Remember ~ It's Only May 8th Afterall

 

Yesterday was warm and sunny, but today has been cool and cloudy.  That fact let me slow down a little and stop feeling like I should be planting annuals.  There is no frost in the forecast but there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves.  I went ahead and planted my Dahlia tubers.  I would show you that, but it just looks like dirt.  So instead, here is day two of my unpacking mess.  As much as I look forward to Dahlias, I really do not enjoy planting day.  It's not so much the planting as it is the unpacking and reorganizing.  No matter how organized I think I am, I always misplace at least one variety which remains elusive until after I've revised my planting scheme and then reappears like magic so I have to dig up and move things around.

Most of the tubers are in good condition and there were only a few really beginning to sprout.  I did an experiment this year.  I took a spare tuber and wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in a cabinet in the 65F degree basement.  That one did just as well as its counterpart in the vermiculite in the 50F workshop.  In fact, in this case, the plastic wrap tuber had a better growth eye and it was the one I chose to plant even though it had a pretty good bruise.  That's actually why I chose it as the plastic wrap experiment.  I was worried that damage would rot in the humidity of the vermiculite.  Instead it stayed dry and formed a good crust.  Because this variety is hard to find and slow to produce tubers, I am going to keep the spare and stick it in some potting mix if I have any leftover.  I planted the mother tuber three years before the plant got up enough steam to flower.  So I have sort of developed a fondness for its tenacity in the face of adversity.

Now for something that is growing.  My perennial herb bed is doing well.  Below, left to right are Parsley, Valerian and Feverfew.  The Parsley was direct sown last year and will flower this year.  The bare spot to the left of it had Parsley plants that flowered last year and was seeded with new seed a couple weeks ago.  Seedlings are starting to pop up.  Those will flower next year while the ones growing now are on their second and last year of life and will have to be replaced next year.  The Valerian was started indoors last year and is showing buds for the first time.

Valerian on the left, Feverfew on the right and an over wintered Sage.

At the other end, beyond the Parsley patch I had planted Dara or Wild Carrot.  That flowered last year and I dropped seeds into it before the plants died back which came up on their own this spring and are doing well.  I'm starting to get the hang of these biannual, self seeding herbs.