My feeders have been up for weeks.  The migration maps state that they were spotted in the area weeks ago.  But no hummingbird sightings HERE yet. I'd like to think that I just miss them EVERY TIME they visit.  Either way, I'm pulling out the big guns!  The bright red table cloth.  If they can't see this, then I give up. Okay, not really.  I just need to feel like I'm trying.

I didn't have great germination with my outdoor sowing of carrots so far.  Granted I didn't try too hard like I did last season.  Last year I sowed them, watered, covered lightly with plastic wrap until germination, and had great results.  This year I was optimistic (lazy).  I just waited until the night before a rainy day, tossed them down, watered, and ignored them.  There were huge fluctuations in temperatures around this time as well.  Frosts.  Record heat.  A strange Spring.  Needless to say I had a few bare patches.  To fill in, I cut off the bottom of a milk jug and sowed some seeds on top and watered them in.  Covered with plastic wrap until germination.  I just transplanted them outside before the taproots got too long.  We'll see how this method works. Now to go and stare at the hummingbird feeders...

What's worse than having the stomach flu and severe head cold AT THE SAME TIME like I do right now?  This.  I cut this off the top of my Lady Emma Hamilton rose from David Austin.  I looked it up to be sure.  Definitely Rose Rosette Disease.   :(  There is no cure.  The only suggestion is to dig up the plant (roots and all) and burn it.  It's the only way to protect the other roses.  It's RARE that I would spend $40 on a plant (includes shipping).  I would like to think that this is just an opportunity to try something new, but she was just getting into her prime.  Such a lovely rose. 

 On a brighter note, my Earliglow strawberries are starting to ripen.  Three weeks ahead of last year.

Since it was a nice, partly cloudy day, my young plants made their journey from my covered porch to the sidewalk to get a bit more of sun.  With temperatures staying in the mid-50s tonight, they will be able to spend another night outdoors.  Maybe even get to feel a little rain dancing on their leaves.

There are some thirsty plants out there.  Lots of rain should be heading our way in the next couple of hours.

Strawberries and Champagne

We finally have some decent rain in the forecast.  3 inches over the next couple of days to be precise!  Okay, that's more than I really wanted, but with such dry soil, I'll take what I can get.

Earliglow Strawberry blooms are already forming berries.  These are growing outside their alloted spot, so they don't have any straw beneath them.  The rest of the plants are nestled with straw to keep soil from splashing on the berries.  Last Spring was extremely wet and rot became a problem with berries that touched the soil. 

 

My favorite clematis is in full bloom.  Cheers to Pink Champagne.

Seedling Updates

Post #2 of the day.
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We are having yet another above-average warm stretch. With the potential of record-breaking heat today, I decided that it's time to start hardening off my plants. They are now outside on a covered porch. The slight breeze will help sturdy up their stems, but they will be protected from the most intense hours sun.
Above are three of my five trays. The other two trays include one with seeds waiting to germinate (cukes, cardinal climber, nicotiana, carrots, lettuce) and another tray with small seedlings that have already germinated but are still small (petunias, cukes, more tomatoes, more peppers). Here they are up close.
Left to right:
There are two Salad Bush cucumbers that just germinated that are in the back, left corner.
Tomatoes ( just a couple of the ones started)
Fat N' Sassy (now called King Arthur) peppers in the front center.
Tango Celery tucked into the middle back.
Tropical Milkweed for the monarch cats to munch on.
In the front, Snow Crystals Sweet Alyssum that started blooming when it was quite small. It has a lovely fragrance which is what I was hoping for. Nicotiana sylvestris in the back...also for fragrance and moth appeal.
Dwarf Janie Deep Orange Marigolds. Just the other day I had to pick the first blooms off of most of them. They are nice and sturdy so far. Behind them in the tray are Oklahoma red zinnia and Fruit Smoothie Orange and Purple zinnia. It's funny. I used to look down on marigolds. That somehow, since they are easy to grow, that they aren't as impressive as other flowers. It wasn't until last season when I saw my daughter picking marigolds to place in vases that I saw them as something special again. Now my gardens will be filled with deep orange marigolds, so my daughter can make bouquets to her hearts content.

Hummingbirds and Natives

Last season I purchased two pots of Little Lanterns Columbine at Lowes while it they were on sale. Another step in the journey to add more natives to my garden. I hope the hummers find these soon. They are in full bloom right now, and I have yet to see a hummingbird this season.Check out these lovely blooms.

Finally! After a period of no rain since the end of March, we got a bit of rain. Not enough to penetrate down into the soil enough to reach all spots effected by drought, but it's a welcome start. Hoping for a little bit more before the morning is over.

My Prairiefire Crabapple tree is in full bloom. The other night we reached 27 degrees with a Real Feel of 19. I was worried about the blossoms that were waiting to open. They must be tougher than I thought. What gorgeous pink blossoms against burgundy and green foliage. I love this tree.
Last year I cut back the laterals on my blackberry bushes. Tossed them in a pile to be taken up to back to decompose. After an hour I thought, why don't I try to plant some and see what happens. So I decided to take 1 foot cuttings and cram them upright into a container of soil. I tossed some plastic wrap over the top to keep the humidity up a bit since it was still quite hot and dry outside. I gave them a quick drink of water and ignored them. Darned if those cuttings didn't survive over the winter unprotected. Just sitting in this container out front. Wow. Blackberries are tough. The cuttings are putting out new growth. A friend of mine is now the proud owner of a few blackberry plants. Plant propagation is cool.
My Copra onions from Dixondale Farms arrived this weekend! This variety (along with Red Zeppelin) did very well for me last season. I still have some in the fridge from last season! This year I gave them approximately 4 inches of space rather than just the 3 I usually give. Curious to see if there is a significant difference.
They were just planted this morning. Above them are some Scarlet Nantes carrots that have germinated (too small to see in the photo). I direct sowed some a couple of weeks ago and tossed down a few more seeds to fill in some bare spots while I was working on the onions. I direct sowed some more Jericho lettuce in one of the raised beds as well.

Potato Planting

It's time for potatoes! Well, in containers anyway. Tonight there is a freeze warning. They are calling for temperatures around 27 with a Real Feel of 19!. Yikes. We haven't seen weather like that in a while. No worries. The potatoes can easily be protected on my porch for the night. The first step was to thoroughly moisten some peat moss. The peat is important for keeping the pH low enough to prevent scab on the future potatoes. I dumped peat in one of the large containers and poured tons of water on it. You have to keep stirring and mixing it. The peat is very hydrophobic at first. It takes a while for it to start to accept the water. Just keep mixing....and mixing....and mixing.
Once the peat was thoroughly moistened, I filled each large container 1/4 of the way with the peat. It's pretty moist (as you can see), but then I filled the containers to the half way mark with potting soil and left over top soil. Mixed it well, and in went the potatoes. In this case I planted Kennebec potatoes that I found a Walmart yesterday. One large seed potato went in each container. Each had about 4-5 eyes that were already sprouting. I pointed those points upward and gently covered with the soil. Once the plants reach up over the rim, I will fill up the rest of the container with soil. Boy it feels good to get my hands all dirty!

Winter came and went... Wait! Winter was here? We only had one good snow right before Halloween and perhaps two dustings after that. That was winter? I guess the strange weather had me preoccupied, and I didn't check in as much as I would have liked. To fill everyone in on what is going on around here on yet another warm, 70+ degree day......The daffodils visit is coming to an end. They sure are a dose of sunshine when they arrive though.
We had a new roof put on our house a few weeks ago. My relatively new (3 year old) Prairiefire Crabapple tree took quite a jolt. One of the roofers tossed something off the roof. It flew a good 15 feet out and caught one of the three main branches of the tree. Bent the end of this branch down to the ground and cracked it along the ridge. Poor thing. I thought the shovel tossed off the roof onto my Golden Zest rose or the three large garbage cans tossed on my blooming daffodils was going to be the worst of it. :(
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As you can see in the background, my hummingbird feeders went up a few days ago. According to the hummingbird migration maps, they're already north of us into New York. If you're interested, check out the link to the maps at http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html
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It doesn't look like much in the backyard right now, but in a month or two, it should be green and lush.
My Meyers Lemon plant that I purchased about a year ago. It developed its first blooms and just opened for the first time this morning!
Last year I bought a small ivy plant at the grocery store. It did quite well in my eastern-facing window. I decided to take an old wire hanger and make this topiary. The hook is buried under the potting mix. Then I shaped the rest into a circle and twined the vines around it. Although I'm not a big fan of ivy, I do think this makes a nice presentation.
Above is one of my Snow Princess sweet alyssum. It looks like there might be some blossoms starting in the middle of this one. I've never grown sweet alyssum before, but I'm still trying to add fragrant delights to the garden.
Old-Fashioned Vining Petunias. A fragrant annual that is new to me this season.
My tomatoes were planted on the March 11th. They starting germinating the other day. Here is one of the Sun Golds that my daughter is anxiously waiting on. Their flavor hasn't been beaten yet by any other cherry tomato. I know it looks sad, but it's amazing how they can transform into something spectacular within a few months.
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I would be remiss if I didn't mention my tomato list for 2012. What was going to include only 4 plants turned into 12. So much for self-control.
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2 Sun Gold - Everyones favorite cherry tomato around this house.
2 Celebrity - Dependable, disease resistant choice.
2 Kellogg's Breakfast - My dad's favorite. Superb flavor. Get small toward end of season for me.
1 Cherokee Green- Amazing flavor. Winner for flavor in 2010. Best green yet!
1 Cherokee Purple- Did poorly in a bad tomato year last season. Giving it another try.
1 Sandul Moldovan- Excellent pink.
1 Pruden's Purple- New to me. Despite its name it is a pink. I hear good things about it's production and flavor.
1 Marion- I had old seed, but never tried it. I figured I would plant it to get fresh seed...and to taste it.
1 Marglobe- Same as Marion. I've never tried it, but would like fresh seed to replace the old. Interested to see how it tastes and produces.
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Left: Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) from last seasons saved seed.
Middle: Tango Celery. A hybrid.
Right: Fat N' Sassy Peppers. Another hybrid which are now sold under the name King Arthur.
Dwarf Red Haven Peach. This is the first time my Stark's supreme dwarf RH Peach has had blossoms on it. They have such a beautiful pink hue to the flowers. Gorgeous. Since the tree is still quite small...even for a dwarf, I won't let it fruit yet. The scaffolds need to thicken up a bit and branch out before I will put that kind of stress on it. It is nice to see that it is doing well though.
Music and German Extra Hardy garlic which was planted last October. Off to a healthy start.
Caroline Raspberries. This is all from ONE bareroot plant that I planted last Spring.
Earliglow Strawberries. I went out this morning to find a blossom already! Last year my first Earliglow started to blush on May 19th. With all of this ridiculously warm weather the last few weeks, they are way ahead of schedule. I hope they hang on when the temperatures drop back down starting tomorrow. It'll be going from mid- to high-70s back into the mid-50s (where it should have been all along).