The bulbs and perennials are responding to the sunny weather we have been having even though today was only in the high 40s. The tulip bulbs that I planted last fall in the brick bed in the front yard are coming up. Also, I can now see the blue scilla flowers developing in the bed by the front porch. The minature daffodils are popping up in the bulb bed that I have in the back yard as well as the daffodils that I planted two years ago in the main bed.



Scillas Budding

Yesterday, I noticed suckers coming up around the weeping cherry tree. When we first bought this house this tree was doing very poorly in the backyard where it was surrounded by the taller trees which were blocking the sun. Ken dug out an overgrown tree in the front and replaced it with this weeping cherry. It has been doing great in its new location and has had the most beautiful display of flowers every spring. But I was concerned when I noticed all of the suckers.

I have just received the newest edition of Dave's Garden Newsletter today and it contained an article, Understanding Grafted Ornamental Trees, by Toni Leland. In the article she says that suckers are a common problem with grafted trees like weeping cherries. She states that it's important to be aggressive about removing the suckers so that they don't drain the strength from the tree. Also, the soil needs to be cleared from around the base of the trunk so that the graft union is above ground. Throughout the years, I have added a lot of cocoa mulch to this area and it may have covered the graft union. I plan on taking care of this problem in the next few days.

Today, I also started two different types of hot peppers from seed for Ken. One of them is Jalapeno M (Burpee) and is described as being hot and zesty. The other one is Anaheim Chili (Ferry-Morse) and is good for drying. Both of them can be picked when they are green or red and mature in 75 to 78 days. At the end of May or beginning of June, I'll harden them off before planting them outside. I grew these same seeds last year (these are left-overs) with successful results. Ken is still eating the peppers that he froze in the fall.

I also transplanted the four Sungold tomatoes into larger four cell packs. The roots were getting long and coming out of the peat pellets.