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.