Heat Wave

It is so damn hot, and it has been for the last like, 2 weeks, and another week coming up.  I don't care enough about any of my plants to go outside and deal with them.  I've let the cherry tomato in the pot just die.  It's too far gone, and I've gotten plenty out of it already.  The squirrels are going to be the ones disappointed.

The green bean plants have been dead for a long time.  I'm not really sure what happened there, because they are technically in the ground.  It seemed to happen really quickly.  I'm guessing it was some kind of weird green bean thing, like Mike said, if they are touched when they are wet, they can just die instantly and it doesn't make sense.

The other two tomatoes are doing ok.  I should probably water them.  I actually have not had any issues with these.  They do not show any signs of disease or dying from the bottom up from Vertascilium wilt (or whatever it is).  And this is the third year growing in the same place.  Since I'm not having any issues, I think I should be able to get away with another year in that same place.  And I will probably grown the same varieties, since I won't have to buy new seeds.

Of course, if I grow these again, I will be a lot more fastidious with the labeling.  Somehow, it seems like everyone ended up with Sun Gold cherry tomatoes.  I will certainly grow the Brandy Boy again.  I guess I'll grow Sun Golds again, why not.  And I'll try to grow the Patio tomato, maybe it will actually make it this time.  I think the big tray with 15 cells is a good approach, although I clearly do not need 15 tomato plants, even if I'm going to give away most of them.  I started them super early, like end of January, and I would instead aim for mid February.

The soaker hose that I have out there is starting to fall apart.  I think it's broken in the middle.  I have a new one and I've been meaning to set it up.  Of course I'm not going to do that today because it's insane out there.  Maybe when the tomatoes die out and I get rid of them, that would be a good time to get the hose out of there.

Most of my herbs have died as well, because of my intense neglect.  Same with all the potted plants I got from my coworker when she moved.  I basically just left them out on a hot patio to die.  And most of them were in pots too small for them to begin with.

The hot peppers are doing quite well.  The habenero is pumping out peppers like it's its job.  I made a hot sauce yesterday with about 8 peppers.  I really need to bring home some gloves from work for the next time I handle those things.  The "Salsa" peppers are great, actually.  They aren't so hot, so you can roast them or sautee them or whatever.  I put one in the hot sauce.  Only problem is that the plant is kind of sprawling around and sagging.  The Habenero is actually a beautiful plant, it's like a nice little tree with a canopy.  Of course I would like to keep them over the winter so I need to really wash them off in the fall before I bring them inside.

And now, of course, I'm starting to think about a fall garden.  Those are the things that are more fun to grow, and to eat, and there's more variety of what I want to grow.  Some of the longer growing plants, like Radicchio, should probably be going in pretty soon.  But of course, the tomatoes still have a lot of time.  They ought to be able to go through most of September.

I think I will use the bed where the green beans were to plant some fall veggies that need to go in soon.  That means I need to pull out the dead beans of course, but I have a ton of strawberries in there as well.  They have never really done anything good as far as I can tell.  I could just throw them all out.  Or I could try to save them in containers, but then what, plant them somewhere in the spring?  Maybe if I get a strawberry pot or something.  I guess I will try to put them in containers and keep them, and then throw them out later when they're all dead.

So what do I need to start?  Radicchio is the longest growing, it says it needs 90 days, so if I started it now, it wouldn't be ready until November.  So, yeah, I guess I should start it really soon.  I don't have any seed starting mix at the moment, so I guess I could just use potting mix.  Or I could go buy some.  Nah, let's start some today, that sounds like a good project.  I guess I should start two 6-packs, so 12.  Then maybe next week I will start the Kale.  Maybe in 2 weeks I will finally get out there and clean out that bed.  As soon as these new plants start to grow at all, they should be moved into the ground.  Also, I think I should empty the compost bin into that little bed.

Once the heat breaks, I will probably freshen up the soil in the gutter garden, and plant some leaf lettuce.  Supposedly that would be good, because the warm temperature will get them growing faster but they will be ready to pick when it starts to get cooler.  I also want to grow some Romaine lettuce and some Bok Choy.  The Romaine is like, 70 days, so I guess I would start that in September.  The Bok Choy should probably be started at the end of September, since it's a 30 day veggie.

You know, for things that are harvested as whole heads, maybe I ought to stagger them a little.  Not that they ripen up all at once, but if I am growing 12 Radicchio, I don't really want them all to come within a week.

I am worried about the Tomato.  It doesn't look all that healthy.  I think it might just be suffering from the heat wave and lack of water and all that.  It does have some good sized tomatoes on it I guess, but they are still very green and hard.  I looked up the days to maturity, and it's like 11 weeks.  We are at 8 weeks now, so it makes sense, I have 3 more weeks before I should expect a good tomato.  That's a little disappointing, I'm not going to get tomatoes until August?  Well, I can do math, I knew that, and I decided it would be worth the wait.  I'm starting to get some yield of Sun Golds, so that's cool.  Their Days to Maturity would suggest they need another week.

The Habenero is starting to put on some more mass, and lots of flowers, so maybe I'll get a nice yield.  And then I should make some nice Habenero hot sauce and I think I found a good recipe.

PEPPER JOE'S ISLAND HOT SAUCE (A 10 ON THE PEPPER JOE HEAT SCALE)

• 12 habanero peppers
• 2 carrots
• 1 large onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 TB salt
• 1/4 TB white pepper
• 1 lime
• 8 TB white vinegar

Cut habanero peppers in half and remove seeds. Drop in boiling water for 30 seconds to blanche.(handle with care) Remove peppers and put onion, carrots and garlic cloves into boiling water and cook until tender. Squeeze juice from lime and combine all ingredients and put in blender. First chop, then blend at high speed. done!

Just put in wide-mouth jar and store in fridge. Spoon out this hot sauce as needed. Delicious on cheesesteaks, hamburgers, pizza, or added to soups, chili, tomato sauce. Also can scrub garage floors.

The "Garden Salsa" peppers are going nuts. I would really like them to ripen up and turn red, but they are slow to do that, and they are so long that they are hitting the soil.

July 4th- where we at

Food Plants:

I started getting some Sun Golds to snack on.  The one in the container is heavy with them, so I should probably tie it up to the wall a little more.  Its leaves look kind of off.  They have a lot of pale spots on them?  I don't know what that's about.  The one in the raised bed is huge, of course.  I think they have the same bio mass, just different shapes.  The one in the raised bed should probably be tied up to the cage a little more because it's getting all rangy and messy looking.

The Brandy Boy is obviously not as big but it is putting on some nice sized green tomatoes.  They're kind of weird shapes, and one of them looks like it split, really early in its growth.  I know that's because I have been watering really sporadically.  I'm watering now, but I need to get on a better schedule with it, like watering twice a week.

By the way, today I heard Mike McGrath say that there's nothing wrong with watering in the evening as long as it's at the roots and not wetting the leaves.  I always knew that was true but I'm glad he said it out loud.

The beans are growing I guess, but not much yet.  I really should have planted more of them, because they aren't really covering the trellis even.  It's a month late to plant more, but I guess I could if I wanted to.

Also around there are the Strawberries.  They keep putting out lots of runners and they're soon going to fill that space entirely, which is what I was going for, but they don't produce any berries really.  Probably what I need to do is add some form of fertilizer, or some rock phosphate.  I don't really know what else I need to do with them,  They get a lot of sun...

The herbs in the pots are doing ok.  They were real dried out yesterday, yet another thing I need to get on a good watering schedule.  The Rosemary that I have in a pot on the ground is fine but it's starting to get totally shaded from the tomato, so I might need to move it.

The herbs in the raised bed are fine, of course.  The Rosemary is great, the Parsley is finally taking off, and the Chives are going strong.  The Chives are the only thing I've really used recently.  The Sage is doing fine as well, although it's practically ornamental.

I am missing not having my Swiss Chard.  But in reality, I don't have space for it.  The two tomatoes take up the majority of the bed.

The Peppers seem pretty good.  The "salsa" pepper is producing like crazy.  There were 7 very large peppers on it today.  I picked one, because it was hitting the soil below it and starting to curl in an unattractive way.  I am leaving the rest on there because I want them to ripen up and turn red.

The Habenero hasn't put on any peppers at all.  It's just now putting on some flowers.

I cleaned out some trays from the worm bin and put down the castings around the peppers, because I thought they could use some extra nutrition.

What should I have done differently?  Or rather, what will I do differently next year?

• I will mark the Tomatoes with popsicle sticks so I don't mix them up again.  I really wish I had the container tomato in the container, not the biggest, craziest tomato out there.  And now I have no real idea how the Fresh Salsa tomatoes worked out.  I can find out from my work friends who have them and maybe I can even adopt the one who is being left behind.  
• I will space the Tomatoes wider in the raised bed.  I think I spaced them more than I did last year, but I would put the one on the end right up against the edge, more or less, because it has plenty of room to grow out that way.  
• I will try a real Heirloom, maybe?  I guess that depends on how much success I have with my Brandy Boys.  If I can pull that off, maybe I can handle a real Brandywine.  
• Plant more beans.  I'm not sure why I was so stingy with them. 
• Start some Swiss Chard.  I'm not sure where I will put it, but I do wish I had it.  

Containers:

The window box is doing really well.  The Calibrachoa look really nice and really healthy, but not as many flowers as I would like.  So I mixed up some Miracle Grow flower food and dumped that on there.  I'm worried I did too high of a concentration.  I also have one Elf Sunflower that is getting ready to pop open.  The others that I started in there are going pretty well.  

The wall planter is such a nightmare.  The Calibrachoa in there have never really bloomed.  I think I should dig up some more Creeping Jenny to put in there.  Of course the tall spiky thing is doing fine.  I think those things might be fake.  

In the Woolly Pockets, the Sweet Potato Vine is doing ok but not growing that fast.  I did take some Creeping Jenny out of the ground and plopped it in there.  I think it will do ok.  I should probably do some more.  Once it gets established in there, I think I might fertilize them because they are just not growing.  

Side Bed: 

I cut the roses way back, because they were mostly dead heads, and lots of tall spindly stems.  But overall that bed is a total mess.  

Mid-June Updates

Well, the good news is the Tomato in the container on the patio is blowing up.  It's a monster.  The bad news is that this is now clearly showing itself to be a Sun Gold Cherry Tomato.  So I mixed up the plants, perhaps even earlier in the process than I thought, and I've got a Sun Gold on the patio and a Sun Gold in the raised bed.  And I do not have a nice Fresh Salsa determinate tomato at all.  The Sun Gold on the patio in the container is probably bigger than the one in the raised bed.  That's probably  because it gets sun forever, could be because the soil was mostly new, or because I planted it a week or two before the ones in the raised bed.  So I'm going to end up eating a lot of cherry tomatoes.  Good thing I love those little fuckers.

The raised bed tomatoes look good, of course.  The intentional Sun Gold is growing just fine, I ate one off of it a week ago, and I've been trying to force it into the cage.  I did end up breaking off a few stalks in that process.  The Brandy Boy is also growing really nicely, it's a much more upright, thick stalked plant, it actually looks kind of nice.  I guess it has been in the ground for 5 weeks (35 days) and it's rated at 75 days to maturity.  So I should be patient, I know it is going to be slow and that was part of my planning when I picked varieties.  Although the Sun Gold is supposed to be 65 days to maturity and I've gotten one already.  (One cherry tomato!  Woo!)  So I think it's safe to say I got a little head start by starting these tomatoes in January and planting them into larger pots.

The Green Beans are starting to grow and twine around the trellis.  I did not plant a ton of seeds, and I was kind of lazy, and I didn't even plant any of the purple ones.  I love growing the purple ones but they look kinda sad after they are cooked.

The Romaine lettuce I had in the raised bed was growing like, 3 feet tall, so I cut all those down to the stalk.  I feel like I heard they were going to grow back from the stumps but I don't know if that is true.

Herbs all look great.  I've been trying to remember to water them, especially the ones that are under the roof on the plant stand.  The Rosemary in the larger pot looks great.  And in the raised bed I have an old Rosemary from last year, and a Parsley and Sage that I bought, and the Sage is growing but the Parsley is really slow.  The Chives came back but they look pretty sparse, I don't know about it.

I also have two pepper plants- one is a Habenero and one is some other weird thing, called a salsa pepper or something, and we ate one last weekend and it is just not hot enough to be much use.  But those plants look great as well.

Ornamentals:

The shady stuff in the patio bed looks pretty good.  The coleus are growing well and I just went and pinched back the flowers.  The begonias look good but they haven't grown as big as I would like.  In the Woolly Pockets, I've got the Sweet Potato Vine, which is growing but something is taking little bites out of the leaves.  I think it's ok, I think they will take off and outgrow it.  I am thinking of digging up some Creeping Jenny and planting it in there as well to give it some variety and some nice trailing stuff.

In the wall planter, I've got two Calibrachoa, the striped ones, and they don't look so great.  I have watered that thing about once a week but I think I should be doing it more often.  Obviously that tall spiky thing looks fine.  I put a small Creeping Jenny cluster in there, and I think it's still alive but I might add some more.

In the window box I have three Calibrachoa, and they look great.  I have one of the Elf Sunflower, because the other seeds I planted didn't really get going.  I should probably throw some more seeds in there so it fills out with some nice stand-up plants to go with those bushy pink flowers.

The Roses are growing well and flowering a lot, although they are growing a few very tall stalks and not the dense, bushy shapes I would like.  I think I will prune off the really tall stalks with the hope that they will instead grow flowers at the lower branches.  It's also just looking really stupid in there- There's like a ton of stuff right in the middle, and a big empty space in the back.  I am thinking of digging up the fern and moving it to the space in the back.  I'm not sure if I can dig it up easily, since it is right in there with the roses, but if I can it will look a lot more balanced.

Time to get to work

I have been ignoring the garden and all the plants for about the last month, and now it's summer.

I finally planted the coleus and the begonias in the Patio bed today, so that's good.  I also bought Parsley, Sage and Mint today, and I planted the first two in the raised bed.  I'm giving up on the idea of the Swiss Chard, because I never got around to starting the seeds.  I don't think I will put anything else in the raised bed, I'll just have the two Tomatoes, and these herbs.  I also planted one of the Rosemary plants that I carried over through the winter.

Next I have to fill the Woolly Pockets with soil, and plant the Sweet Potato Vine.  I have 3 that I bought a month ago, and 3 that I bought today.  The old ones actually seem ok.  I am giving up on the Morning Glory, because I never really planted any and the few I had are not doing anything.  So I can take the soil from those containers, dump it into the Woolly Pockets, and we're good to go.

Tomorrow it's going to rain all day, so I would like to get most things planted today.  It would be great if I could get things kind of under control today and sweep all the crap from the patio while it's really dry.

I bought two pepper plants- I did not find a Jalapeno and I don't feel like going to another store so I bought a Habanero and something called a Salsa pepper, I guess?  I put one in a container and I will do the same with the other once I've got the potting soil situation figured out.

I would love to "finish" the planting today or this weekend, and in doing so, I can put away all the containers and crap laying around everywhere upsetting my neighbors.  It's just really hot outside right now.

I've been checking on the Sidewalk bed a little bit, and it's not a good situation. Nothing really looks good.  The Zinnias don't seem like they area growing at all.  Especially not the little Zahara Zinnias right in the front.  They have not changed at all since I planted them a month ago.  They don't seem dead, really, but they have not grown at all.  No progress on the Sunflowers.  One of the big Zinnias has a bud on it, but that's all.  Well, there are a few buds on the Rudbeckia.  The sun and water situation has been pretty decent.  We did have some really cold weather for a bit and that might have slowed everything down.  None of those things are frost-sensitive, so that would explain them not being dead, but yeah maybe it's just a delay.  I also think I might need to feed them.  I figured the soil there was pretty rich, but it's had really serious weed cover for a long time.

The front bed looks pretty decent.  The Day Lilies have totally filled out the space, which is great, but I think I should feed something to promote flowering.  The Clematis is growing really nicely but no sign of flowering.  I think I placed the trellis in such a way that it is too shaded. so I don't know what I want to do with that.  If I tried to move it now, I think I would rip the whole plant out.

I still need to plant the Mint that I bought in a small pot, and I bought a big Basil, and I have a tiny shitty Basil that I grew.

One of these days I will need to really deal with all the weeds.  That's not going to be today.

So about this Side Bed.  The Roses seem to be doing really well, lots of flowers and some new growth, but it is definitely overcrowded with these little sad Hotsas and the one Fern...  there's so much crap in there, the leaves, the wild strawberry, the muscari growth...  If I just got the extra crap out of there, it would be pretty nice.  For that space, if I'm going to have 4 Rose bushes in there, I can't have much else.

Spring Recap

It's May 1st, and this seems like a good time to look back on what I did so far and what I would or would not do again.

Spring Bulbs

Last fall, I bought a lot more bulbs than I planted.  I did not plant the Alliums that I bought, and I think I ended up throwing them out because half of them were rotten.  I don't think they were like that when I bought them, but maybe?  I also bought a lot of Daffodils- some Dutch Masters, and Tete a Tete.

I forced a bunch of Tete a Tete in pots, and that was totally successful.  I will definitely do that again.  The whole "no fruit in the fridge" thing was not an issue, probably because I don't really eat fruit, but I think I must have had some limes in there for a while.  The timing of it was good, too.  I put the Daffodils in there in October, and I think I took them out in early February.  Perfect.  The only thing I will not do again is bring them in to work, because apparently they can upset people.  I also did a few Crocus, and they did not fare so well.  I'm not really sure why.

Next year I will force the Daffodils the exact same way.  Maybe I will also try some Tulips.

I did not plant any Daffodils in the ground.  I did plant a bunch of them in a container, but they didn't come up.  I got a few green shoots but they were brown on the tops and didn't grow.  Maybe it didn't drain well.

I kind of wish I had planted some Daffodils in the Sidewalk Bed.  The old ones came up, but not as many flowers as I would like.  Maybe if I am up for it, I could plant a bunch more Daffodils in there next fall.

I had pulled up a lot of the Darwin Tulips last spring, and I replanted them in the fall.  I also planted these short, fluffy daffodils in there, in two big clumps.  It looks so terrible now.  I don't know, maybe if I had spread them out a little more?  This year I'm not planning to pull anything out.  But next fall, it would be really good to put in more Tulips.

Now, the tulips in the Patio Bed- those are fantastic.  I'm so happy with the decision to put them in there, to pack them in so tight, to stagger the early, middle and late Tulips back to front.  I'm really pleased that they last this long, too.  They've looked good for several weeks, and they aren't even all up yet.  I think the weather has actually helped with that, because it got chilly again after they flowered.

I'll need to pull them out eventually to plant it with Coleus and Begonias.  But I need to wait as long as possible to do that so they get as much sun as possible and hopefully flower again next year.

I might be able to wait long enough and pull them out and save them.  But I'm not going to wait forever.  I'll give them until June 1st, and then I will pull them out.  Maybe I'll move them to some containers or something so they get more sun, maybe not.  But I want to get the Coleus and Begonias in there soon and get that area going.  In fact, I think I need to transplant the Coleus to something bigger soon so they keep growing and stay alive.


Seed Starting

The first things I started was Kale, which was reasonably successful.  They all grew nicely and they were easy to keep alive.  I think I transplanted them in late March, and they've done well enough outside, but not grown tremendously.  I will do some Kale again this fall, because that is really the better time.  I'll also do Radicchio at the same time.

Next was Coleus.  I'm glad I started the Coleus when I did, of course, but I am really disappointed in how few plants I got.  I think I spent $20 on seeds, and I could have bought these plants for not much more than that.  It's cool to grow them from seeds and all, but not especially rewarding.  I guess I could try saving seeds?  It's worth a try.

Then  I started the Rudbeckia.  So far, I think that was the most successful endeavor.  I started 18 and I ended up with 17 big, healthy plants.  I transplanted them into soda bottles, which works really well.  They were pretty low-maintenance after that.  I finally transplanted them in the Sidewalk Bed, I think April 16th.  They all seem to still be alive, although I don't see much new growth.  To be fair, we haven't had a lot of sun recently.  They are supposed to bloom early summer through fall.  If they do well, it will be fantastic, a mass of flowers like that all grown from seed.  I win!

Let's talk about Tomatoes now.  I started these mid January as well.  I am glad I started them in the larger pots, not in the little six-packs, so I didn't have to mess with them too much.  It might be a little early to start tomatoes, sure, but I don't think any harm was done.  I'm ok with the number of plants I started- 5 of each of the 3 varieties.  I'm down to 3 Sun Gold, 3 Fresh Salsa and 4 Brandy Boys.  And what would I do differently?  I would actually label them properly.  I'll get popsicle sticks for each container so I can move them around and still know which is which.  I also could have potted them up into larger containers sooner, and fed them a little better.

So next time- wait until late February to start tomatoes, label properly, get some more large pots and some potting mix ready for transplanting in like, April.

I guess the next think I started was Romaine.  I think they ended up dead from lack of water, or because it got too hot.  Then I think I started more, maybe, and those are in the Raised Bed now.  I like the idea of starting them pretty early because they are fast, and I could get decent Romaine heads in late Spring.

I had no success with Bok Choy.  I think I started some and they just looked so bad that I gave up.  I will certainly try them again in the fall.  I'm not really sure what went wrong.

I started Basil in late February.  It probably didn't need to be that early, and I definitely was running out of room.  I think the extra round of Basil was started about a month later, and they are actually kind of an appropriate size to transplant now.  The main group of Basil were getting pretty big and I had to keep pinching them back already.  But I think it's safe to say I cannot plant too much Basil, there are plenty of people willing to adopt them.

Then I started on some Zinnias.  Of course those grew well.  I maybe started the State Fair Zinnias too early, because they got quite big and I couldn't really do anything with them.  I also read that it is very important to zinnias to have a normal sunlight/dark cycle.

So next year, I need to get a timer for the grow light.  I think that will help a lot of things, and it won't get so hot in there.

In early March, I planted a bunch of Radish seeds in the window box.  I like that idea, even though they are not really a very attractive plant.  I can plant pretty much any time, because that soil is always warm.   I didn't remember to water it, and that definitely slowed them down, but I still got a nice harvest of Radishes after like, 6 weeks.  The hard part is now sowing way too many seeds, because then I need to carefully thin them.

I started some lettuce in the Gutter Garden, but that hasn't done very well.  It's too cold for it to germinate properly, and I'm just starting to get some growth now.  I will definitely get lettuce going in there in the fall.  Actually, maybe it would be better to plant the lettuce in the window box next spring, and the Radishes in the Gutter Garden.  At least they would get rain.

I started some Morning Glory in little pots under lights, but really I should have filled my long containers with potting soil and started them in there.  I would have a lot more plants, obviously, and they would be getting going pretty well by this point and producing flowers much earlier.  The reason I did not get that going was because I didn't have potting soil and I had other crap in those containers.  So maybe next year I will be more organized about that.  I will also try to save some seeds again, because it's actually pretty easy.

I should have started some Cilantro, and I should have done it a while ago, like back at the same time I started all the Basil.

Also Swiss Chard.  I kind of started some a few weeks ago, but because I'm not paying as much attention, they've just kind of dried up and died.  That's on me.

I think I had a reasonable scope of what plants I can start from seed.  The tomatoes were the new thing and they have done well.  I will probably change my timing a little, and I'll get a timer for the lights.

Earth Day

It was a pretty big day for gardening, considering I was at work all day!

I brought all of my first-round Basil plants in to work to give away.  Last night I sent a kind of embarrassing email to everyone who might be interested, describing in great detail what the basil's history was and what they should do with them.  All of them got taken, and when someone wanted to take the last 3 I got a little worried and felt like all my Basil was gone.  Then I remembered that I have 4 that I started like, a month ago.  And I just transplanted them up last night, so I don't know why I would forget that.

Part of the reason I like giving away this stuff is because it prompts a lot of discussions about what other people have grown and what's worked, comparing our respective landscapes, talking about all the ways we have all failed along the way.  It gave me some ideas of other things I might want to try.

More than one person has successfully grown carrots.  I'm not sure why I thought they would be difficult, maybe because Mike McGrath is always so exacting in his carrot advice.  The only real complaint was that they come in all at once, and they don't stay good for long.  Maybe I will try them in the fall.

Also got some insight into growing cauliflower and broccoli.  It sounds like the plants are actually a little different- the cauliflower has just one big head, and the broccoli can form multiple florets.  That actually should have been obvious to me, just based on what the veggies look like.  Both are pretty big plants and take a long time, and you basically get one meal out of them.  If I want something like that, I think it would be Brussels Sprouts.  They're just so cool looking.

Then, maybe because of all the gardening enthusiasm, I finally worked up the motivation to go to Lowe's.  A while ago, I pretty much decided I wanted bright pink tuberous Begonias for the Patio Bed, Sweet Potato Vine for the grow bags, pink and yellow striped Calibrocha for either on the ground around the roses or the window box.  Even though I can't plant the Begonias until the Tulips are totally done, I decided I would buy them whenever I saw them because there's a chance I won't find them if I wait until like, June.

Amazingly, Lowe's had all of those things.  I found one begonia and had to ask someone to help me find more, but they were super helpful!  Then I found one on the clearance rack for $1, which was not in significantly worse shape than the full priced ones.

I got two 64-Quart bags of potting mix.  Regular kind, not organic, because for some reason, ones that don't have fertilizer cost more?  I swear it wasn't like that last year.  Maybe they wised up to the fact they could get away with charging more.  I struggled to get them in the cart, and in the trunk.  I'm not looking forward to carrying them in from the parking lot.  I did see an old lady put one in her cart and she was having no trouble at all, so I'm just a failure.  Or she's a secret bad ass old lady.

And I got a new soaker hose and a new watering wand nozzle.  It's the exact same one I got last year, because I left mine out and I guess when it froze it split some kind of seam.

You know, if I took better care of my shit, I wouldn't have to keep buying this stuff...

Somehow I managed to spend $91, even though I didn't think I had that much.  I hate how they never have any prices posted for any of the plants.  That's not really why it was more than I thought- only half that total went towards plants.  In fact, now that I see the prices on the receipt, I probably would have bought more.  Like, if I had known the Sweet Potato Vine was only $3, I would have bought twice as much.  And I would have broken $100.

Time to make some plans for the weekend!

• Put down the new soaker hose in the sidewalk bed and water the hell out of it.  Actually, water the hell out of everything. 
• Pull out the leaves and weeds from the Side Bed.  And cut back the Hyacinth leaves. That area will actually look pretty good once I do that.  The Creeping Phlox is at peak bloom right now.  I was going to grab some of that at Lowe's if they had it.  Maybe I will check out Home Depot tomorrow.  
• Take down the god damn Christmas garland and put it away.  Maybe put up the summertime lights.  
• Harvest all the Radishes!  I've decided Sunday morning is the best time to do that, because that night is going to get down to 41, and that is definitely the lowest in the next 2 weeks.  
• Fertilize all the bulbs with some Bone Meal.  
• Deal with the compost.   Oh my god I really don't want to.  But at this point it's not going to do anything else until I get out the non-composting stuff.  And then I can use the compost, obviously.  That was kind of the point.  
• Plant the Zinnias and Sunflowers in the Sidewalk Bed,  Actually I probably should do that before I start watering.  
• Start working on some containers!  I finally got some stupid potting soil.  I should get some Morning Glory going.  I've got very few that I started a few weeks ago, but I will soak the rest of the seeds tonight so I can plant tomorrow.  
• I was going to talk about planting the container tomato, but it is probably going to be a little chilly still.  I mean, it's not even May.  I think I should use the giant pot, and I'm not bringing that fucker inside every night.  
• I want to plant these Sweet Potato Vine in the grow bags, on the back patio wall.  This would be a perfectly good time to do that, as long as I don't fuck up the Tulips in the process.  I think it's ok- I would attach the bag first, with zip ties, and then fill it by scooping in the soil.  I probably want to get more of those plants, so I can do 2 per baggie.  

I have a Tomato problem.  I planted these things in January, right.  And I've kept most of them alive, and for the majority of that time. I kept them in rows so I knew which was which.  But then, like 2 weeks ago, I was re-arranging them into vertical rows instead of horizontal or something, and lost track.  I realized it as it happened, and maybe I could have re-traced my steps and put them back, identified them, and kept it under control, but I didn't.  

The Brandy Boy are distinct, because they have a potato-like leaf, but the Sun Gold and Fresh Salsa are really identical at this point.  Last night, I spent a long time looking at the leaves of the ones I have labeled, trying to identify any differences and extrapolate from that which of the smaller ones were which.  

This is kind of a problem, because you would treat these plants a little differently, as far as where you would plant them, how you would support them, etc.  It's not a big deal for me, because I have several bigger labeled ones, and I have my keeper Brandy Boy, Sun Gold and Fresh Salsa all picked out and ready.  But I would like to give these other plants away to a good home.  

I asked one of the more competent gardeners at work if he wants any tomato plants.  A few years ago he and his wife grew a cherry tomato and their yield was insane.  I seriously think they could have filled a hot tub with cherry tomatoes.  Maybe 2 hot tubs.  They threw out many buckets of them.  He does not even like fresh tomatoes!  He made sauce from them!  Sauce, from cherry tomatoes!  He even blanched them and took off the skins!  I can't even.  So he is definitely only interested in a Brandy Boy, so that's fine.  

I think some of my other colleagues are limited to containers, so I was thinking the Fresh Salsa would be a big hit.  But now I can't give someone a tomato and tell them what to do with it.  I mean, cherry tomatoes grow fine in containers.  It's not a big deal.  I'll just have to be honest and say, this is a tomato, and part of the adventure will be seeing what kind.  Enjoy!  

This could have all been avoided if I had bothered to label them properly.  Just needed to grab some popsicle sticks from work, and write BB, SG, and FS as needed.  

I am not going to give away tomatoes until a more appropriate tomato planting time.  So like, 2 weeks.  The reason for the delay is, ok, that's the best time to plant, but also it will give them some time to keep growing and harden off more,  They don't really look great right now.  I'm not exactly proud to show them off at work.  And maybe in 2 weeks, after they've grown a lot, something about their growth habit will suggest which tomato we got.  But they will all grow more and get more presentable.  

Other stuff.. I might want to replant the Coleus again, into something bigger, cause they are getting big.  And I gotta get some decent Swiss Chard and Cilantro going.  

Snow Day

Oh my god, it is snowing outside.  It's April 9th, and I would have thought we were out of the woods, because the average last frost date is like a week away.

So I'm not doing any outside gardening today, maybe something tomorrow.  I've still got a ton of Liriope divisions to plant, I think I've got 9.  And I've got long containers full of smaller ones that sat in containers over the winter and may or may not be viable.  I've got many Day Lilies in the other containers and I think they're ok in there for now.

I still haven't pruned the roses, and maybe that's a good thing since it is so cold now.  That would be a good project to do tomorrow.

Inside stuff-

I watered all the Rudbeckia, which I have not done in quite a while.  One of them looks really sad, all wilted and limp.  The others look really great, and they are putting on new growth.  The new growth looks kind of like the perennial Rudbeckia that is coming up outside (now under the snow).  They are getting pretty rooty at the bottoms, so I really hope I can get them planted next weekend.  I have not given them any fertilizer, because I don't really want them to start growing yet.

I transplanted six of the better looking tomato plants into larger containers, the tall black plastic ones that you buy perennials in.  I did two of each variety.  I turned the tomato out of its little square container, and placed it in the bottom of the big pot, and then added old potting soil around it to bury the next like, 4 inches of stem.  I worked a decent amount of Espoma fertilizer in there.  (I actually forgot to do the fertilizer when I planted the first Sun Gold tomato, but I think that's ok.   That plant is a monster, and if I feed it I'm afraid it will take over the laundry room.)  For most of them, this deep planting seems to make sense because they are getting pretty long and don't have a lot of leaves down low.  So in theory, these are still basically the same height, but now there is like, 8 inches of pot and 4-6 inches of Tomato plant.

What am I going to do with them?  I guess I will just put them in front of the lights, so they are getting it from the sides.  I definitely don't have space to get them right under the lights and they are going to touch them and burn if I do.

I've still got 2 Fresh Salsa, 2 Sun Gold and 3 Brandy Boy.  I don't really want to throw them out, so I will keep them around I guess.  They will probably die eventually.  But if I keep them alive and they seem ok, I guess there might be people at work who want them.

Then I've got tons of Basil plants, and they seem ok.  I just need to stay on top of watering them.

I've got 2 trays of Zahara Zinnias, and 2 trays of big Zinnias, a tray of Cilantro, and a kind of half tray of small Basil.  And I've got several Morning Glory starts in the square containers which seem fine, but I should transplant them into containers outside really soon, like next weekend.  In the 12-pack, I have started some Sunflowers that will be the bigger ones.  (still only 5 feet, I don't mess with those giant monsters.)  I have 3 new trays I could fill out.  I could do Cilantro, or the Tumbelina Zinnias, or more Sunflowers.

The Sunflowers that I planted in the 12-pack have all germinated.  I had 2 seeds per cell, and I think all of them germinated.  As I thinned out the extras, I did pull out a root that was like 4 inches long.  And this is a seed that just germinated, no leaves yet, still has the seed shell hanging on.  So I'm thinking it is correct that I should not try to start more Sunflowers, especially in the normal sized six-packs.

The Zahara Zinnias that are in 2 six-packs are looking pretty good, although still very small.  I popped one out of the cell and there is some nice root growth, and it would not be bad to transplant them.  It was 4 weeks ago that I started them. And I think it was 2 weeks ago that I started the other 2 packs of the big Zinnias.  If I were to start the Tumbelina ones now, I would not be able to transplant them for at least 2 weeks, ideally 4, and that would be in early May.  So I'm deciding if I want to start some inside here, or if I want to wait until next weekend and just direct sow them.  I can do both, I have plenty of seed.  It's either that, or Cilantro.

Maybe after I do these 3 trays, we can call it off.  Seed starting season should be over soon.  After this week, it makes almost as much sense to just start things like Sunflowers and Zinnias in the ground.  Maybe I should just do 3 trays of Cilantro.  I will want a lot of Cilantro plants, right, I want at least 3 for myself, and I'll give a few to my mom and some to people at work.

Oh shit, I forgot about Swiss Chard!  I had that on my list to start this weekend.  I knew there was something else I needed to start inside.  The internet is saying start inside 3-4 weeks before the last frost date, which is only a week away, but I wasn't going to plant them outside for a little while because I still have all that Kale in there.  I probably won't plant them until the same time I plant the Tomatoes.

So let's do one pack of Cilantro and two of Swiss Chard.

In any case, I need to buy lots of potting mix.  I have pretty much worked through all the leftover stuff that I had.  Actually I have one more perennial pot filled with the soil that was growing in, but yeah, let's get a lot more potting mix.

What containers am I going to do?  I want to have at least two pepper plants.  And I need to plant all these Morning Glory into the long containers.  I am thinking I'm going to put the really big Zinnias in long containers as well, inside the patio on the short wall.  They will block the gutter garden, but there isn't much that I can put in there that will do well in the summer, unless I watered it every day.

In the window box, I'm going to try to do the Elf Sunflowers again.  They were pretty short lived, with only one flower, so I think I will try to stagger them.  You know, I do want to start them inside so I can get a head start... So does that mean I need more seed starting mix?

I also need more space.  The Basil could probably be moved out pretty soon.  I think I can start giving some away at work.  I found some motherfucking aphids on a few of them.  I guess I should try to wash them off, but with these little tender plants, I don't want to mess with them and damage the leaves.  But I don't want to give away plants that have aphids.  Let's say I have gotten rid of the aphids.  I think I can start giving away Basil, as long as I tell people that the should not plant them outside until May (specifically when the temperature at night is above 50).  I've got 10 plants, and I can probably get rid of 5.  (Alina, Nathan, Kadine, Bharath, Madhu, maybe Terri or Yash or Charles or Jim or Chris... aww, I've got so many friends at work.)  Hm, maybe I can get rid of more than 5.  I want to give at least one to my mom, and I think I want to keep at least 3 for myself.  Although I can keep getting new plants all summer long, so if I keep 2 for myself I think I'm good.  So I will bring 6 plants to work.  That will probably be in a week, a week from Monday.  Maybe 2 weeks.  But that will free up a ton of space.  It would be great if I could get most of those containers back, but I'm not counting on it.

I actually did some physical work yesterday!  I dug out several Liriope and divided them into quarters.  That was actually pretty easy and went quickly.  Then I dug out all of my neighbor's Day Lilies.  That was a lot harder.  Some super genius planted them right up against the sidewalk, so you can't get a shovel in there, and the roots are all up in the concrete.  So that was tough.

I planted 8 of the divisions in the place of the Day Lilies.  I spaced them decently far apart but close enough that when they grow they will more or less reach each other.  She was actually  fine with just the 4, but I was like, Let's do 4 more!  Partly that is because it was so much easier to plant them in the soil I had just torn up than to dig a new hole in the sidewalk bed.

I still have not planted the other like, 8 or so divisions I dug up.  I left them sitting out there overnight, actually for about 12 hours, and it was 12 hours of insane wind, so it probably dried them out a lot.  I just put them in containers because I don't want them to totally dry out forever.

I have a lot of Day Lilies still to plant as well.  Those I did put in containers so they won't dry out or die or anything.

I can't  quite decide if I want to go outside now and try to finish planting these poor things.  In theory, yes.  I should plant all the Day Lilies first, because they are near the center, then do the Liriope around the edges.  I also want to dig out the little Stella d'Oro Day Lilies.  I don't think it makes any sense to have them in there when it's mostly roadside Tiger Lily types.  And I really want more little yellow Day Lilies in the front bed.  I think I have about 6 of those in the sidewalk bed.  I just don't think I can do it all today.  I probably should have kept going when I had the momentum yesterday.  Now my back and arms and legs and butt hurt.

So I don't know, should I push myself out there, in the "feels like 31" weather and dig some more holes?  Of course I should... but I should also get my shit together inside.  Next Saturday is not looking a whole lot better, but next Sunday looks ok.  And next Sunday I want to plant these Rudbeckia. Or I could wait another week.  That puts me beyond the last frost date.  But at that point I would be in pretty good shape- I'll have gotten all the Day Lilies in the sidewalk bed, close to the middle.  I will put the Liriope divisions around the border.  (I have 9 of them.  I don't know how I ended up with an odd number, but there we are.  I do have one more I want to divide.)  Once those things are in, I'll have the kind of solid, perennial things set up and I can fit in these annuals around.  It looks like I'm putting the Day Lilies near the front, so I'll group them in there, and maybe group the Rudbeckia down at the other end.

And I will have 12 Zinnias, the Zahara Bonfire mix, which are red, orange and yellow, and they will get up to 18 inches tall.  I think those need to go right up in front, probably on my side of the bed.  They will work well in front of the Yarrow, I think, and the red will work well there and the orange will tie in with the big Day Lilies.

Also, more seeds!

I planted the 12 pack with a variety of Sunflower that I bought from Home Depot or something which gets 5 feet tall.  All the ones I ordered specifically are more like 3 feet tall, but now that I am laying out the sidewalk bed, some 5 foot Sunflowers would be really nice.  I know you are not supposed to start them in containers and transplant because they get deep tap roots, so I am thinking these super deep cells will be better for them. Then I did 2 packs of the State Fair Zinnias.  I've got two more packs that are filled with soil that I can still plant... I could do Zinnias, or I could do more Sunflowers...I guess I should do Zinnias.  Maybe I will try to grow the green ones that I bought a few years ago.

Where would I plant them?  Actually, I haven't figured out where I am going to plant these other big Zinnias.  A couple options:

• Plant them in the long containers, on the ground inside the patio.  They would cover up the Gutter Garden, which is probably fine in the summer.  And I could tie them to the wall when they get big.  They would get pretty good sun there.  But being in containers, I would need to be more diligent about watering. 
• Put them behind the roses along the sidewalk.  That could be a little problematic because they would be spilling over into the sidewalk, where I need to walk frequently.  
• Plant them in the front bed, kind of in and around the other perennials in there.  That gets pretty good sun.  It would be a little problematic to get back there to stake them and cut them for vases and everything.  

I'm leaning towards the container option.  If that's the case, I can't even have that many.  I already have 12 pretty big ones, and 6 per container is probably already pushing it.  Of course, I can do all of the above.

Big Plans for the Sidewalk Bed

Ok so what am I going to do with that sidewalk bed?  I think it's most important to get a few small Liriope up front, right in front of the Yarrow.  Those plants get pretty tall and they start to fall over, so I would rather have something sturdy in front of them.  And then from there I'll put Liriope along the edge moving down towards the stairs.  I will not be doing anything with those ornamental grasses.  They're in good enough places now and I do not feel like digging them up.  So let's say I've got a nice border or Liriope in front.  Then I would put in all the Rudbeckia that I've got.  Yes, I think I want to plant all 18.  They only need to be about a foot away from each other.  And then the Day Lilies would go behind them.  Specifically, I would put some Day Lilies right behind the Yarrow, I think that will look really nice.  I should keep in mind that the Day Lilies are permanent, and the Rudbeckia is an annual.  The Day Lilies can kind of be spread around near the ornamental grasses. Do I want to keep them close together to get that big mass of color?  That would definitely look better.  I will certainly spread them out more than what they are like in the small space they are in now, but I shouldn't just have like, Day Lily here, another one over there, as individual plants.  They look best when they're in mounds.  And then in whatever space is left, I will plant lots of Sunflowers.  I don't really know if I want to direct seed them, or if I want to start some inside.  They say not to do that, because they don't like being transplanted, but I think I've done it successfully before.  And I'm worried that if I just put out seeds, something is going to eat them.  

Oh, I forgot about the Zinnias.  I'm not going to put the big ones in there, probably, but I got the Zahara variety specifically for that bed.  I'm only going to have 12 of them.  They say they get 12-18 inches tall, although most Zinnias seem to grow taller than advertised. So we'll do Liriope, then Zinnias, then Rudbeckia, then the Day Lilies.  Most of the Sunflowers I have are supposed to get to only 3 feet tall, which is actually shorter than the Day Lilies.  

Actually, I should probably keep these things in masses.  So maybe I will do a big clump of Zinnias in one spot, probably right up center to the left of the Yarrow.  I will have 12 plants so I could do two separate clumps of 6 plants.  I mean, I probably shouldn't try to plan it out this specifically.  The reality always ends up being pretty different.  I just want to make sure I am thinking about these things, like height and placement and grouping.  Actually, what is the sun situation like?  The back part does get some shade in the middle of the day.  I mean, that's mostly the ornamental grasses.  By mid afternoon it's really full sun, and I think the whole thing gets full sun for most of the morning, with the east end getting it first.  I think the sun is just fine in every part.  I'm a little worried that the Sunflowers will all end up facing towards the south, because theoretically that's what they do, but maybe not.  The sun is pretty even, especially in the summer, and I would think they would not face the shady side where all the trees are.  I mean, there isn't a whole lot I can do to change what direction they face, so I might as well just put them where I can and hope for the best.  

Right now though, I should be cutting back the ornamental grasses.  They're so huge and spreading that crap everywhere, so at the moment it's hard to see exactly what space is there.  And maybe once I do that I ought to take some pictures or make some drawings so I know what's what, and specifically where the damn Daffodils are.  And maybe I should plant the Tete a Tete Daffodils in there, the ones I forced in pots.  They've been getting good sun so I ought to be able to get more use out of them, and I'd rather plant them now, when I know where they should go.  

Liriope and Day Lilies

Ok, I really did cut back the Liriope and it wasn't that hard!  My big pruners are in good shape and still nice and sharp.  I made up a good technique- you kind of have to bundle them together to reach the bottom, and you can't really hold it with one hand and cut with the other, and then you have leaves everywhere to clean up.  So I thought, maybe there's a better way... and I used a hair tie to make a little Liriope ponytail, chop it off at the base, and pick up the whole severed clump and throw it out (pulling off the hair tie).  No mess, super easy.  I think I might be a genius.

While I was doing that, my neighbor came by and we were talking and she said she doesn't really think we're going to get any mulch this year.  She knows what's going on a lot better than I do.  I'm fine with not getting mulch, obviously.  And she is too!  She got Dog Vomit Fungus in her yard last year, and she has noticed that it's just all sitting there forever, and now if she wants to plant something, she's just planting in 6 inches deep of wood mulch.  I very deliberately didn't ever tell her not to use wood mulch, because people like that are super annoying, it's like telling someone to only eat organic meat, or not to smoke.  She has arrived at this conclusion on her own, for her own reasons.  And it's not like she's just decided to be ok with it once she learned she wasn't getting any mulch; that is not how she rolls.  I think if she was expecting it and then learned that service was cut due to lack of funds, she'd actually push harder for it.

She did say she'd rather not use any wood mulch and then just spray the shit out of every weed she sees.  And I didn't say anything.  Someone on "the board" asked her not to, because it's poisonous to dogs, and I did jump in and say, yeah, that's true, pets have died.  Luckily she plans to put up a sign, which is actually really responsible and I don't think most people do that.  Also she wants dogs to stop peeing on her stuff.  All good stuff.

For some strange reason, she wants to get rid of all the Day Lilies in there.  And I don't know why, it's like the only thing that's really going strong, it's the only mature planting she has.  It is kind of densely packed over there in that sunnier part, and as she said, it's not like it's going to spread laterally to fill another 10 feet.  I've been seriously envious of them every time I walk past.  A large planting of mature, reblooming Day Lilies is like, the best thing you can have in a perennial bed.

And yet, my neighbor wants to get rid of these.  She's actually asked that someone come and dig them all out, and she did say she wanted them to plant them somewhere else on the property but I bet they won't, because no one cares enough to do that.  She said I was welcome to them if I want to come and dig them out!  Free plants!   Yesterday as I was looking at my space I was seriously thinking of buying more Day Lilies to fill it out- a bag of 18 bare root little yellow Johnny One Note Day Lilies is only $60 from White Flower Farm.  I think she's got like, at least 30 and as much as 50 fully grown plants.  These are the big orange ones, what I call "Roadside Day Lilies."  The internet seems to also call them that.  They're big and flashy and they live forever and grow in anything.  They get really tall, like 4 feet.  With that in mind, they are kind of inappropriate for the location they are in now- they're right up against the sidewalk by the door, and then there's a ton of empty space behind them.  I mean, I've done stupid stuff like that, I can't be too judgmental.  So she wants them out, and I am happy to take them.  I'm going to put them in the sidewalk bed.  Their height and size would be too much for the front bed.

So while she was there and we were talking about what she could grow she was pointing out the Lirope in the sidewalk bed.  It is a great plant, even easier than a Day Lily.  You do need to cut them back, but as I saw yesterday, the whole process took like 20 minutes and very little physical effort.  She's mainly interested in them because they stay there all year and they are pretty much green throughout the winter.  I like them because they just do exactly what you expect- you know how tall they are going to get (like, less than a foot, not counting the flowers) and you know how much they are going to spread, and you know right where they are all the time.

My original plan was to dig up the bigger Liriope in the sidewalk bed and divide them, and replant them to make some kind of a border.  There are a few reasons for this.

1. Some of them I think actually need to be divided- the biggest one looks like it's got a dead patch in the middle.  This isn't as awful looking as the ornamental grasses were, but it's just going to get worse.  
2. Dividing them makes more plants, and more coverage.  One big plant that's like, 16 inches in diameter at the base, will spread and make a mound that's like, 20 inches in diameter.  But if I break that into four plants that are like, 8 inches in diameter, they spread into four plants that are a foot wide.  
3. They should be in the front, because they are short.  They look dumb mixed in there with the really tall grasses, or behind that crazy Yarrow plant.  
4. I have lots of other things I want to plant in there, like the Rudbeckia, and I'm not really sure where I can put it.  
5. I want to make a kind of a border with them along the sidewalk. I think that will make it look more complete and deliberate, like someone knew what they were doing.  And I think it will make a barrier to weeds.  I notice all the weeds seem to start at the edges for some reason, and they make their way in to the center over time.  And the soil at the edge is probably the worst, it seems to be the driest.  

So when I told my neighbor I was going to divide them and replant them, we decided to trade plants.  I can take her Day Lilies and I can replace them with some boring-ass Liriope.  That's actually a great plan.  We get the plants we want, for free, and create more plants in the process.  And there's less digging involved.  Once I get the Liriope out of there, I can just plant the Day Lilies in those same spots, more or less.   

My only concern is that now I won't have as much Liriope left to put back in there in the front.  I've got 5 really big ones that actually need to be divided, and a few smaller ones.  Let's say the 5 big ones can each be divided into 4, and those will still be pretty big.  I don't think I could fit more than 10 in the space she has.  Well, in the specific area where the Day Lilies are.  She could pretty much fill that area with Liriope, and have a Liriope bank like Longwood Gardens has in the parking lot.  But we only really need to fill that part by the sidewalk right away.  

Speaking of Liriope- I've got all those little bunches that I pulled out of the patio bed, and they are still sitting in containers, on the patio wall, as if I'm deliberately displaying them or something.  They look really dreadful, but I think that's ok.  They only look worse than the ones in the ground because they were not in the ground, protecting themselves, and their leaves got all beat up.  I don't think they could possible be really truly dead.  They are the toughest plant ever, hardy to Zone 5, and we had the mildest winter ever.  I was kind of hoping they would spontaneously regrow on their own, but I think I need to cut them back as well.  I mean, that ought to be easy.  I could bring them inside and do it while sitting on the couch.  (Don't do that.)  But I'm saying, they are totally available for planting now, to fill out a nice border either for me or my neighbor.  

Ok, I took the day off, so I really ought to be using this time to get some outside stuff done.  I mean, it's such a beautiful day.  I did finally plant my Kale in the raised bed.  It looks so nice.  I think the way I spaced it will work out really well as far as giving them room to grow, and it very nicely handled the 11 plants I have.

Originally I was thinking I would be planting pretty good sized Romaine and Bok Choy at this point, but the Romaine looks pitiful.  And the Bok Choy is just barely germinated.  This is bullshit.  I think last season I had almost full grown plants by now.  I guess I should just go ahead and plant the Romaine that I've got.  It's not like it's doing anything where it is, one way or another.  And then I can start more seeds!  Maybe it's not doing well because it's too warm up there?  I've got 9 that are technically alive.  So that's fine, I 'll do like, 5 and 4.  And that will fill up the bed, so maybe it's ok that I don't have any Bok Choy.  (No it's not, I loved growing that stuff.  And I liked eating it.  More than I like eating Kale...)

In the raised bed, I dumped all the old containers of potting mix and that raised the soil level up to the top, and I worked in a generous amount of the Espoma fertilizer.  Last weekend I dumped out 2 trays from the worm bin, and it was a pitiful amount.  It probably had no effect at all.  But hey, that's in there too.

I looked at the compost in the tumbler, and it's not so bad.  Of course, I had some big chunks of stuff, like the stump from some ornamental grass, and sticks and root balls and crap, but other than that I think it's ok.  I could probably pull out all the really big stuff, like things I can grab by hand, put that in a bin or whatever, and then dump out the rest and use it as compost, even though it won't be all nice and homogeneous.  Yeah, I do have a compost sieve, and I could sit there and shake it all through and get some really beautiful compost, but that sounds like a lot of work.

I would like to totally remove everything that is in there before starting a new batch.  I've got that trash can full of leaves, and plenty of leaves in the patio and on the beds, and when I start to clean stuff out I should accumulate more compost-able stuff.  I'm not going to add new stuff to almost-finished stuff.  I'm also hoping that the stuff in the trash can has already started to break down a little.  If I can add that and just leaves and small stuff to the tumbler, and then add a bunch of coffee grounds, from Starbucks or from work, hopefully it will move along quickly in the warm weather and I will have usable compost by like, June.

So about these other beds, the non-vegetable ones-  The front bed is looking pretty promising.  The perennials are all starting to show already, including the Black Eyed Susan, the Echinacea, and even that sad little Clematis.  I'm going to move the obelisk over top of it so it can start to climb it, after I take off the Christmas lights.  Or maybe I could leave them on.  They can't do any harm, and I don't have to put them on again next year.  (About that- maybe this would be a good time to take down the rest of the Christmas lights, please?)

The Liriope border in the front is fine, I guess.  There isn't any new growth on it, or on any other Liriope.  The internet says to prune "before new growth," which isn't really that helpful because I don't know when the new growth is coming, but they say late February to early March.  Maybe pruning stimulates some new growth.  I saw Liriope starting to come in strong when I was in Raleigh, and they are only a few weeks ahead of us- tons of Daffodils, only a few Tulips, Dogwoods all in full bloom and Forsythia was pretty much finished.  So what I'm hearing is that I should prune these fuckers now.  Ugh, ok.  It's not that bad, they're smaller now that we dived them all so normal loppers should be able to handle it.

The Daylilies are only starting to show, and there aren't very many of them. I thought in previous years I had a ton of them.  Maybe I should put in more.  They're pretty awesome plants.  Hm, I can buy 18 bare-root Johnny One Note daylillies from White Flower Farm for $60.  That might actually be the most cost effective.  And that would need to be done like, now-ish.  18 would probably be the right amount.

Now, the sidewalk bed, that is another situation entirely.  Right now it's a big pile of old ornamental grass stalks.  And I am glad they didn't chop all that down in the fall, it's supposed to be left there.  But I am really hoping the do it soon, along with last year's Liriope.

If they do that, I think I might want to dig up the Liriope and divide them and rearrange them.  There are like, 4 or 5 that are really, really big, and they're closer to the center than I would like.  I would like to do the same thing in there that I did in the front bed.  I want to plant them along the edge and create a kind of loose border.  That would be good for aesthetic reasons, because they're the lowest growing thing and they should be in the front, but also because I think it would make a nice barrier to weeds.  Most of the weeds seem to be right along the edge.  And I guess that's convenient because that's where they are easiest to reach and to pull, but that weed mass just moves inward and takes over entirely.  The Liriope would be a very sturdy defense over the whole year.

I'm not going to do anything with the ornamental grasses.  We already did that and I'm not going to try to fight with those monsters again for like, 5 years at least.

The Daffodils seem like they're doing fine.  I kind of thought there were more of them in there?  Maybe if they do clean it out and cut stuff back, I should take some careful pictures and maybe even mark where the Daffodils are so I can plant new ones next fall and so I don't dig them up accidentally.

Eventually I think I want to plant all of these Rudbeckia in that sidewalk bed.  I've got 18 of them, which is pretty awesome.  I'm looking at Google Images of this plant, initially just to see what the plant looks like, what's its growing habit.  It's kind of a dense mound of leaves, with tall stems that flower.  Burpee claims it gets up to 42 inches tall, which seems like a lot.  That's like, bar-height.  That can't be true.  I would say more like 2 feet.  But that's still tall.  Images show it being planted with Echinacea a lot, which makes sense because they have the same habit and the same flower shape.  It looks like Echinacea is consistently a little taller than them, only by like, 6 inches, so they form this nice solid wall of flowers.  But of course they always look the best in very large masses.  And I've got 18 plants, for basically free.  Burpee says the "spread" is only 12-16 inches, and that's pretty much true looking at the pictures- they have a nice, compact base.  So I can plant them a foot away from each other, in a row, or in a mass, and they will hopefully grow full and create a nice bed of dense flowers.  I'm so good at this!

I also wanted to plant all the Sunflowers in that sidewalk bed, and some of the Zinnias.  Basically I am using this as my cutting garden so I don't totally overcrowd my other beds.  I've got 12 of the giant Zinnias that I started nearly 5 weeks ago, and 12 of the Zahara Zinnias that I started 2 weeks ago.  And I have the Thumbelina Zinnias, which I was planning to just direct sow.

These big Zinnias (which are actually the "State Fair" mix, not the Giant mix) are all mixed colors and there is a lot of pink and stuff.  So maybe they won't be the best thing to grow in there.  And they need a decent amount of attention, they need to be staked and all that, and they get to be like, 4 feet high.  What if I grew them in containers against the patio wall?  That's a great place for lots of sun, and they are really accessible.  The container would add like, 8 inches, so maybe that's not ideal.  The other thing I could do is plant them in a row behind the roses.  I would need some serious support, like a trellis, but that might make for a cool looking screen.  I think I got like, 3 feet or so, and that would be plenty of space for 12 plants.  Or I could put them in the rectangular containers on the patio wall.  I think on the outer wall, I will stick with the Morning Glories.  I think if it was Zinnias, they would branch out and get in the way of people walking by.  If I put them on the inside wall, it doesn't matter if they spread out a bit.  And since they aren't in the ground they will be more susceptible to drought, so it's good they will be right where I can keep an eye on them.  It will of course cover up the gutters, but I don't have big plans for those in the summer.  I was going to throw in some Nasturtiums but that's fine, we can start with those and if they get covered by Zinnias, that would be fine with me.

Anyway about that sidewalk bed and Sunflowers- I've got a total of 70 Sunflower seeds to plant in there.  I know they are usually direct seeded, but I kind of want to start them in containers so I can plant them with some confidence that they would actually grow where I put them.  I mean, if you just throw sunflower seed on the ground, isn't a bird going to eat it?  They are all around 3 feet high, and I've got a normal yellow one, a mostly red one and one with red streaks in the center.  I think I can expect a pretty decent survival rate, so I am really looking forward to a big mass of sunflowers in July or whenever they happen.  I need to be careful because when they first come up, they are real ugly little things and look like some kind of asshole weed.  That's another reason to start them inside first, so they can get some good growth on them and I know what they are.

Ok so what do I need to do?

• Plant the Romaine babies.  I've got them outside now to "harden off" (not really, it's almost 70 outside), and I'll plant them tomorrow.  Actually, it's going to rain tomorrow.  I'll plant them today.  
• Prune the roses.  This shouldn't be that hard, other than navigating the thorns.  Then clean out the leaves and weeds, and feed the Hyacinths with bone meal. 
• Cut back the Liriope in the front bed.  This will make it easier to see what's there, and maybe it will help them to start regrowing.  
• Water the radishes. 
• Start some Cilantro seeds
• Cut back the ornamental grass, Yarrow and the Liriope in the sidewalk bed.  
• Pull weeds out of the sidewalk bed
• Divide the 5 big Liriope in the sidewalk bed and replant along the border.  
• Buy lots of potting mix
• Transplant Morning Glory to the long containers.  Direct seed some more. 
• Transplant the big Zinnias to 2 of the 24" containers, with fertilizer. 
• Start more big Zinnias.  
• Deal with the compost in the tumbler.  
• Plant leaf lettuce in the gutters
• Sweep up leaves in the patio
• Clean out bird baths.  

And also, I'm thinking of giving up on the Bok Choy.  They don't look right at all! I swear this is not how they grew last time.  They're like, dense heads, there is no way something that is tall and leggy like that could become a real Bok Choy.  I would suggest that right now they are just a waste of space under the lights.  I would rather have more Zinnias, some Cilantro, and maybe even Swiss Chard going in that space.  Same with that one tray of Basil.  Half of them are dead, and I've got like, a dozen full grown plants.  I guess I'll keep that around for another week or 2, and then transplant the 3 good ones into larger containers.  Same with the Coleus.  

I'm concerned about the Strawberries in the raised bed.  There are some that have been green all the way through the winter, although I thought they were supposed to die back completely.  I think if the others were going to come back, they would have done so by now.  So maybe they're just totally dead.

Seed Starting Situation

So I left for most of a weak and a lot of these things really dried out!  I totally killed a tray of Coleus starts.  And there are 2 other trays that are just totally dried out with no sign of any plant happening.  I think those were Bok Choy, but I'm not really sure.  The other two that I thought were Bok Choy have lots of long leggy shitty looking sprouts, I guess because they weren't close enough to the light.  

The other tray of Coleus looks ok. I mean, they're growing properly.  They have real leaves, they have colors and stuff.  Maybe they will be ok.  I wouldn't want to put them outside until beginning of May probably, so I still have... damn, only 6 weeks.  Maybe that's enough time.  The four good ones are doing just fine, so I'm optimistic about them.  

The tomatoes are hanging in there.  I wish they had a little more growth.  Especially root growth.  I just put some fertilizer on the 4 biggest ones.  Maybe they could all use some.  Um, Basil also looks great.  They're like, ready for transplanting.  Or at least they would be if it was May and not March.  Don't you wish you had started more lettuce instead of Basil?  

The Kale should be transplanted soon.  I don't really want to do it today, because it's going to snow tomorrow, so it looks like I will be doing it on Thursday.  

The Rudbeckia are growing and everything.  They haven't really changed much.  I'm moving them downstairs, in front of the window, because I think that will be kind of like hardening them off.  They're not getting constant light, and it's not so hot.  They're going to be transplanted after "last frost," so maybe in 2 weeks.  

So now I can rearrange the lights a little more, since I don't have these stupid tall-ass plants.  I've now got the Tomatoes and the Basil under that bottom light.  That seems pretty good, because it's one of the more intense light situations, and because those lights are bare bulbs, so they cover the area in front.  I've got the big tall tomatoes right in front, and I'm hoping they get some decent light there.  

The other two shelves have the 2-foot lights- one is 4 bulbs and one is 2 bulbs.  So I'm thinking I will keep the six-packs under those lights.  That way I can have one be for the new little tiny starts, and as they get taller I can have the other light higher.  

I really need to start some Cilantro, maybe today.  Previously I used water bottles, because I know they get some serious root growth, but I don't want to have to deal with those tall things under the lights.  I guess I will start 1 six-pack today.  They're pretty normal, they just get planted after any frost can happen, so if I start them inside now, I can transplant them in a few weeks.  

What's up there, again? 

• 2 Romaine
• 2 Zahara Zinnias
• 2 Bok Choy (I guess)
• 1 Coleus
• 1 Basil

And I just added 2 more Bok Choy, and I'll do one of Cilantro.  

With any luck, the Romaine will be ready to transplant in a week.  Maybe I need to feed them.  Same with the Bok Choy.  It's supposed to be 30 days to maturity!  

Ok so I really want to plant the Kale today.  I know it's going to snow tomorrow night, but Kale likes that shit!  I probably should have gotten them in there a few weeks ago.  (EW it's snowing NOW!)  It's like, 8 weeks between now and when I would put tomatoes in, at most, and I would like for these things to grow a little bit and get some nice eating off of them before May.  So I could get out there and plant them right now, like NOW, or I could wait until Thursday.  Actually now the forecast says it is not going to rain or snow tomorrow, just raining this afternoon.  So I will plant tomorrow.  Perfect.

Next I will plant some arugula and stuff like that in the gutters.  I'll water with warm water tomorrow morning so it's warm enough for germination.  And I need to water the Radishes in the window box.  

Pepper Plants- The Obituary

I've been trying to deny it for a while, but these pepper plants are straight-up dead.  They look exactly like a dead plant.  I bet a Google Image search of dead plant would turn up several pictures that look exactly like these.

I'm so sad, because it's nearly Spring!  I almost made it!  But that's not even true.  I'm acting like they just suddenly died this week, but in reality they have been dying for a long time.  

The first one died for real a long time ago.  It got spider mites, and I just dealt with that (emotionally, at least) because hey, I had two more that looked great!  About two months ago I noticed they had aphids. Then I started hearing Mike McGrath point out over and over that peppers like, always get aphids.  I did know that I was supposed to rinse them down really, really well before bringing them in, for this exact reason, but I didn't because I am lazy.  Once I saw the aphids, I knew I was supposed to rinse them off inside.  I got as far as moving one up to the bathroom so I could give it a shower, but after it sat there for a week or two, I came to the conclusion I was too lazy to do that as well.  

The aphids kept going.  When it was warm, I brought them outside, hoping that something would deal with the aphids for me.  They didn't have an aphid problem outside, right?  That's because something was keeping them under control, probably?  I did leave them out overnight, even though it wasn't really in the 50's overnight, but it was certainly not in the 30's.  And maybe that made it worse.  Not that it really matters.  

I had big plans for the peppers!  I was going to keep them around for years, and have little pepper trees.  I was thinking I would have to transplant them up to bigger pots, because by then they would have nice giant roots.  And now I have to deal with these monsters.  In the process of pulling them out of the pots, I would like to check out the roots a little bit.  I don't think they're really... root-intensive? Is that the word?  As Mike McGrath would describe it, their "life" is all above ground.  So it's not like it's going to grow back from the roots.  Right?  Maybe?  No, it won't.  Just stop.  

So yeah, I got two, actually three, nice big pots.  What am I going to put in them?!  Oh my god, nothing right now.  I will be buying pepper plants this year (I really thought I wouldn't have to, so sad) and probably I'll just use the same pots.  What peppers do I want to buy?  I mean, let's just buy the same shit again.  It went just fine, until they came inside.  My house is kind of a terrible place, maybe that's the problem.  Maybe the aphids live here already.  But yeah, I like Habeneros, and I like Jalapenos obviously, and maybe I'll get something else weird just to mix it up.  Or maybe I will try an Eggplant.  I've never grown that, of course.  

And next fall, am I going to try this shit again?  Am I going to actually wash them off like I'm supposed to?  Please?  

Outside Stuff

Eventually, I am going to have to take this whole gardening situation outside.  I have a lot of nice ideas, but as I'm getting closer to when I need to actually do it, it is sounding like a lot of work.

Vegetables and Stuff

• I was thinking I wanted to move all the soil from the tomato side of the bed, so that the tomatoes won't be growing in the same soil and building up wilt.  But I'm not sure I have to, and honestly I don't think I'm going to actually do it.  It sounds like a lot of work.  The tomatoes I am going to put in there are Brandy Boy, and Sun Gold.  Brandy Boy says it has disease resistance, and the reviews seem to confirm that.  And Sun Gold is a cherry tomato, and you can't hurt those.  So all I am going to do is buy a bunch of potting soil and dump it on top.  
• Once I've prepared the bed, I will transplant all that lovely Kale.  By then, the Romaine may be big enough to transplant.  And I just started some Bok Choy today, and they grow so fast they might be ready to transplant in 2 weeks.  Then the bed is full, nothing to do but watch it grow me some nice vegetables.  
• I also want to start some peas.  I guess I can do that whenever I want.  
• I threw some seeds in the Gutter Garden a few weeks ago when it was warm, but I don't see anything yet.  So I guess I need to re-sow that.  The radish seeds I put in the window box are doing great, I just need to go out and thin it down.  

Bigger Stuff

• First I should clean out all the dead crap and leaves and garbage and stuff.  I'm really hoping the landscaping people actually cut back the Liriope and the grass, because I just don't think I am capable.  Probably want to pull out some weeds too.  
• Gotta prune the roses.  That's not going to be fun, because of thorns and shit.  I guess I can do that now, because they do have new growth.  But I really don't feel like it right now.  
• Take down the goddamn Christmas stuff!  Oh my god, it's March.  This is embarrassing.  
• Stir up the compost.  I was hoping it would be farther along than this, but it is getting warmer, so that should help, and I'm adding coffee grounds.  I am hopeful that the compost will finish within like, 2 months.  That way I can add it to the raised bed before I put in the tomatoes, as I'm getting going with summer flowers and stuff.  
• All of the other leaves and brush and stuff, I will pack in to that trash can thing.  And hopefully, the compost in the tumbler now will be finished, and I can move all the other crap into the tumbler and try to get it to compost over the summer.  

Of course none of this got done this weekend.  Next weekend looks ok.   And now it's raining so I have an excuse.  

So hopefully in the next week or two I will have the raised bed filled with the greens, and the smaller bed sown with some peas.  And it won't be until early to mid May that I can put in the tomatoes and green beans.  Yeah so that means I have to keep these poor tomatoes going for another 2 months.... well, that's why you are not supposed to start them in January.  I might need to pot them up into something bigger.  I hope I have to do that, right, I hope I end up with a lot of roots since they got like, 4 months to get started.  

And I think I want to space them a little farther apart than I did last year.  So instead of 2 feet per plant, like 2 1/2?  That's going to be most of the bed.  And that's fine, I don't really want to grow much else in there, just a few Swiss Chard and some Parsley.  And the Chives have already come back, so that's awesome.  And of course I'll put some Basil in between the tomatoes.  

In the smaller bed, I'll replace the peas with green beans.  And hopefully the strawberries come back ok and maybe I'll even get some strawberries this year.  

March

I did some seed-starting rearranging.  I realized I had the biggest, heaviest stuff on the highest shelf, and it was only a matter of time before I dump my whole tray of plants all over myself and the carpet.  Now I've got the heaviest, biggest stuff on the bottom, on the counter.  That's the many Rudbeckia, the Kale, the Zinnias, and the bigger Tomato plants.  The Zinnias need some kind of a booster seat to raise them closer to the lights.  The Rudbeckia and the Kale need the light pretty high, mostly because they are in such tall containers.  (No regrets, the plastic bottle method means I see them taking full advantage of that space.  #teamdeeproots)  

The shelf above that is for the six-pack starts.  There is some logic to putting them on the highest shelf, but then I really can't see them, and that's the smallest light. (2 bulb 2 foot)  So they are on the second shelf, under 4 bulb 2 foot lights.  Getting creative, I was able to fit all 11 six-packs under there.  

On the top shelf, I have kind of a mid-height.  This is good for most of the Tomato starts, the Coleus, and Basil. This is not the most light, so I hope it's enough, but as these plants have more leaves, I think it will be ok.  And Coleus doesn't need tons of light at this point.  

So where are we with these plants?  I've reduced the Tomatoes down to 4 of each.  I took out the ones that looked the worst.  They just weren't worth the space.  There are a few that are getting pretty tall.  The biggest by far is a Sun Gold; it's at least a foot tall above the container.  That one, and a Fresh Salsa, and two Brandy Boys are on the bottom shelf because they are a little too tall for the top shelf. I really should give all of the tomatoes some fertilizer, I think that's why they are not growing as fast as I would like.  

I had 3 six-packs of Basil.  Two were directly under the bottom light, and they got pretty big.  The other was getting less intense light and it's still small.  The two that were getting big were starting to touch the lights and burn, so I transplanted them up to 3 inch round containers.  I worked in some Espoma fertilizer in there because I think they could use it at this point.  

That freed up 2 six-packs, so I planted those with more Zinnias, the Zahara Bonfire kind.  That conveniently used up the pack.  I would like to start more Zinnias when I get the space.  I have the Thumbelina Zinnias, which are obviously shorter, and I was thinking I would just direct-sow those.  

The Romaine is looking ok.  I'm kind of disappointed that only like, 2/3 of them actually germinated.  Actually less than that considering multiple seeds per cell.  I was thinking about consolidating, moving out the empty cells and scooping in some.  I've got 4 six-packs, and it could definitely be condensed down to 3.  But since they are so young and weak looking, I don't want to do that just yet.  I'll give them some more time, but in 2 weeks it will be ok to plant them outside. 

Same with the Kale!  The Kale looks pretty great, overall.  A few looked pretty thirsty but presumably they will recover ok.  Next weekend might be a good time to actually put them in the ground.  

Next up is Morning Glory.  I'm kind of behind on these.  I was planning to put them in their final containers right away, but that depends on me actually buying potting soil, and I've just been too lazy.  And I need to decide if I want to do anything with those poor Liriope that are in the containers now.  Of course I could start them in six-packs and just transplant them quickly.  It's probably more important to do that early.  

Before I put anything in the raised bed, I want to move some soil around and really add a lot of potting mix.  Again, this depends on me buying soil.  My thought is that if I move all the soil from the tomato side to somewhere else, I am less likely to get some awful wilt.  Sounds like something I could do next weekend.  

I was planning to plant some peas.  St. Patrick's Day is supposed to be the lucky time to plant them, and I will be away in North Carolina.  And Mike McGrath says to germinate them inside first, because the soil is still pretty cold.  So maybe I'll do that.  I mean, I don't have to.  I will use that space for green beans in May.  And if I get the Peas in there next weekend, that gives me...8 weeks?  That's the exact Days to Maturity, and I think that means that is when the peas start producing, and there should be like a month of this.  But I can't see a big downside.  I would need to pull them out and de-tangle them from the trellis.  Ok let's say I plant peas now-ish, and by May they are starting to produce.  Can I just plant the green beans around them?  The Peas will be fully grown, so there will be no confusing them.  It's like a month before the green beans get really established.  So I can keep getting peas, and by June, I can just cut them down.  I don't think there is any problem to have the roots in the same place.  They are both nitrogen-fixing, so having peas proceed them could only help.  And I assume most people do this, because it's so convenient and obvious.  If there was a reason not to, I think I would have heard of it.  Ok, let's do it.  

And the next thing I need to start is the Bok Choy.  I really need some open six-packs for that.  Maybe in like, 2 weeks, the other pack of Basil will be ready to transplant.  

What's in the six-packs, again?  I have: 

• 2 of the Giant Leaf mix of Coleus
• 2 of the Red Coleus (they look awful, barely anything happening) 
• 1 of Basil
• 2 of Zahara Zinnias
• 4 of Romaine

Hm.  The closest thing to transplant is the Romaine.  The Zinnias (the Giant ones) that are in that 12-pack are actually looking really good, but they certainly don't need to be transplanted any time soon.  And if I did, what would I put them in?  Twelve plants in large containers, c'mon.  

Let's buy a lot more lights and start using the space under the counter!  More plants!  

No, no, no.  C'mon.  

How are we going to free up some space?  The Kale is the first thing to come out, and if everything goes well, that can happen next weekend.  Then maybe the Romaine.  The Rudbeckia is the one taking up the most space, and they don't get planted until late April.  But at this point, maybe they could survive in front of the window?  And that would make it easier for me to harden them off on nice days.  

If I get the Kale and the Rudbeckia out of there, then I have a lot more space, and I don't need to have a light so high up.  Well, maybe I will have the same light placement but hopefully it will be for the tomatoes.  

I gotta get some Bok Choy started soon, but I'm not sure where I will be able to start them.  Maybe I need to make them out of some other container...