go bold with cold

The recent rain has been good for the garden.

We're going to add another garden hose spigot in front of the house, but right now, our hoses are in an unwieldy tangle behind the house, and I'm mainly making dozens of trips with a 2-gallon watering can, drenching the recent transplants to promote nice root development.  The rain was much appreciated. 

You can never tell what will happen when you dig up established plants - the whole plant, or just a part of it - and give it a new location.  Sometimes it looks perky within hours...

...and sometimes they droop for days. 

It's all a trial-and-error sort of experiment, which I love.  I've just started another, too.  When I lived in Indiana before, I had great luck with some seeds (mainly annuals), but I rarely got any perennials to grow when I planted the seeds directly into the ground.  I recently planted a few perennial seeds, and was surprised to get no germination.  I did some research, and discovered that perennial seeds need cold stratification - or a freezing/thawing cycle - to soften their shell and prepare them for germination.  No cold stratification, very little germination.  Light bulb moment!  Unfortunately, most sites recommend a 30 - 90 cold stratification process...not the sort of thing you want to read about 2 weeks before planting.  I found a shortcut method that I'm trying out.  First, you fold seeds into a damp paper towel...

...and seal it in a plastic baggie.

Two days in the refrigerator, two days in the freezer, and repeat, repeat.  Hopefully, within a week, I will have "tricked" the seeds into sprout-readiness.  They need to be, because I've plotted out a very, very ambitious garden plan.

That's right...SIX twelve foot by five foot beds, and then a series of smaller beds, which will encircle an 11' x 11' foot open space.  That will be a little 'garden room' with a fire pit and chairs.  Two dump trucks full of compost will be delivered this week, and then plowing will commence.  This is a huge project, but even if I just get the first 6 beds and the garden room space done this year, I'll be pleased.  I'm already running out of space in the new side garden, so I definitely need to spread out!

Meanwhile, in the established garden, peonies are getting ready to bloom. 

Columbines are about a foot tall and just getting ready to bud out.  I planted red, white, purple, pink, and 'mystery' colors...I can't wait to see what opens up!

Foam flowers are blooming...

There are bleeding hearts and anemones...

...and plenty of happy company.

This tiny cat has proven to be quite the hunter.  Not only has she been bringing us frequent voles, but has also been bringing RABBITS.  First a big one...

...but the past two days...BABIES.  It's so sad, but what I've read has made me feel a bit better...that wild rabbits reproduce at an alarming rate, that rabbits are terrible for gardens, and that not not only cats, but coyotes and foxes make meals of them.  And we've got those around, I guess, because I spotted this giant fellow in the barn yard last week, right before I was headed out for a walk!

I've never seen such a big, healthy one, but the wildlife biologist at the local DNR assured me that it was just a well-fed guy that still had a nice winter coat.  We're not ready to do much in the back fields yet, anyway, and they haven't gotten their spring mow.  Todd and I have both found ticks on ourselves this past week, too, so we're minimizing our time back there for now.

Staying close to the house, and enjoying the spring show...the lilacs, the unfurling red maple leaves, and the blooming apple tree.

Have a great week!

horsin' around

It's nesting season!  This female red-winged blackbird hovered anxiously as I strolled around the front pond.

The males were preening and posturing.  I'm seeing a lot of fanned tails and flashes of red these days!

A pair of wood ducks visited the pond this morning, too.  I love how beautiful they are!

Springtime robins...

...nuthatches...

grackles...

...and my favorite, the eastern towhee...

...are congregating.  Hooray!  Trees are leafing out nicely...

...and we're all feeling good with the warmer weather.

Every time I can get away, I'm in the garden. I just completed an unplanned project.  A friend gave me a handful of sedum last year.  Sedum is amazing.  Sun, shade, dry, wet...sedum doesn't care.  It will grow and spread like crazy, and it's easy to pull it out by the handful if it's crowding another plant.  I planted patches of it all over the garden last year and love the way it looks.

I thinned it out, but hated to throw away the viable plants.  I decided to use them to line the walking path in the new garden.  Sedum is so easy that it doesn't need any special care to root.  Cover the tip in soil and it will quickly generate roots.

It looks pretty rough now, but it will be a lovely thick green carpet next year!  I also dug  up some of these mystery plants that I am nearly certain are obedient plants.  They have a wicked runner system for roots.

I replanted them in the two new side gardens.

I guess we'll see what comes up in 6 - 8 weeks!

It's been chilly, but it's finally getting warmer, and there's a lot of beauty around here to enjoy.  We've had amazing sunrises...

...happy birthdays...

...and daily horse visitors.

Throw in the occasional groundhog, and it's been a pretty good season!

Even the cats are getting into the feel-good days of spring.

Have a nice week! 

chlorophyll thrill

I realized this week that we've been in our new house for about a year.  Phew!  Our final house and porch renovations are on hold until after the current coronavirus crisis is over, but I'm really pleased with what we've completed so far.  I'm most pleased, I think, with the garden. 

It's no secret that I love flowers.  I dug up nearly the entire back yard of our old place in Indianapolis and filled it with them.  I didn't do too much in South Carolina, though.  The combination of clay/rocky soil, fire ants, and hot, dry climate with lots of shade presented some unique challenges.  It was landscaped beautifully when we bought it - I maintained it, but didn't plant very much there. 

Cue our first year back in Indiana. 

When we moved here a year ago, a wide bed had been dug along the front walkway and porch. There were a few established features (2 juniper bushes, a mystery bush, some daffodils, 2 hostas, and a bleeding heart), but it was mostly overgrown and weedy.

I dug out the weeds and went to work.  Through the generosity of a few local gardeners, the Lowe's clearance section, and some nice greenhouses, I've got hundreds of new plants coming up.  Here this same space is a year later:

I can hardly believe the difference!  Here is the old front part of the bed (those green things coming up?  Weeds.):

And after:

Another before:

And now:

The old garden bed stopped several yards short of the porch edge, for some reason.  I extended it all the way to the end.  The old front:

And now:

There are many plants that are only an inch high right now.  This garden is going to be stuffed and lush in about a month!  I'm so pleased.  I also added this side garden last year:

You can't tell from this angle, but it's quite large.  I've only got about six things there now, but it will be full soon enough.  A wind storm destroyed several of my little growing greenhouses (argh!), but I managed to save several things.  I transplanted 48 - yes, 48! - deluxe tall snapdragons this week.

I also managed to save some hollyhocks.

Our apple tree will be blossoming in about a week, and the lilac is about ready to pop:

Late spring flowers are opening, too, like this Jacob's Ladder:

It's a daily delight to me, going out early in the morning before anyone is stirring and poking around in the garden.  It is a happy family link (and one of the few that I have): my great-grandma, who was a prolific gardener, could frequently be found amongst her flowers with her cats and little dog. 

I've got the cat part down!

I've got some interesting things happening there, for sure.  One thing I'm monitoring is this:

They're coming up all across the front bed - hundreds of them.  It reminds me of obedient plant...and I *do* have obedient plant (but just two) in that area.  If I'm right, then I'll have a glorious display like this: 

(photo credit:  The Spruce)

Or, I'm going to have a ton of weeds to pull up.  I guess I'll just have to be patient!

For Easter this year, I dropped the ball a bit.  No big meal, no special flowers, no Easter basket.  I've been distracted, and I'm also severely limiting my trips to town - so no greenhouses, no spontaneous grocery store run.  I decided to make miniature carrot cakes (carrots, spring, rabbits eat carrots, Easter Bunny = rabbit...get it?).  I found a great recipe at Desserts for Two and used my Easter egg sprinkles and special (Easter) bunny plates.

So delicious and it added just the right festive touch.  Bosewichte was impressed, for sure!

Have a great week!