the beat goes on

So say famed philosophers S. Bono and Cher, and it seems to be true.  The season is advancing, days are getting warmer, and things are greening up.  We're seeing more living things...after a quiet winter, mice are infiltrating the barn, looking for a comfortable spot to make a nest.

Todd was moving some large rocks and uncovered this salamander, the first that I'd ever seen here!  I carefully carried him to a safer place.

Spring peepers are singing both day and night.  This little guy was giving a great solo performance by our front door!

More delights in the established garden.  The mystery daffodils - one set, anyway - have revealed themselves to be tiny, delicate flowers that are perfect for bud vases.

New growth is continually popping out at the base of my perennials.

Love the color on this perennial geranium!

Of course, I'm very busy with my growing seedlings, nearly to the exclusion of all other things.  I wish I wasn't so single-minded with my focus.  I've joked that I'm a "serial monogamist" with my hobbies, throwing myself into one at a time, but always cycling back through the others eventually.  

Executive decision made:  these guys are being hardened off this week (left outside for long intervals to get used to the environment) and will go in the ground before April 1st.  Snapdragons, stock, honeywort, calendula, and "missing tag" things - something that's becoming more frequent.

I checked my winter sow containers and decided that bachelor buttons and clarkia were ready to go in the ground.

Shovel on compost, work into the soil, lay down thick brown paper as a weed preventative, cut big Xs for the seedlings, plant seedlings, cover area with mulch, water...phew.  It's hard work, and I ache all over today, but it's nice to have things actively in the ground and growing!

More peeking into winter sow containers showed that some seeds were sown way, way too thickly...in particular my poppies and my nicotiana.

I should just leave them alone, let them grow, and fish out a couple of big, healthy seedlings in a month.  But that's not my style.  This obsessive poppy fan couldn't let a single seedling wither due to overcrowding, so I pricked them all out into separate cells.  

Ninety poppies.  Ninety!  Where am I going to put ninety poppies?!?  If they survive, that is.  Tiny seedlings don't like having roots disturbed.  Possibly, this relocation will kill every single one.  But I had to take the chance.  It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, birds singing cheerfully and Claudia rubbing against my ankles.  I consider it a pleasant hour well-spent.  

I've also spent time with my ailing plants, like this nasturtium, which got singed in the heat within its plastic container.  Will it survive?  Maybe, but I have to give it a chance to recover.

If it does thrive, these will be gracing my bud vases all summer long...so I had to try!

photo courtesy of Baker Creek

I made every possible mistake with my dahlia tubers this fall.  I put them away while still a bit moist, so many grew mold.  Most shriveled.  I left them in our freezing cold garage instead of our moderately cold attic.  Still, I decided not to toss them.  Taking a chance, I brought them inside and let them acclimate to the warmer temperatures.  And...they started to bud out.  

I split them and potted them up, and now I've got close to 25 tubers throwing up sprouts, which I'll chop off and plant. 

I'll have a nice dahlia patch this year, I hope!  Last year, despite being planted late, left in pots too long, and positively starved of water and nutrients, they were beautiful.

Although I'm having a persistent and irritating problem with seedling droop...

...I'm learning a lot, and very optimistic about the future of my little (?) cutting garden. 

Have a great week!

sprouts 'n shouts

Happiness is...

...my spring garden.  I will admit to being a little flower-crazy over this past week.  I've fussed over my greenhouse seedlings (germination 75%!  Hooray!!).  I've micromanaged the new growth in the front garden, splitting up clumps of ferns and spacing out my columbines.  I've mercilessly weeded.  I've worried over a dry spell and grumbled over low nighttime temperatures.  In short, it's been heavenly.

Only a gardener would understand as I bend over some mysterious green growth, puzzling over its identity.  "Is this a weed, or did I plant this?!?"  I ask Todd.  He smiles and nods. 

He doesn't understand my euphoria over sturdy peony shoots.  "These were flattened by the drought last year!"  I inform him.  "Absolutely dead!"  I show him my coreopsis.  "These can be divided next year."  I gloat.  "And wait until we build a potting shed and I can start using rooting hormone!"  Since he's not a "flower person," he politely admires and says yes, I've never seen such a healthy euphorbia and oh, definitely, that probably is a coneflower.  In short, he does exactly the right thing.

I am especially delighted because I've built this big garden from scratch.  When we moved in last year, the only things planted were a few hostas, a bleeding heart, and these daffodils (and weeds!).  I'm sure I've got at least 100 plants coming up now, and that doesn't include what's coming up in the greenhouses.  I've got 30 columbines alone!  Squeee!!!

I did have to do something regrettable, though - pricking out my chamomile.  "Pricking out" means thinning your seedlings, as they are likely to be too close.  That means they're competing for nutrients, space, and water, and are not going to thrive.  My chamomile went crazy this year:

I hate to lose even one plant, so pricking out is difficult for me.  Even though I have plenty of chamomile...even though I still have a few seeds left, and it grows easily if you broadcast the seed...I tried to save as many plants as I could.

This is a dangerous time for young seedlings.  First, they have to survive the upheaval of the pricking out.  Then they have to adjust to a new planting - which means that, until their roots fan out a bit, they are going to struggle to draw up water and nutrients.  Finally, they have to deal with "hardening off," or getting used to the sun, outside the comfort and protection of their little greenhouse space.  We have cold nights and sometimes fairly warm days, so this will make them tough - if they survive.  Finally, they'll have to make it through yet another relocation - to their final destination, my garden.  Fingers crossed that I have a healthy crop!

Todd and I have been working all around the property this week.  We walked the fields, trying to decide where to put the fences.

We attacked the fence line next to the house, spending hours and hours pulling up blackberry brambles and dried weeds.

We're both covered in scratches, but it's worth it to clear out that mess!  On our rambles, we discovered...redbud trees!

Another mystery tree about to flower...

Pollinators out and about!

And an entire slope of trillium/trout lilies by the stream leading to the pond!  They should be blooming within a week.

It's also heartening to see so many birds out and about.

And, another great harbinger of spring - our apple tree is starting to bud out!  I can't wait for the blossoms.

Although I'm irritatingly hampered by my sore shoulder, I love this springtime work.  I can't wait to see the fruits of our labor in a couple of months.

Have a great week!