Yes Rita - great timing.
Or rather YOUR great PLANNING!

After I get the straw and put it on the tomato beds they will be ready for planting. Last year I put my tomato seedlings in on April 28th. Early but they were fine and did well. This year we will see. It depends on the weather.

Sounds like you're all working hard again - if not outdoors then planning indoors. I'm here to report that I had TWO men show up today for work!! Despite the freezing temps (not exaggerating) and windchills (22 degrees) and then some snow flurries we all worked hard til 2:30. One man is an expert at barn cleaning and he did a fantastic job - my goat is thrilled! The new guy picked up the mess I made with my new saw this weekend and then hauled load after load to the burn pile. Almost all of the winter limb damage is cut and hauled. Then he chainsawed a few of my shrubs in dire need of rejuvenation - right almost to the ground...and hauled some more. I pruned clematis - giant balls of spent vine and pulled (and pulled) golden hops that really borders on alien invasion. More pruning on the Seven Sons and then serious attacks on the volunteer weed trees in the siberian elm hedge (never plant it - really - never never never). A really productive day and my body knows it.

I'm finally sitting down to some lunch (gumbo!) and a visit to what is becoming my favorite website...even more than Pinterest, Here's today's throwback garden photo: (a glimpse through the Weigeila in the Bird Garden to my Perch)

Jersey, you DID have a fantastic day, didn't you!?!?!?

Well, today was a total washout! Torrential downpours, thunder and lightening, flooding, and tonight a freeze warning!! I am soooo tired but I must go move plants into the garage. My tulips have buds on them, thankfully they are in pots but I do want to bring in my ground orchids and maybe....everything!! What will this freeze do to my beautiful Hostas?? Some are in the ground and some in pots, everything is sprouting or sprouted. LOL.

jerseyridgearts said:Sounds like you're all working hard again - if not outdoors then planning indoors. I'm here to report that I had TWO men show up today for work!! Despite the freezing temps (not exaggerating) and windchills (22 degrees) and then some snow flurries we all worked hard til 2:30. One man is an expert at barn cleaning and he did a fantastic job - my goat is thrilled! The new guy picked up the mess I made with my new saw this weekend and then hauled load after load to the burn pile. Almost all of the winter limb damage is cut and hauled. Then he chainsawed a few of my shrubs in dire need of rejuvenation - right almost to the ground...and hauled some more. I pruned clematis - giant balls of spent vine and pulled (and pulled) golden hops that really borders on alien invasion. More pruning on the Seven Sons and then serious attacks on the volunteer weed trees in the siberian elm hedge (never plant it - really - never never never). A really productive day and my body knows it.

I'm finally sitting down to some lunch (gumbo!) and a visit to what is becoming my favorite website...even more than Pinterest, Here's today's throwback garden photo: (a glimpse through the Weigeila in the Bird Garden to my Perch)

Very beautiful picture Catherine! Sounds like you had a very productive day and thank you for making us your favorite website! I feel the exact same way, I love Pinterest but they are second only to ATP. LOL. http://www.pinterest.com/pinne...

Today I couldn't do anything on my garden since I'm away on business. But i texted andhad my daughter cover all the tomato seedlings I'd planted and now I can only hope. I have extras indoors if I they don't make it. I think it will be okay.
All the perennials are of course fine, which is the great thing about perennials. I can't wait to get home and see how they make it through the cold night.

The year before last I had gotten a ground orchid in the fall, I heard that it was hardy so I potted it up and left it outside and do you know it died the first time we got a freeze? I thought maybe it went dormant but it never did come back. I got two more from a friend so I took these into the garage. Our local station said it would get down to 30° and I was panicking, then I looked at the Weather.com and they say it is only getting down to 37° so I do feel a little better now, but I brought in the tulips because they have buds on them. I moved all the daylilies under the porch, they are already soaked, my Hostas do not mind they look gorgeous and I brought the two bigger ones into the garage as well. It was so cold and windy and wet, my hands were like ice when I came in. LOL.

Well I did my daily walk about and what did I see? Delicious blueberries, ripe and ready to eat. So I just stood over this plant and enjoyed a handful of these delicious gems. I also cleaned up my iris and just marveled at a beautiful, sunny day in my garden. Oh yea, I was bombarded by hummingbirds protecting the salvia. There is nothing better than the smell of flowers, a beautiful blue sky and birds singing. This is my kind of heaven.

That sounds so wonderful. I like to eat the blueberries directly off the shrubs also.

Sherill - you are just down the freeway from me!! Hi neighbor.

My blueberries are still quite far from ripening. I have them in morning sun, so they will take longer to mature. Which variety did you plant?

After having asparagus in the ground for 2 years, I can finally harvest a handful in about 5-6 days. Still have a ways to go. I bought 3 more starts this year and hope to have a larger patch, but I am out of room.

Catherine - I had no idea a weigeila can get so large. It is quite pretty. My one and only weigeila is only about a foot tall.

All I did today was a little weeding and watering the back yard. I did some repotting yesterday - I think all the heavy and hard stuff is done. Putting in the summer veggie garden will have to wait until I get back from vacation in May.

Oh, lucky you, Sherrill. We lived in NorCal for a number of years and it is so beautiful. Lots to forage.

There's frost out there right now. I hope this is the last one. Things are still waiting in pots and seed packets.

Ecograndma said:Well I did my daily walk about and what did I see? Delicious blueberries, ripe and ready to eat. So I just stood over this plant and enjoyed a handful of these delicious gems. I also cleaned up my iris and just marveled at a beautiful, sunny day in my garden. Oh yea, I was bombarded by hummingbirds protecting the salvia. There is nothing better than the smell of flowers, a beautiful blue sky and birds singing. This is my kind of heaven.

indeed!

26 degrees at dawn today.....
Garden tomorrow.

On Twitter, I follow @UrbGardenersRep. They must be primarily from NYC. TODAY, they tweeted a photo of jiffy pots and seed packets all "ready to go".

It sure made me feel better after hearing from all of you in warmer climes with your prodigious blossoms going on!!!

Ecograndma said:Well I did my daily walk about and what did I see? Delicious blueberries, ripe and ready to eat. So I just stood over this plant and enjoyed a handful of these delicious gems. I also cleaned up my iris and just marveled at a beautiful, sunny day in my garden. Oh yea, I was bombarded by hummingbirds protecting the salvia. There is nothing better than the smell of flowers, a beautiful blue sky and birds singing. This is my kind of heaven.

Sounds wonderful!!!

I pulled bubble wrap insulation off of my wintersowing flats, and un-blanketed perennials that I covered. Not as nice as blueberries, but this *is* Ohio. On the positive side, nothing looks terribly damaged.

I got the straw I need to use as mulch for my tomato beds. Home grown tomatoes are wonderful but prone to all sorts of fungal diseases. Best to mulch them right away. I user straw that I get in Agway (a feed store for horses). Of course I have to put it out but at least I have it.