Let’s start to Catch Up…

The Greeter and front door planters for spring

It’s been a long time since our last chat. April 23rd to be exact. Spring flowers were bursting on the scene, daffodil harvest for the “Growing Kindness Project” bouquets was in full swing (and the project taking lots more time than I’d anticipated.) I think I told you that I was frantically preparing for several group visits to the gardens, and a big luncheon as well. Seeding, transplanting, and up-potting were taking over entire days. Tuck in the preparations for the garden club plant sale and erratic weather that kept most of the 5,000 plants growing in the basement IN the basement requiring a lot of babying. Because of anticipated groups visiting and the GKP, there were lots of earlier than normal in-ground plantings that also required frost cloth on, frost cloth off, frost cloth on, …well, you can easily get the picture. This old lady took on a bit more than she could handle!

Last of the daffodils with first of the tulip bouquets

So, here’s the beginning of the update. On April 24th Mother Nature decided that it was time for SUMMER, and temperatures soared into the mid and upper 80’s with drying winds. The plants that like cooler temperature (calendula, stock, ranunculus, pac choi, etc.) were suddenly stressed and unhappy. Frost cloth and plastic had to come off everything. Daffodils came and went so quickly, that not all of them made it into bouquets as planned. The early, mid and late tulips nearly all opened at once, and they suffered as the wind whipped them right and left.

And deadheading…did I mention deadheading?

The warmer weather also meant it was planting time, so I was desperately trying to get the baby perennials, statice, Bells of Ireland, more snapdragons and other things in the ground. It also brought up the weeds which required removal.

So many plants needed to go into the ground!

Of course, as soon as new things were planted, the rabbits had a new diet! I don’t think I’ve ever had so much rabbit damage, and it still continues despite over $100 in Liquid Fence applied. I think they feel it’s just “salad dressing!” The yarrow, sunflowers, giant yellow hyssop and rudbeckias mentioned in a prior post were simply appetizers. As soon as the strawflowers and statice were planted (inside the netting fence!) they disappeared.

Web flats over newly planted statice finally thwarted those rascally rabbits!

The ground finally dried enough that I could get loads of mulch where I needed it, so the potager’s paths got a much needed face-lift. Shoveling mulch is a slower process each year as I age. Next year, I think a helper would be a great idea!

That’s enough for now, because today’s job list is waiting and some things just can’t be put off any longer! Hope you have a great day, wherever you are!

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