I love the tulips just before they bloom.

Zinnias are starting to bloom in some areas of the gardens before anything else annual-like here. Love the Giants. They get really tall and look great in front of dark plants.

Zinnias are going to be my everything annual this season.

Thats good.

I love yours David.

David--do you plant them twice a year? Would they bloom all year long that way?

We know they are a cottage garden Prerequisite Jo Ann and Thank you.

They reseed themselves through the seasons here Lucy. I am a huge fan of the old giants, and love how the colors hybridize.

I just love larkspur and keep trying to get it established here. It just never seems to thrive for me. Same goes for foxglove, it seems to be doing well then just sorta' disappears. I had tritoma, aka Red Hot Poker established and it did well for a couple of years, the next year it too was gone, I suspect deer may have eaten it back to the ground though. Last winter they ate a Euonymus shrub to the ground and probably killed it. We don't have a lot of deer but during harsh weather they show up to share the bounty. LOL

Heh. Deer eat your Euonymus down, and rabbits eat ours up. My one baby shrub has had two or three long vertical branches and not much else for the last few years. I expect all three of them to die each year from the bark being stripped, but evidently they're really tough plants.

Larkspur only self-sow here in the beds that don't receive much, if any, supplemental water. I don't know why that would make any difference, but I just thought I'd toss it out there.

I'm going to start planting out in earnest tomorrow. Just about everything that's hardened off will be headed out. I've many more seedlings to pot up, and I need the space!

I need to move more from the greenhouse to harden off and "WoW" discussing it just gave me an epiphany. I can load it all on our 4'x8' trailer and in the case of frost or too harsh of weather just back it into the barn. Thank You Chelle!

Yes, I've seen that happen with rabbits, especially in a hard winter with heavy snow cover. One year at work the gardeners were puzzled as to why so many plants and young trees were girdled from 9" to 12". We had a lot of snow that year and it became apparent that we'd had at least 9"s on the ground for a significant period of time.

That sounds great, Ric!

Mine are scattered; hardy seedlings and winter sowing containers are on the porch, tender but replaceable plants are in the unheated Springhouse, and the heat-loving plants I really don't care to lose are still making the trek in and out-of-doors from the house.

Chilly this morning, but it's supposed to be much warmer for the foreseeable future. I don't mind cooler day temps so much, but I'm so looking forward to nights above 40!

You don't 'do' no planting before Memorial Day? That was our Wisconsin rule.

Same rule here. Annuals especially.

I do, since I have a lot...but not all of everything all at once. Hardy seedlings that have been started cool and kept that way won't fare any differently than those that have self-sown.

I'd never get it all done if I waited for school to let out for summer vacation.

My tulips are beginning to open
Pomponetts





Bright Parrot

And now your happiness is beginning strongly Jo Ann! Beautiful pictures.

He He he

...........and a snort!

Just beautiful!

Starting to see progress. Turns out more oh my plants made it through the winter than I had thought. Just a few early blooms this morning in close up.