Alright, I planted all 4 Knock Out Roses in the side bed.  I put 2 in there, and it just looked stupid, so I put a third.  That way they're not in a line, but a triangle, so they look a lot more natural  Then I thought there was another big empty space, and I just put the fourth one in there.  It's funny, because I originally bought the roses to put in the front bed, but I just liked them so much I bought 4.

Instead of the Rose, I could plant a Clematis.... I want one so bad!  I've wanted one for years, before I even gardened I wanted a Clematis.  Why have I denied myself for so long?  And if I did that, I wouldn't need to remove as much, they're kind of small in their footprint.  I could go buy that tomorrow, and Wedgewood.  And I could buy something for Mom, and if I'm really lucky, they might have the Nasturtium seeds I want.  So, they open at 9, I should get there at 9.

And I just spent another $100 at Wedgewood.  I finally got my Clematis.  I got the Jackamani Superba, which seems like the most common and hopefully easiest variety.  (Blooms on new growth, which sounds great.)  I dug out the stupid Liriope way in the back of the front bed, and put the clematis in there, and put my obelisk trellis around it.  It feels like it might be too far back and might not get enough sun... But it wants "cool roots," so it should be good that it's got plants all around it, and once it starts growing up, it will get plenty of sun.

I also bought a bunch of annuals to put in there to fill it out and give it more color (although it's looking pretty full already).  I got all purple stuff, to match the purple Clematis.  6 purple Calibrocha, that are decent size and not quite flowering all the way yet, and a 6 pack of purple Sweet Allysum.  I don't know when I should go about planting them.  I was originally going to divide and move around all of the Liriope and all of the Daylilies, but I just don't think I can get all that done.  I need to at least move the Liriope out of the very middle, and I would like to move the big Daylily that's near the middle, I think it's red.  Shit, actually, the one in front of the Juniper is red, and so is the one in the back left corner.  What's the thing in the middle?  Hopefully I find out soon.

If I had all the time and energy, what would I do?  Well, I would divide all of the Daylilies and replant them, probably more towards the middle of the bed.  I would move the red Daylilies to the sidewalk bed, because it needs more plants for sure and the only other flowering thing I have in there now is also red, the Yarrow.  And I would dig up and divide nearly all the Liriope, and replant them closer to the front, in a border.  That might end up looking a little too formal, if they're all in a row.  I'm not really good at planting with that much precision, or at maintaining something that specific.  Maybe it would be better if they're all dug up and divided, and planted near the front, but in more of a natural looking pattern.  It might end up that way anyway even if I try to make a row.

I think the Daylilies can be divided any time, at least that's what White Flower Farm tells me.  They say the reblooming ones should be divided every 2 years, but I don't know if that means they can be, or if they need to be, or else they don't flower much.  These did not flower so well last year.

Anyway, that's the best case scenario.  What actually happens will be far less.

So about that side bed- the Roses are all in there, and they look so great, and now that whole area will look great forever no matter what I do.  I planted the Zinnia starts in there, kind of mixed in around the roses.  They're supposed to get quite tall, so I wanted them near the middle.  I planted the 6 that were really big, the ones that I had already moved to a big container, and I did 6 newer ones that were in small containers.  Next I have the mini sunflowers- I've got 6, in plastic bottles, with nice root growth happening.  Since they're supposed to be 14" or 18", I was thinking they should be more towards the front.  Or, I could plant them in the window box.  I think that would be totally cute, to have a row of mini sunflowers up there.  I think I have some Zinnia seedlings upstairs under the lights that I could be transplanting.  It might be better to let them get further along first.  Also I'm not positive that's what they are, it's either that or Basil.  And at this point, there's no advantage to starting them in there; I should just direct sow any seeds I want, right into the ground.  Yeah, let's do that.  I think I'll just do the Giant Flower ones.  Yes, they will probably get obnoxiously tall, but they'll have such awesome flowers!  And they seem to be healthier plants than the Cut and Come Again, but that's not based on a very well controlled study.

Raised Bed- I am ready to plant the first tomato on the right side of the raised bed, with the nice big square cage.  I think I'll plant the Better Boy first, because I assume it's a longer season tomato.  (actually, they both say about 70 days.  But I think this is going to need more sun, because it's not going to be as huge as the cherry tomato, and it grows much bigger tomatoes.)

I will plant the Basil in the space between the two tomato cages.  I've got them oriented diagonally, so that gives some nice space in the middle front.  In the back, in the spaces between the wall and the cages, I'm thinking I can plant some Sunflowers.  Quick searching online found no reason not to plant them near tomatoes, and some people confirmed what I expected, that the tough stems can be extra support for tomato vines.  So I'll just throw 3 seeds into those spots and see what happens.

I've still got the last few Romaine heads, and all the Kale, and all 6 Radicchio, so I don't have the room to do the other tomato just yet.  I'll need to harvest the Lettuce soon, it's already getting to be too hot.  I'm planning to do it the end of this week, because we're supposed to get a few cool nights.  I'm kind of disappointed in the Kale, it's still pretty small.  I can certainly eat what's there, but it's not growing all huge and the leaves are like, the size of a spinach leaf.

I'm going to leave the Radicchio there.  I think they will survive the summer, since they get some nice shade at that end.  And I think they'll keep growing.  They've only just started to grow enough to form an actual head, so I think if we can keep them from bolting, they'll grow more and by the fall I'll have nice full grown plants.  Then when it gets cold, that will be the perfect time to harvest them.  If they start to look like they're not going to make it, I can just rip it out.  Or I could harvest 3 of them and leave the other 3 to see what happens.

And today I will go ahead and plant the Green Bean seeds in the little raised bed.  I've got the trellises in there, I've got the big ones near the end where the wall is taller, and then two of the small ones at the other end.  I'm planning to alternate the green and purple beans.  Of course, I know they're going to get crazy big, and outgrow those trellises before July.

In front of that, I've got the Strawberry plants, and they've been in there about a month.  I ended up not using all the bare roots, because I was trying to space them as directed, but I wish I had planted all of them, because only around half of them are growing.  I don't think I'm going to get any strawberries this year.  I might fill in the space around them with the Swiss Chard.

And once I plant all this, I want to cover the top with the worm castings.  I'm a little worried, because at least the first round of it was full of some kind of seeds.  So I've gotten some crazy weed situations on the seed starts, and in the containers with the herbs where I used some of this worm casting to make the potting mix.  I guess I'll just do it anyway, and hope for the best.

I will also plant the Parsley and the new Chives in the left end of the raised bed.  I'll still have the other tomato and the jalapeno, which I can't plant until I have the space.  I'm tempted to plant them into larger containers for now, but of course I don't have enough potting soil.  Now, I could just grow the pepper in a container the whole time.  Then I could bring it inside over the winter and make another attempt at perennializing it.  It would also mean it would get much more sun, and I'd have more room in the bed for other stuff, like Swiss Chard.  (Seriously, how much Swiss Chard are you going to grow?  Well, a lot, probably.  I eat it a lot, it's easy, it looks great, so yeah, let's grow a ton of it.)

on that note, what's going on with seed starting?  I've got 6 Morning Glories that are literally climbing up the walls they're so eager to get planted.  That should probably be the most important thing I do with this small bag of potting mix that I have.  I've got one of the 24" containers planted with the other 6, and I should do a second one with these 6.  Of course, I want to have 3 containers eventually, so I'll probably end up direct seeding the other one.  That will give me a clear distinction between the started and the direct seeded, so I know if the future which is a better approach.  I want to put them where the peas are now.  The peas are growing really fast, but they're a long way from making any peas.  I don't even have anything that looks like a flower yet.  It's been 8 weeks, so like, 56 ish days, and they're supposed to be 60 days to maturity.  I really don't think I'll get anything off of them in the next week.  And in 2 weeks, it will be too hot for them to even grow, and they'll shrivel up and die before producing anything.  What a waste of space.  I could just rip them out right now so I can put in the Morning Glories.  They didn't even get into the trellis netting very much, so it won't even be hard to get them cleaned up.  I'll throw them in the compost outside, and if they really are high in nitrogen, it should move it along a little faster.  Then I'll just transplant those others in there, which will be super easy, and they'll start to grow really fast.  I might get flowers earlier this year.  Now, do I want to plant them all in the 24" containers, or all in the 32", or what?  I mean, the 32" seems like a better idea, obviously, because they'll have more space, they'll fill the whole wall.  The only downside is the volume of soil needed.  Well, ok, I only have the 6 that are in the smaller one, which I can easily move, and the 6 I still need to transplant.  The third container can just wait a minute, and I'll buy potting mix this week.  Also, there are no drainage holes in those containers, so I'll empty the soil into something, drill some holes, and refill it.  And I think I will try to use those little tray things that make a reservoir for some water.  I know Mike McGrath thinks it's a bad idea, but I'm going to be really negligent about watering this summer, I know it.

Shit, you know?  That's all the Morning Glory. I don't have any more seeds.  I think I had scraped them and left them to soak, and forgot about them for a week.  Well, whatever, I can buy more at any store, everyone has these.

Ok, I put the Sunflower starts in the window box.  I'm going to sow a few more of the Elf sunflower seeds in there.  At some point, I might put in some other annuals to trail over the sides and give it some contrast.

So I've got like, 3 Nasturtium starts, and I think I will just go ahead and plant them in the gutter garden, probably in the bottom.  I'll also sow all the remaining Nasturtium seeds in there.  So for seed starting, I've got 2 trays of Swiss Chard, 3 trays of Drake's succulent thing, at least one of Basil, and I don't really know what the rest is. I mean, I think it's Basil.  It might also be Zinnias.  I think those are the only things I planted recently.  As the other things start to be ready to transplant, I'll fill the other 6-packs up with the succulent things.  I'm hoping the Swiss Chard starts to grow a little better.  They might need some food.  If they all do well, I'll have 12 plants, which is actually fine, I'm sure I can find space for them.  I might start another tray, because I wouldn't mind having more.  But those are the only seeds I should even be thinking about starting any time soon.

By August, I can start some of the fall veggies.  I think that's the best way to do it, because then they will reach maturity in like, October, when it will be a much better time to harvest them, because it's cold.

I also want to keep trying with these stupid Elephant Ears.  They haven't shown any kind of growth, but I will move them upstairs and put them under the lights.  The warmth and the light should get them going, if they're ever going to work.  Although, I don't really know what I should do with them.  The Patio bed is now very well filled with Coleus, Begonias, some Liriope in the front, and the two big Hostas in the corners.  Elephant Ears would not fit.