to damage to plant roots caused by those tunnels.
Temperatures are back in the 20s/30s today and snow showers. That's one things about the weather here--if you don't like it, just wait and it will change. |
| Posted on Friday, December 26, 2003 - 04:42 pm: | |
Here is the copper garden lantern DS gave me for Christmas and the garden statue "Santa" brought for me. I'll find some foliage for this fellow to sleep in once spring comes. I may also add some other paint colors to make him seem more lifelike. My son thinks it is a gargoyle, but I think of it as a dragon. 
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| Posted on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 03:42 pm: | |
Friday, Jan. 2
A dreary, rainy day today. However, Wednesday and Thursday were sunny and pleasant. I winter sowed some perennial seeds and planted seeds from large flowered clematis in my garden. That was my celebration of the new year!
I've ordered some perennial and annual seeds to winter sow and to start inside--have to keep the winter blahs away!
Today is the anniversary of my first becoming a mother. Happy birthday to my oldest DS, 26 years old today! |
| Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2004 - 05:33 am: | |
Thursday, February 4
Winter has been hard on us in January and thus far in February. We've had temperatures in the single digits and windchill digits in the negative numbers for many days in January and February--we think 27F is a tropical temperature now! We've seen 12 inches of wet heavy snow over the last week alone, as well as freezing rain. More freezing rain and heavy snow is expected overnight and tomorrow. I think February is the hardest month to get through!
I've ordered many seeds to plant and traded for some others--I think I have over a hundred different kinds! I don't know where I would put that many new plants, even if I got only one of each to grow. Also, I mail ordered plants and summer flowering bulbs. I guess I'll have to blame 'winter madness' for my extravagance!
I do have a few coleus cuttings growing, bought a flowering primrose, had a brugmansia cutting root and then flower under fluorescent lights, and have several tropical hibiscus seedlings growing, so I am keeping my fingers in the dirt. I need to transplant those seedlings and I may have already waited too long--I see taproots growing out of the holes in the bottom of the pots! And they sprouted leaves only a couple weeks ago! I need to thaw out some potting soil--stored in my unheated garage-- so I can pot them up. I think I'll do that on Saturday. |
| Posted on Saturday, February 07, 2004 - 11:59 am: | |
Saturday, Feb. 7
A snowy, wintry day again today. There is no sunshine, so I couldn't work in my unheated greenhouse--too cold for me at 43F. I guess I'm a wimp, but I prefer to work in warmer temperatures, so I brought my dirt inside and worked in my dining room.
I transplanted my little tropical hibiscus sprouts. I hope they can handle my manhandling! If not, there will be that many fewer plants to water this summer. I planted about 15 seeds and had 9 sprout. I soaked them and nicked them before planting. I'm curious to see if they flower and what the blooms will look like. Since it is my only t. hibiscus, there was no cross pollination with a different colored plant.
I also planted a few more pots to put outside--winter sowing again. I want to wait another couple weeks before I start any plants inside. They require so much more care and sometimes I forget to check on them! |
| Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 10:44 am: | |
Tuesday, March 23
I haven't written here for a while--I've been a victim of the winter blues. I should have listened to DH and planned a getaway to some place warm and sunny in February or early March, but couldn't make up my mind. Then our 17 year old cat became ill and we couldn't leave him.
This has been a winter of up and down temperatures. It was particularly cold during January and February and even during March we have had many more cold days than warm. The newspaper said we have had about 86 inches of snow this winter--a record! Last year at this time we had accumulated about 63. But the ground is bare again, and the next few days promise to be a bit warmer, reaching the 50s and 60s, with rain. However, the sun is shining brightly right now and the early crocus have made their appearance. That always makes me feel better.
I have planted many seeds outside in pots, and I have yet to see a sprout! I am hoping I haven't been a fool in risking so many seeds, but it was an experiment for me. If it doesn't work, I'll know better next time; or at least I'll know which plants will germinate for me and which ones won't under such conditions.
Inside I have planted some rose seeds, dwarf dahlias, portulacas, and datura seeds. I also brought in my clematis seeds that were wintering in the garage. I have two weeds sprouted so far in the clem pots! Some seeds are germinating--all the dahlias, a few rose seeds, and the portulacas. This weekend I plan to sow my tomato and basil seeds. I am running out of room under my two fluorescent fixtures. I have an unheated greenhouse, but the nights are still too cold to make it usable for growing seedlings. However, I might sow some lettuce seeds in there and also sow my sugar snap pea seeds outside this weekend.
I have ordered assorted perennial plants and bulbs from various mail order places and they should be arriving in the next few weeks. Then the local nurseries will be opening and the fun will begin! I already know I will have too many plants to put in--when will I learn! |
| Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 04:07 pm: | |
Marcia you are going to busy with all your seeds,plants and bulbs.
Love this time of year Springtime a lot of bulbs coming up in the garden.
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| Posted on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 07:51 pm: | |
Scotkat, isn't spring wonderful?!! Brings a sense of renewal, hope, optimism....
I just uncovered three small potted rose bushes I tried to overwinter in my unheated garage. The smallest has some leaf buds close to the ground. The two plants in 5 gallon pots appear to be dead as a doornail! I cut them back to the ground and will give them the opportunity to grow back, but I don't hold out much hope of that happening. We had some very frigid days and nights this winter. Ah, well, such is life.
Many roses in the garden are dead to the ground and I'm sure some are dead all the way down to the roots. That's okay--it gives me the chance to try new plants in their places--I will certainly have enough new plants to fill any empty spots, even if only a few of the seeds I tried to start outside grow and survive my care! |
| Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 09:54 pm: | |
Sunday, March 28
A beautiful sunny and warm day today. I pruned my sweet autumn clematis yesterday and some roses today. Most roses need to be pruned within a couple inches of the ground, except for the once bloomers. Winter was hard on them. Didn't have enough time to do as much cleaning up as I would have liked, as my older DS and DIL were visiting. But there will be other days to work in the garden.
Was just a little extravagant on Saturday. I made my first trip to a local nursery and bought Iris pallida variegata, two heucheras, 'Earth Angel' and 'Mystic Angel,' purple 'Nigra Black Beauty' sambucus, and the Exbury azalea 'Gibraltar' that I have been wanting. But I'm not yet sure where I will plant it. I am very bad about coveting and buying plants but not having a spot in mind for them!
Also, W-Mart had a two-year old pink blooming Japanese tree peony that I could not resist, even though it wasn't in good shape. It had been left out in freezing weather and its two blossoms were already open (the label said it was red, but the blooms were light pink--typical of these stores' nursery items). But at $9.95 I bought it anyway. I may be sorry later, of course.
I removed 5 dead or diseased rose bushes--Belinda's Dream, Isabel Renaissance, Falstaff, Yves Piaget, and a mini rose Kiss 'n' Tell. There will probably be a few others that will follow them to the brush heap. Off with their heads! I will be in charge of the garden! If they don't please, they will leave (I say that now anyway!)
Some of my winter sowed seeds are finally germinating--painted daisies, poppies, hollyhocks, sea holly, lychnis, sneezeweed, agastache, malva. Also, some seeds of a weeping crabapple tree I planted in December have germinated. Now to keep them alive until they can be planted in the garden.
I know we'll have more cold and rainy weather before it warms up again, but this weekend's weather was a pleasant reminder of what we will enjoy again in a not TOO distant time. |
| Posted on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 11:20 am: | |
Monday, April 5
I brought home three new plants yesterday--Aquilegia 'Origami Blue and White' and 'Origami Red and White' and Cerastium tomentosum. I had two Cerastiums in my garden last year, but only one has returned and I love their silvery foliage and delicate white flowers.
Temperatures dropped to 22 degrees last night and are supposed to be similarly low tonight. I don't know what that has done/will do to the winter sown sprouts I've had come up. But I'm not going to look until later this week when temperatures moderate again. While we had a little snow, there was not enough to cover the containers, so the poor things were exposed to the cold. That's Mother Nature for you!
I planted some seeds inside this weekend--tomatoes, basil, aquilegias from Jodi, and some red dwarf foxgloves that were sent to me late by a seed company.
 I need a fairy and some fairy dust--I also planted some tomato seeds I had stored from 1982! I'm waiting to see if any of them sprout--they might need some magic!
I also transplanted some seedlings that I grew inside--datura, Buxton's geranium, and some rose seedlings from seeds collected from my garden. I used Kaveh's transplanting tutorial. That was a big help, although I was a little clumsy! But most of them will survive. I also transplanted bunches of dahlia seedlings, Unwin's dwarf, last weekend using Kaveh's method.
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| Posted on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 09:19 pm: | |
I told DH that under NO circumstances may I buy mail order plants next winter--I must have been certifiably insane when I ordered so many things! I will have to blame it on winter madness! Today I received 5 lily bulbs--3 Oriental lilies 'Arena,' a trumpet 'Copper King' and a species 'Uchida.' I planted them in pots, since we have having 20F nights and 30F days!
In addition, I have another 25 lily bulbs coming from another nursery, 36 perennials and small shrubs from a couple of mail order nurseries, and 3 clematis coming within the next few weeks. Dear Lord, what was I thinking??? |
| Posted on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 04:17 pm: | |
Saturday, April 10
My 25 lily bulbs came yesterday. Of course, today would have been an excellent day to plant them--55F and partly sunny--but I'm baking bread for Easter. And the weather after today is going to be rain, rain and more rain. Still, I'm going to try to get them in the ground today--the hardest part will be deciding where to plant them (well, not really , but they are tough decisions to make).
In preparation for planting the lilies, yesterday and this morning I removed several more roses that have not done well (Gloire de Ducher, Ferdinand Pichard, Knockout, Country Dancer, and 3 seedling roses I germinated last year and planted out. Two had never bloomed and one was a light yellow single.) I think Knockout and Country Dancer were infected with rose rosette disease. At least their new tiny leaves looked strange. Leaves on Knockout last year were strange also. I also removed a big hollyhock that grows in the same spot every year. The Black Beauty sambucus I bought will go in its spot. |
| Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 10:43 am: | |
Friday, May 7
I haven't spent much time keeping a journal now that spring has shown up intermittently. Between days in the 80s and nights below freezing, plants have been a bit challenged. Plants that have been troubled by frost include buddleia, especially the new ones planted in late April, hosta, young rose leaves, all the flowers on my new deciduous azalea(!), hydrangea, and a new tiny shrub named leptodermis--not sure that one will recover.
Most of the lily bulbs I planted in April are now poking up out of the ground. Flowers blooming now include creeping phlox, forget-me-nots, bleeding hearts, grape hyacinth, tulips, centaurea montana, iberis, a tree peony planted last fall has a bloom just ready to burst open, and two newly planted iris that were ahead of schedule. Many of the clematis have buds--some will be blooming within the next week, I'm sure! They are a little later than last year, when I had my first clem bloom open on May 7.
I've been feverishly trying to plant seedlings grown by the winter sowing method before leaving for vacation on the 12th. They are small seedlings in small pots and they dry out quickly. Don't want to leave DS with the responsibility of keeping them alive while I'm gone! Not all of the winter sown seeds did well and I need to make notes on what worked and what didn't. I have had great success with agastache, poppies, hollyhocks, malva, salvia, echinacea, Joe Pye weed and others that I can't remember! Understandable, since these plants self sow with success, too. I'll do some warm weather seed sowing directly into the garden once back from the trip.
Showers are predicted today, but I plan to be out in the garden after work anyway--need to get this stuff planted! |
| Posted on Saturday, May 08, 2004 - 11:35 pm: | |
Saturday, May 9
Planted many seedlings today--hope the slugs don't eat them up! I have many more to go. I started dwarf dahlias and datura from seed in the house--too many!! I don't know what to do with all of them. Perhaps I can pawn some off on family or neighbors.
One bud on the tree peony has opened--just in time for heavy rain showers! I see now why the Japanese build little shelters over their plants!
The flower is huge There are three more buds on the plant. Unfortunately, the flowers do not smell good--they are stinky! I'm not sure whether I like the plant or not.
Other things that are flowering are phlox
centaurea montana
some tulips that survived the munching vole (only because they were planted inside a wire cage!)
Spent this morning shopping for a few new clothes to take on the Kauai vacation. Tomorrow I need to wash clothes and start getting things together for the trip--we leave on Wednesday. Also on the agenda is planting more plants and seedlings!! |
| Posted on Monday, May 10, 2004 - 12:06 pm: | |
Monday, May 10
Planted many more seedlings yesterday and even put young dwarf dahlias and datura into the garden. I didn't want to put them into larger pots, but I was afraid they'd dry up too much while I was away. If they don't do well or we happen to have a frost, I have many more waiting in the wings!
While I have had great success (for the most part) with the winter sowing experiment, planting those small seedlings into the ground just isn't as fulfilling somehow as planting a quart or gallon perennial or flowering annual. I'm withholding judgment on WSing for at least a year, until I see how those babies do in the garden. But I know I'll always continue to buy larger plants at the nurseries--such a temptation when I find something I want or an attractive specimen catches my eye!
I'm waiting to plant clematis until after I return from our trip. I need to buy more mushroom manure to amend holes, so I don't want to rush getting them into the ground until I do. I've grouped plants still in pots in a partially shaded area so DS can water during the week I'm away. I hope that helps! But if some plant doesn't make it, I won't be too upset. I know there is always another one to take its place.
Note to self--first clematis bud to open this year is Miss Bateman on May 9. She was also the first to open last year. The flower is small--not like the first ones that opened in May '03. Maybe it will grow as it opens? I'll look at it again after work this afternoon. |
