Good morning, and they're nakee! Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
First — the huge hailstorm in the national news was not in Denver; it was in the northern suburbs. All I saw were a few fat raindrops.
The wind, however, was another matter. On Monday we had gusts up to 65 mph in my area. The wind laid low some of my seedlings: the tray the cucurbits were in flipped, and the zucchetta and cucumber plants did not fare well. They were alive... barely. Shit. I put them in the ground, but also direct-sowed seeds in case they don't make it (one cucumber already has croaked).
And yesterday, with the low above 50° (and high at 94°), it was the first time I didn't have to wear socks at all. Whoo-hoo!
This pretty flower is a Byzantine gladiola. As true stock is rare and expensive ($13.50 each!) I have only one this year.
Update [2010-5-31 12:50:41 by Frankenoid]: Posted After Hours early.
Byzantine glads are cold hardy and will multiply so soon I'll have a cluster. I'm glad I'll have more — although they are much different in style than the glads the Dadster grew, they do bloom at an appropriate time. This Memorial Day weekend marks 3 years since his death. I'll remember him by planting his style of gladiolus (yes, I haven't gotten that done yet).
In between bouts of wind (Monday was the worst, but we've had wind every afternoon all week), I have been getting some work done outside.
On Wednesday I planted the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and the poor, battered squash and cucumbers. I also dumped the rest of my cauliflower seed in the ground — of the previous batch only 2 romansco broccoli survived. Seems I have weather flattening all sorts of veggies this year.
I've also been whacking away at the white lilac — a lot of the low branches were starting to overhang the walkway; others were blocking too much sunlight from the flower bed. Still need to get the deadwood trimmed out, and likely whack down a few more limbs. Then comes the fun of getting it cut to manageable length and either bundling it up for the trash, or stuffing it into a compost bin where it will break down in four or five years.
On Thursday, one of my new oriental poppies bloomed. I think this is Patty's Plum, but I'm not 100% sure. I planted several in the same color range last fall, and as the tag is down in the ground and I can't easily get to it.
Thursday after work I made progress on cleaning off the front porch. The same thing happens every year — during winter, and then continuing through spring planting, the front porch becomes a dumping ground and by late May it looks like a hoarder lives here.
I gathered up the tangle of grow-through plant supports, swept up spilled potting soil, bone meal, sand and a broken glass shelf the wind had knocked over (only broke one of three shelves). Then I got out the sprayer and started power-washing the remaining gook off the porch and from between the floor boards. It always amazes me how much crap there is packed in between the floor boards.
I'll finish up this weekend by carting the snow removal equipment, and other shovels and rakes, back to the shed (well, if I can get in the shed... next project).
More of my bearded iris are blooming — I caught this one a little past prime, but it's still lovely. In the back yard I have 4 or 5 more varities that are in full bud and ready to pop open any time now. Some of those in the back yard will have to be divided this year, but that's a month or so away.
I also need to dig my way back into the cold storage space in the basement, where dahlia tubers and gladiolus corms await. Last time I checked on them several weeks ago they were in pretty good shape; I hope that's still the case. And if not... I have more to plant. I always manage to have more to plant. With the glads, I space out the planting, so I get a spread of several weeks in their blooming. With the dahlias, well — the faster I can get them in the ground, the faster I'll get some blossoms.
Yesterday evening — along with whacking at the lilac — I finally got the timer hooked up to the soaker hose and raked up some of the crap in the shady corner. Still waiting for attention are the hayrack planters into which I'll plant begonias, but I need to pop out and get some lobelia to go in with them. The chocolate cosmos and tuberoses also need to be put in larger pots.
Then I have to mow the lawn, and plant the two dozen or so little pots of roman chamomile in the turf. I had hoped that the new tumbling composter would have arrived by this time, so I could avoid hand-mixing the grass clippings into the compost bin but alas, it's on back-order. Shit. I was told last week that it should be shipped this week, but the "order status" page on the website says it hasn't come out of the warehouse. Double shit.
By the end of the long weekend I want to have everything out of their starter pots and either in the ground or into planters. Hopefully the weather will cooperate — we're supposed to cool down into the 80s today, and down to the 70s for Sunday. Then I just have to keep my attention focused, rather than flitting from task to task as it catches my eye. There are so many little odds and ends to take care of it feels like I'm just moving shit from one place to another without really accomplishing anything.
And I need to nudge the Mister toward getting a shelter built for the generator by the electrical box, so I can get the generator out of my way in the shed. I'd really like to have him install cedar lattice along the rest of the backyard fence for climbing plants, but that's a task that's been waiting for several years and can wait for another — we really need to get the generator out of the way, and into position where it can do us some good if we lose power. The generator won't run the whole house, but it will keep his fishies warm in a winter storm, and keep the refrigerator and freezer powered.
That's what's happening here? What's going on in your gardens?