We had a beautiful weekend in the garden, with the temperatures topping +25. The weather forecast looks good for the next two week so we decided to plant. The tomatoes came out of the basement, hardened in the deck and then went in. I think all but one has survived the transplant.
The bulbs are starting to really show and expect many will flower this week. Above is an extreme top down on one of the early reds that comes up every year. I've also started to notice some missing plants--my favourite peony (a deep purple) has apparently bitten it. We also had a lot of losses among the irises. A dry winter and lack of snow cover maybe?
The early seeds are now coming up, with the peas really making major strides this weekend. The ones in the raised beds behind the garage are the furthest along (lots of heat and sun) but even those planted in the ground have poked up. Ditto the onions.
I've been eyeing the utility corridor to the south for planting. I mow and rake it and, each time I do, I think "giant potato patch". It looks like the city bylaws would allow for a garden here, but I have yet to rent the roto-tiller. This weekend we concentrated on reclaiming a 25x3' section of the iris bed. I've largely let this go in the three years since the construction and I wanted to clean it up and make some more room for vegetables (beans, beets and maybe green beans).
With Jess' help, I moved the perennials, dug it down, rediscovered a long-lost rock garden (which ponied up enough rocks to put a border between the vegetables and the perennials in the back), tilled it, and hoed it. I think we'll plant next weekend, assuming I can ever bend again.
I dug up my garden yesterday. I know what you mean about the sore back. I plan to create more beds this year, too. And I am also noticing plants that don't seem to be coming back, but it is still early so I hold out hope. But I did lose one clump of poppies! I thought they were indestructible.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah--the end result is good, but boy do ditch diggers not get paid enough!
ReplyDeleteI have some poppy seeds from my other's garden (grown from seeds from her mother's depression-era garden in Saskatchewan) that were frozen in about 1980 and have passed from freezer to freezer ever since. I think I'll let them loose in one of the bad spots in the garden and see what comes up.