Heck no, Karen, apology absolutely not needed! I'm enjoying this conversation. Howdy, Margaret!
The weather sure seems to be unseasonably cold this year. Overnights still in the low 40s. It fooled me a couple of times already. I put out a pound of CA poppy seed thinking we'd be getting nice weather, but only a handful have come up. I keep hoping they will sprout any day now, but I think it's a lost cause at this point. Every time I start getting pissy about it, I remind myself what others in colder zones must be going through and chastise myself for being petty. Plus, I keep hoping it will equate to a cooler summer. Fact is, all the trees are doing well putting out new growth and that is where the real benefit is at this point.
I unloaded 1.8 tons of planter soil from a local landscape company this winter and I am somewhat disappointed. Some things are doing okay in it, but two of my creeping Rosemary are drying out. There seems to have formed a crusty top layer. So I aerriated it using a pitchfork to get some water under the crust... I guess I should have watered while shoveling it off the truck. Live and learn. I also used it in my hoop house, so now I gotta pull half of it out, mix in some native sand, and take it back in. The Fava beans took to it, so that is my silver lining as that is a deep bed using the top of a discarded dog kennel for the base.
I am doing the gardening double-step this year!
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