Soooo, I got some grow bags.  They seem like they're going to work very well, but they are not pretty.  I mean, it's a cinder block wall, so it really can't look worse, but, yeah, it's just a big black pile of plasticy felt.  Filled it up with regular potting mix, 2 strawberry plants per pocket, and some of the Thunburgia seedlings I started forever ago.  They look SAD!  They are not nearly as green as they should be, and leggy as fuck.  So, if they die in there, I won't be surprised.  I don't know if they'll get enough sun?  like, 5 hours?  6?  It's on the outside of the patio wall.  I got a vertical one for the inside that will just be flowers, I think.

Raised Bed Time:  Drake took me to Home Depot in his fun new truck, and helped me carry a fuck ton of garden soil in, to put in the bed.  (Garden Soil is WAY heavier than Potting Mix)  Fuck Ton = 5 cubic feet.  I thought I was going to need more, but after getting two of the 2 cubic feet bags into the cart, I was like, absolutely not.  5 pretty much did it, although I may need another small bag later.

Like a dummy, I had started the early Spring veggies already, although later than I should. (DBNY- start that shit in like, February)  But more importantly, I hadn't put any soil in, so they'd started to grow about 6 inches lower, and I pretty much had to bury them.  I left a little space for the radishes, because they were actually growing, and they seem like good kids, and it's not their fault.  But, in three weeks, I'm throwing another bag of dirt on em either way, and planting basil in that spot.

After spending a shameful amount of time drawing to-scale-kind-of diagrams of my raised bed of graph paper to try to work out the best plan, I think I finally committed to one.  It was kind of dictated by what trellis sizes I'd bought.

Chives came back beautifully from last year.  I planted the Swiss Chard, Parsley, Cilantro, and Thyme.  I'd like to add another Thyme and another Cilantro.  The space where the radishes are now will be the Basils.  I want pretty much as many as I can fit.  I should definitely not plant any Basil until the weekend after Mother's Day (May 17th).  

The front bed looks so sad!  Liriope is all shorn and stumpy, just a few scant Daffodils.  I guess we need some evergreen perennials in there?  It just looks like such shit.

I decided to plant the Rosemary in its own pot, between the compost bin and the air conditioner.  It gets butt loads of sun, the container will drain well, and it will be pretty well protected from cold winds later on.  I want a perennial rosemary bush, goddamn it!  I also really want to get more Creeping Phlox,  make a nice border with it.  

2014 so far (or, Don't start no shit, won't be no shit.)

March 16th: I'd started starting some seeds.  Do Better Next Year (DBNY) Tip- Buy a grow light.  Burpee has one with a stand for $150 that's 12" x 30" and would fit perfectly on a shelf in the laundry room, and they do little promotion things all the time, so, just saying.

8 little pots of Thunburgia (new, Wedgewood), 4 Cilantro, 2 Rosemary and 2 Thyme (old, Burpee).
Several (like, 12?) of "Flying Saucer" (striped) Morning Glory (new, Wedgewood)

Used Wedgewood Black Gold Seed Starting Mix, and peat pots.

Cut back one liriope, pulled out a lot of leaves, especially around saddy sad sad Hellebores.  (DBNY- prune hellebores back in early March, so they grow big and pretty)

Spring Bulbs- Hyacinths were "crowning?" daffodils were starting to peak out.

March 30th: I went to California for like 2 weeks and everything was fine!  I covered the peat pots with an upside down plastic box- I worried it wouldn't allow much light in, it's a little translucent, but the Morning Glory were all sprouted and grew like 4 inches.  (DBNY: it's not good for them to be tall- they're tall because they're not getting enough light and this is the only way they know how to get your attention.  Stop being obsessed with tallness.)  Last year, it seemed like it took a thousand years (literally) for anything to even germinate, and I had stuff on the ground in front of the glass doors.  It's probably warmer on my desk upstairs than on the tile up against a glass wall.

Even though it rained like fuck all weekend, I sowed some Arugula and Radish seeds in the raised bed

April 6th: Started 12 pots of Zinnias (multi color, cut and come again), 6 blue Morning Glory, 6 Moonflower, 3 green Zinnias (all Wedgewood)

Sowed Kale in raised bed, cut back more liriope, "planted" begonia bulbs (tubers?) in small pots inside, to hopefully get them started.

SO MANY FUCKING PANSIES!  Bought a flat of pansies at Wedgewood.  Basically crammed the window box full of pansies, then put some in that raggedy-ass terra cotta pot that sits next to the steps, then pulled out those wooden rectangular planters that look nice but kind of fail, and put the rest in those.

Tried to make a nice container arrangement with pansies and oxalis.  Oxalis is an indoor plant, ok?  Creeping Jenny came back nicely!

April 11th:  Maybe it was listening to so much Mike McGrath, but I really tried to get the compost started.  At this point it was just a pile of garbage.  I eventually added more leaves, but it needed a lot of manual mixing (manual = with my hands.)

Planted a little bed of gladioli in the side, right in front of the AC.  Put in a new soaker hose for the side bed and raised bed.

April 18th:  Started more Zinnia seeds.

April 20th:  Planted a bunch of Gladioli and 3 Black Eyed Susans.  Daffodils are starting to bloom.  Day Lillies are coming up and they look healthy and all.

So, what have we learned....?  I should just bite the bullet and buy a grow light and just go ahead and commit to being That Guy.  I haven't yet successfully started something from seed indoors I couldn't have just as easily direct sown (green beans and nasturtiums, basically.  Seeds that are the size of marbles, that are recommended for teaching 6 year olds how plants happen.)  Since I don't have a lot of space to grow vegetables, I'm really more interested in growing annual flowers from seed, particularly ones I never see in garden centers.  The Morning Glory and Moonflower in particular I should just start the seeds in whatever container will eventually go outside.  I'll get way more in there, too.  I don't know about the Thunburgia and the Zinnia.  I guess I'll see what happens.