Annual Planters

 Every year I treat myself to one Proven Winners combo that has to be mail ordered because I can’t find the exact plants locally. I always use Romence Gardens for this.

This year I chose the Proven Winners recipe Pixie Powder.

First, here is the good news. Baby plants safe and sound.

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This is what a Romence Gardens shipment usually looks like when it arrives. Cleverly designed and beautifully packed.

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And this is what I got today. FedEx apparently dropped it upside down. HARD.

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Out of six plants, that was the only one still in its pot. I already had planned to put them under a grow light for a few weeks, and I have been transplanting today so I had soil all ready to go. I put the gloves on because I already scrubbed my fingernails for dinner once today…

The Euphorbia was pretty much unfazed. The Begonias were filthy, but appear to be recent transplants so the little plugs apparently popped out of their pots and hid in a corner and so were unscathed. The Impatiens had large root balls and were totally smooshed, but only one side stem was actually broken. I fully expected them to be broken at the base,

And here I was really only worried about the super early ship date and the cold snap we’ve been having.

What's Going On Inside

My indoor seedlings are looking good.  In fact, they are all pretty much outgrowing their lights at this point.  I am having to rearrange things and give each tray a little airspace.  I do have one more flourescent light that I could set up if I have to.

Peppers

Coleus Cuttings

You can see from the light distribution on these Marigolds that they are getting too close to the light and the light is not reaching the outer plants as well.  But they don't seem to be suffering at all.

Marigolds

Zinnias (and two White Sage plants)

The Zinnias are even beginning to bloom.

Tomato Plants

Not everything is happy.  Below is a tray of Tomato plants that were growing slowly and got crowded out by more vigorous plants.  Totally my fault.  They still have four weeks to get it in gear.

The Dahlia Tubers that I am waking up early looks nice.  I may try to take some cuttings from them as an experiment.  The taller tray in the background are the Single Dahlias from seed.  They have totally outgrown my lights.  In fact, I booted them out to the cold frame today but we are going to have some cold nights this coming week so I will just bring them indoors each night and put them under the old 10w LEDs for the evening.

Now I have to wait for both the day and the night time temps to go up a bit so I can begin transitioning some things into the cold frame.  The happens every year... waiting for nice weather.  And the next two weeks are forecast to be below average temperatures.  These are the times that try men's souls.

It's Apple Blossom Time

 The Northern Spy Apple trees are just covered with blossoms ready to burst open.

The leaves are developing behind the blossoms and it will be about a week before the buds really start to open up and they will linger for a couple of weeks after that.

Now the Gala Apple Tree, that we planted back in 2022 and relocated in 2023 is at the same stage of leaf development but I really don't see any buds.  It should be blooming at the same time, which is why I chose it as a pollinator for the Spies.  It never has as many blooms as the more mature trees, but it should be putting out something.  Since the leaves have started popping out, it's shape has started to bother me and I decided it needs some header cuts.

It looks good from some angles, but the North side is starting to get thicker.

I've circled the branch that is bothering me.  Because this branch has gotten taller than the others, it will start to become more dominant, not to mention heavy.  You can see on the branch tips to the left that the leaves are more developed than the buds further down.  This is what I mean when I say that a tree will send more growth hormone to the terminal buds.  I don't want those sending out a whole lot of tip growth either.  I want to encourage branching further down on the side buds.  I want to be able to reach the apples!

This tree grows naturally in an open centered, vase shaped form.  I don't want one leader becoming dominant.  I need to head off the branches at an equal height.

Here we go.

Because of the terminal bud dominance, I want to cut just above a bud that is heading in the direction I want to direct the branch

We'll see how these cuts shape up this year.  This has not been a particularly vigorous grower or producer, but the Northern Spy trees did not begin to produce until the fourth year after they were planted and this is now the fourth year for this little tree.  Relocating it after one year probably set it back too.  The past two years it has set and held half a dozen small apples so I expect it will bloom soon.

A Late Start

This time last year we were already done with edging and mulching.  This year we are just getting started.  The weeding and clean up is already done but we just started edging and refreshing the mulch.

We edged the front fence line and tomorrow we will lay down some mulch.  162 feet of edging is no small task for two older folks, one of which recently had his "good" knee scoped.  Actually, this slower approach to spring cleanup and mulching has allowed me to get other things done at my own pace which has been very relaxing.

Today I planted my fourth and final row of peas.  The first two are up, and the third is starting to show some little green sprouts.

The Cole Crops spent the day under insect netting only and they look like it agreed with them.

Cold Snap

 We have a high today of only 35F.   The wind is pretty bitter, This morning, the temperature in the garden was 32F and there was a dusting of snow on the roof tops.  In preparation for two cold days, I had replaced the shade cloth with a heavy frost cover on top of the insect netting yesterday. This Supreme Frost Cover is supposed to give you 6 to 8 degrees of warmth which is plenty for Cole Crops.  I had already begun lifting the sides of the shade cloth and this frost cover blocks 50% of light, so it handles all of the crucial elements of the hardening off process.

I will have to remove this cover tomorrow afternoon or the next day because we are expecting warmer weather again and this cover does create a greenhouse effect that could cook the transplants.  I may throw the shade cloth back on for a few hours during the afternoons as necessary.  It will depend on how the plants look.

Busy Day

 It amazes me that I can walk out the door with no "To Do List" and still get many things accomplished.  All I have to do is sit down in a chair overlooking the garden and things that need to be done present themselves.  The first row of peas are up.  I planted the third row yesterday morning.

I peered under the shade cloth cover at the cole crops and they could not be happier.

The Pear tree blossoms are opening up.

I got the soil level of the containers by the firepit raised back up.  They have Hosta planted in them,

Rather than "waste" potting mix, I removed the Hosta from the pot and dug out about 8" of potting mix from the top, replacing it with screened top soil that we have left over from last year's septic rework.

Then I put the potting mix back on top and replanted the Hosta clump with starter fertilizer.

I have been very relaxed about getting things planted outside.  After last year's bad turn in May I have not been anxious to start putting things out at all.  Part of that is due to enjoying gardening indoors with my grow lights.  Last year I felt rushed thinking "I have to get these poor plants out of here" and this year everything is growing so well I am satisfied leaving them under the grow lights.  I bumped my Dahlias from seed up from 6 pack cells to 3.5" pots. (Top tray)

Sweet Potato Slips, Zinnias and Volunteer Petunias below

I have a few new Dahilas, one of which is the Gallery Art Deco which I have wanted for awhile.  I have it started in a large pot and today it is showing some sprouts.

I have a few new Pink and Purple Dahlias that arrived and are already sprouting.  I put them in a tray of moist soil to continue waking up.  I checked my stored Dahlia tuberss today and they are still sleeping quietly.

The rest of my baby vegetables are looking good.

The Indeterminate Tomato Plants transplanted on the 11th are off and running.

Later on I checked on the fruit trees again.  The Pear is opening up and the sky is about to...

We certainly have been getting out share of April Showers.

Planting Cole Crops

 The rule of thumb for setting out Cole Crops is to transplant them between 4 and 6 weeks after sowing.  Five weeks, when I usually transplant, would be on Friday.  But they could not look nicer and the weather suits so I put them out today.

Below is a picture of my Cole Crops from 2024 on the same date.  They looked great in the past.  This year, with the Vego LED Grow Lights they look more than great.  I am very happy with those lights.

I had already organized the hoops and insect netting.  I used a power auger to drill the holes in undisturbed soil which hosted Sweetcorn last season.

The placement of plants in this bed is fairly critical.  This is my plan:  The Belstar Broccoli will continue to produce all season, but the Flamestar Cauliflower will not.  So the Broccoli should be in the center where the hoops are highest, and should alternate with Cauliflower because the Cauliflower plants will be cut out leaving more room for the Broccoli to grow.  The Cabbage can go along the edge, alternating Golden Acre and Caraflex because Caraflex shoudl be ready earlier.  The four corners don't really have enough room for Cabbages or Broccolis so I planted Romaine Lettuce.

I used Espoma Bio-Tone Starter Fertilizer in the holes and watered them in well.

The Insect Netting will offer some shelter from both wind and sun.

Because I did not harden them off before setting out, I placed an additional shade cloth to block the sun.  I have used this lazy, non-hardening off, method for years now and it has worked well for me.  The forecast is for warm, cloudy weather which is much better for them than hot sun.

I will still need to mulch the bed with shredded leaves to keep down weeds as I do each year.  And, they don't make much of a picture, but the Peas planted on April 1st are coming up today right on schedule.