It's April!

The first few days of April have been gorgeous. We even broke a record the other day. The high was 8o degrees and the old record was 79 degrees.

We have been cleaning out the beds since I didn't do this last fall. I prefer to let the dead stems capture leaves so that there is a cover of mulch on the ground. This is especially important during the winters when there is little insulating snow fall.

Yesterday, I planted four pots of violas. I also took Ken's old grill (he bought a new one last week) and put it in the back garden. I planted one Marguerite daisy, three trailing Lysimachia "Aurea" and six violas in it. I dug the Marguerite daisy out of the butterfly house bed and took the Lysimachias out of the pots that they were growing in last summer. After the violas die off, I will put another type of annual in that space. Ken said that he when I told him that I was going to use the grill as a planter that he didn't think that he liked the idea but after he saw it he changed his mind.

Ken and I also clipped back the butterfly bushes and the clematises. Last week I checked out the two clematises and they had no new growth. A few days later they were loaded with buds. Ken hated to cut them back but I assured him that they would be much stronger if he did.

I want to keep track of the purchases that I make. However, I think that I will use a separate posting for this.

It's Spring 2010!

The weather during the first few weeks of March has been great. It has been in the 50s and 60s during the daytime and not much cooler at night.

Actually, the weather this winter has been mild compared to the last five or six years. We have had average snowfall--most of it came during February. I know that snow can be a great insulator for the plants but I hate driving in it early in the morning.

All of the bulbs and perennials are responding to the warmth. I'm not sure if that is a good thing. Like the saying goes, "In like a lamb, out like a lion." I'm hoping that we don't get a serious cold streak that kills off the new growth.



The small bulbs near the front door are up and beginning to bloom. I took this picture yesterday and this morning I noticed that the flowers are beginning to open. The purple crocuses are also starting to open up.


Even more surprising is the fact that both of the butterfly bushes are filled with foliage. This rarely happens so early in the year.

Ken is going to take down the two brick beds--the one that is in the middle of the front yard and the one surrounding the maple tree in the back yard. The bricks will then be used to build two raised beds in the back yard. They will be used to plant vegetables such as green beans and Brussels sprouts.

I've purchased most of the seed packets that I need for vegetables and flowers. I'll also use some of the seeds that I have left over from last year. I haven't started to grow any of the vegetables under lights yet; I decided to wait until after Easter. But if the mild weather continues, I will plant lettuce and radishes later on next week.

Ideas From Garden Gate Magazine

Today is sunny and in the high 40s. No sign of snow yet. YEAH! Ken commented this morning that some of the flowers are still blooming.

I took out four issues of Garden Gate magazine from the library on Tuesday. During the last few days, I spent some time making notes about ideas that I gleaned from them.

• The author of an article about mums suggests that they be divided every year. I rarely divide my mums unless I am going to move them but next spring I think I will try it. The article also discussed how to "hide" mums when they aren't blooming and then how to use them to hide plants that have finished blooming. Last year, I planted mums among the daylilies but the daylilies blocked their sun light and they didn't grow very well. I want to try this again next spring but after the daylilies have finished blooming, I will cut their foliage back to the ground. The author also said not to uncover the mulch around mums too soon in the spring or else the emerging leaves could be killed back by frost.
• I am planning on using the grill that Ken is replacing for a pot. I still haven't decided whether or not to cut down the legs but I do know that I will put it somewhere in the daylily garden. I will dig a yellow marguerite daisy and place it in the center of the pot. Its height and continuous bloom should be a great center accent. I'm going to wait and see what extra plants I have in the garden before I decide what else to put in it. The magazine had a beautiful picture of a pot filled with purple flowers. The pot was the top of a grill! It looked like the top had been spray painted.
• Another article discussed zinnias. I bought several packages of Cut and Come Again zinnias last year but I never used them. There's an orange Profusion zinnia that I was thinking of growing and then transplanting in the front of the house. The Profusion series is short and mildew resistant.
• I would like to plant annuals in the front of the daylily bed where I now have coral bells. (I plan on taking out the black plastic edging around the butterfly bush bed and planting the coral bells around the perimeter of the bed.) Perhaps, I will sow zinnia and cosmos seeds in that area.
• The bleeding heart that I planted last spring kept it's leaves all summer. However, the magazine had a great idea how to hide plants that have gone dormant. They laid bricks around the plant and then placed a pot on them. There was enough room to allow air to circulate and for water to get to the roots.
• There was an article about berms that interested Ken. He started to make his berm last year but never finished it. Now he's thinking of making the berm even bigger. He'll use the hostas that are planted in the bed surrounding the tree stump to fill in most of the bed. I wonder if any of the astilbes are still growing in the back by the fence. (I had "discarded" them but they have grown in this area for the last several years.
• Another great idea came from a reader. She uses pipe insulation to cover the metal wires of tomato cages. That way the wire doesn't cut into the tomato branches.

October and November: Where Did The Time Go?

It's the end of November and the weather has been great! The daytime temperatures have been averaging in the 50s and 60s. Amazing.

We cleaned up the vegetable beds in October. Ken dug a lot of mulched leaves in to the tomato bed so that it should be ready to plant in May or June. Next year, I want to put in less tomato plants so that there is more room between them. I would like to plant three 4th of Julys, two Sungolds, two Celebrities and four Golden Tangerines. Also, we definitely need to construct sturdy wire cages to put around the tomatoes.

Ken didn't put any mulched leaves into the other vegetable garden beds but he plans to add them in the spring. He has also decided to plant less hot pepper plants. The Cherry Bomb peppers did not work out this year but that may have been due to the fact that the weather was cooler than normal. Even so, he has decided that he won't plant them again. He did get a great crop of Serrano peppers though.

I ended up planting 80 Darwin hybrid Golden Oxford tulips in the front brick bed. I didn't have a chance to purchase the bulbs until the end of October so the selection wasn't the best. However, they are a beautiful bright yellow color with a tinge of red around the edges. They grow to a height of 20 to 24 inches and flower in midspring. I bought them at Home Depot and they were 25% off of the list price of $9.98 for a pack of 40. I did look at some other nurserys before I purchased these but there were few packs of tulips left and they were not the colors that I was interested in.

We had a arborist come out in October and evaluate the trees in our back yard. He hired the arborist to trim one of the maple trees and to insert a metal bar in the pine tree to prevent further splitting of the trunk. However, Ken decided to cut down one of the maple trees that was in very poor health. With the help a neighbor, he was able to cut it down to a stump. I have plans to use the stump as the base of a bird bath.