Today was the first day in a week that I have been able to work in the garden. It has been raining (at times very heavily) for the last three days. Both Ken and I spent about three hours outside this afternoon. Ken sifted compost to put on the hell strip and then applied seed. It's already looking much better. Some of the seed that he sowed last week is coming up.

I put down newspaper and then applied cocoa mulch over it in the butterfly bush bed and the bed behind the house. Next week, I'll plant the six pink Wave petunias in the latter area. I potted the two Salmon petunias in hanging pots but I can't find the correct hanger for one of them. Also, I pinched back four of the mums that I put in the end of the large back yard bed and applied cocoa mulch around them.

Even though I wasn't able to garden last week, I did buy some materials that I needed. I got a new blue gazing ball, a large pot, more cocoa mulch, and another bag of potting soil.

More flowers are beginning to bud and to bloom.

• The pinks have lots of buds and some of them are beginning to flower.




• Today, I counted more than a dozen buds on the irises.

• The columbines that have come from seeds that I have sown are budding and just starting to bloom.




• The coral bells are flowering.

The radishes that I planted three weeks ago should soon be getting large enough to pull out. I tried one yesterday but it was still too small. It did provide a taste though and it was delicious! I thinned the radishes that I planted over a week ago but I might have to thin them again. The carrots are starting to come up and the onions are sending up green shoots. The most surprising crop has been the potatoes. The leaves are growing rapidly and will soon have to be covered with more soil.