Hi all. I didn't do what I really wanted to do which was to finish a flower bed edging project that I have been working on but I did do some needed small things. I planted all but 2 of my Dahlia that I over wintered. I put them in pots so I hope they do okay. I just have to make sure I water them when we don't get enough rain. I also planted a few more of my Gladiolus that I over wintered but still have more to do. I did some weeding by hand and placed some decor around the yard. Before I knew it I was cleaning the much needed furnace room in the basement and also cleaned two-thirds of the garage. There is always so much that needs to get done in the spring and never enough time. The rain chased me inside this afternoon late. Tomorrow is another day.
Happy gardening.

Edited to show what I have been doing and the area that needed to be done to finish this project.

First section completed.



2nd section completed


Last section needing to get finished

Mowed the lawn and watered the bougainvilleas since that was all the daylight I have left. I can't believe the bougainvilleas need water again. I think the soil is bad from the nursery. They usually don't need that much water. Considering we just got another inch of rain, IDK what they do with their water??

First thing I had to do was feed the birds, then watered the trays of plants still waiting to be planted and all the new containers. Then stared on my blue and white border on the end bed, weeding the edge as I went, got close to the end near the fence and decided it was time to move a daylily that was in too much shade and was being crowded by other plants. In order to plant that where I wanted it I had to move another plant, now hopefully both plants will be happy. Finished the border plants and decided it was time to put my stuff away for the day.

gardenglassgems said:Hi all. I didn't do what I really wanted to do which was to finish a flower bed edging project that I have been working on but I did do some needed small things. I planted all but 2 of my Dahlia that I over wintered. I put them in pots so I hope they do okay. I just have to make sure I water them when we don't get enough rain. I also planted a few more of my Gladiolus that I over wintered but still have more to do. I did some weeding by hand and placed some decor around the yard. Before I knew it I was cleaning the much needed furnace room in the basement and also cleaned two-thirds of the garage. There is always so much that needs to get done in the spring and never enough time. The rain chased me inside this afternoon late. Tomorrow is another day.
Happy gardening.

Edited to show what I have been doing and the area that needed to be done to finish this project.

First section completed.



2nd section completed


Last section needing to get finished

Excellent job!

Thanks Keith. Rained last night and is raining mow so it looks like I won't be able to finish this project until Monday maybe Sunday late afternoon. A friend and I are going shopping. I need some more annuals and some perennials if I can find some good buys. Happy gardening.

Did more watering and plant rearranging on the driveway so that those who need more sun get it. And those who want a little protection are protected by the shade of others. The driveway is the only place where I get any type of sunlight. I couldn't get my string cutter started. I suspect it needs a new spark plug. Always something, isn't it? I gave the banana tree a new big pot, put some irises I just inherited into a pot for the time being until I have time to plant them into the ground. I planted two orchid tree saplings that I grew from seed 2 seasons ago, in the forest that hopefully will grow nicely so I can see it over my fence. I found a place that gets ample morning sun and another that gets some afternoon sun. We'll see how they do. I put them in a 2 gallon pot of soil and removed the bottom so the roots can eventually seek their own resources from the forest floor. Then the storm came....

I got 2 more beds bordered with my alyssum and lobelia, a lot of weeding in the process, I would weed a few feet, put a few plants in. I still have 2 more beds to do but that was as much kneeling as my knees would take for today. Then I planted a daylily, Destined to See, that had been in a pot for 2 years. Drained and refilled the fountain. A good day, the weather was near perfect, 68 degrees, a nice breeze.

Earlier today did some deadheading, and gave another round of watering to some plants, as we are expecting high temps. True enough we briefly hit 91F and now at around 89F and just so dry. Helped my hubby as he fixed the rusty locking mechanism of my compost tumbler. Glad it was finished before noon time. Yey! compost tumbler is back in business!

More weeding in the shade. Laid out a soaker hose around perimeter of my herb garden.

I'm taking a break from the yard today. The sun is finally out and it seems summer has arrived with a vengeance. It is 90º and humid with mosquitoes buzzing all over. But I did bring out 4, 1-gallon potted plants to had off to my GF today.

Had a neighbor come round and assist in cutting down eight or nine tall bamboo canes that were resting against the electric wire into our property. Successfully completed but now completed worn out in the 80f

Did some watering and weeding. Went to the large garden center/nursery to check out sale plants etc. Got a bag of Espoma potting soil and an oscillating sprinkler. The watering stuff was on sale. I've been wanting to try an oscillating sprinkler here for a while; in other situations they have worked well for me. The local word is that they always break or fail to operate as required. We'll see. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Discovered that a second one of my semps has rotted from too much water. That's discouraging! but it means I need to pay much more attention to the potting mix I use for them. I thought they would drain better than apparently these two did. They need to really dry out! Hoping none of the others have this happen; it seems to occur pretty suddenly. EVeryone else looks fine at the moment! and I am not going to repot all of them if I don't have to and definitely not this evening!

Oh well. Have to kill my share of plants, right?

I can't find any energy to work in the garden right now, and it's a lovely cool and cloudy day for it! I only managed to pull a wheelbarrow load of weeds (99.9% Henbit ) and cage what's left of my pea plants against the return of the darned critters.

Kyla, I find semps to be challenging here. Best of luck to you!

One of my happiest *arrangements* this year is the better part of a broken decorative pot in a pile of sand and gravel, with a sedum planted at its head. No picture handy at the moment, but sedum I can do.

I finished the Alyssum and Lobelia border today!!! I am beat, my knees are sore as are my hands, arms and shoulders, the dirt was very hard in the last bed. It took 180 plants to do the 6 beds.

Nice going, Margaret! That's a lot of sweet-smelling heaven right there!


I went out to catch an image of that sedum before the rain could morph it into something huge and disproportionate to my memory of it.





Of course I probably just find it so exceptionally neat just because of its position in the untamed-as-yet surroundings!


Thistles anyone??

Chell, the wonderful scent is one of the reasons I plant so many, my garden smells great from one end to the other.

Your sedum and pot looks great!

Weeded some, watered with my new oscillating sprinkler which works fine, thank you! and then watched the downpour just now, hahaha! Went out right after, put supports to three tomato plants and staked up a couple tall things that were leaning (a zinnia and a Cerototheca triloba -- African foxglove that hasn't bloomed yet but soon.) So far the sunflowers are holding their own!

Took a few pictures.

Took some photos of flowering cacti again, and checked on my Maxillaria tenuifolia, if it has managed to push out the blooms properly. Alas still stuck..oh well. Inspected my finicky caladium..one lone leaf unfurling. As I do this I also remove some dried out leaves from some succulents. Season is transitioning, so lower leaves are drying out as newer leaves for summer is forming at the center.

After lunch, watered one by one at the sink my indoor orchids. Got to be careful with the aerial roots escapees, so gently spray misting those roots. Spray misted fertilizer on some orchids that are currently not in bloom. Turn on ceiling fan to help the orchids dry and enjoy some good air circulation.

Off to a slow start early as the tree trimming crew from the power company showed up at 8:00 am to clear our lines, but after that things really rolled along nicely. It was cloudy and cool for most of the day, so I had a choice of trouble spots to tackle first. I chose the Dogwood bed since there were weedy saplings that I'd just danced around pulling tops off last year and never dug out. Then I treated myself to some planting out time; both in-ground and in containers. Fun!
I'm amazed at how fast the heavy rainfall of the past few days soaked in! I hadn't thought I'd be able to plant in the ground already today...we must have been even drier that I thought we were. There's still some standing in the watershed area, but most of the rest is good to go.
Bonus! The tree crew will be back in a few days to drop off a nice load of wood chips! Yay! That's one less thing I have to go and get myself.
It has been a great day!

Another fun day in the garden, I planted a Monarda, 'Cranberry Lace', had to move a plant that I just planted last week and relocate it. Planted 3 more urn type planters with Wave Petunias, 3 Kalanchoe in a planter for the butterflies and the bees, did a planter box that sits on the retaining wall with 2 small fuchsias and some pansies, I had to fill in the spaces between the plants with a bunch of small rocks so that the chipmunks and jays don't go hiding their seeds and peanuts in three, planted more pansies in a pot to go on the retaining wall. Added alyssum to containers that I did the other day.