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.

What's Going On Outdoors

 Today I planted my second row of peas.  3 ounces of Penelope Peas.

I planted my second grape vine.

It already has a tiny sprout

These are the Tickled Pink variety from Gurney's.

They come bareroot packed in wet straw.

When you propagate seedless grapes, you have to root cuttings of vine.  These sections were cut in the winter of 2024-25 and rooted in a year ago.  They are allowed to grow and then trimmed back in autumn and sent out before they break dormancy.

The Vitis Himrod White Seedless Grape arrived almost two weeks ago and has already begun to send out some growth tips.

Right now it looks like I have planted a small selection of sticks.

Triple Crown Thornless Blackberries

The thornless blackberries in the other bed are putting out some green leaves.

The Bushel and Berry Raspberry Shortcake Bush I got last year has put out a lot of green leaves.  I kept it in this warm sunny spot on the deck and it loves it.  Soon I will move it back out to the raised bed garden.

The fruit trees are breaking dormancy.  I could almost sit and watch the apple buds turn from fuzzy little silver tips to the promise of flowers, but the pear tree is ahead of them.

It has been a really fruity day.

Shifting Things

 I have dug up and removed a lot of my Daylilies just because they take so much effort to protect from the deer.  I have saved a few of my favorites.  I saved four of these "Big Smile" daylilies up near the house.  They are one of the last varieties to bloom and they are right along the driveway so the protection season for them is long and strenuous.  But they are worth it.

The easiest way to protect them is to keep a couple of these "Pest Guard" mesh plant covers on them.  In the evening I go out and cover the plants, securing the cover with an Earth Staple or two.  In the morning I collect them up and stack them in a dark corner nearby.  Easy peasy.

But one of the Daylilies was too close to this Bird's Nest Alberta shrub.  I had a note in my spring to-do-list to shift it over.  This is an easy job when the plant is dormant and the ground is soft.

I just dig out the soil where I want the clump slid to, dumping the soil in a trug.

Then I cut the roots around in a large circle to avoid disturbing them too much and use the spade to leverage the whole thing to the right tight against the edge of the new hole.   If your plant has any deep tap roots it may even move over without breaking them.   Then I dump the soil out of the trug and firm it in.  Done.  Plant shifted.  And if you do this on a rainy day, you don't even have to go get any water to water them in.  We had almost an inch of rain the evening after I moved this.

The wet spring is also a great time to pull grass or weeds out of your ground cover.  Dandelions and grass are always weeks ahead of most perennials.  Its the perfect time to spot them and remove them before they get lost in the plants.  If you accidentally pull up any of your ground cover you just replant it right there.

Rye grass was starting to take over the Snow on the Mountain.

Soon the Snow on the Mountain will fill in and the grass would have been inaccessible.

Here is a look at some of my spring flowers.

Getting Ready

 Today was clear and pretty yet cold, not getting up out of the 30s.  I need to start prepping raised beds.  I may start sowing peas as early as this weekend.  Because the ground was so well covered by snow all winter, blocking the sunlight, very few weeds grew.

The bed below was the worst.

I set up the bed for Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbages.

The Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbages are below, newly transplanted.  They should go out 5 weeks from their sowing date which for these will be around April 18th.  I have a few Romaine Lettuce started to go with them, and more Romaine seeded.

Below are the Ornamental Peppers, five days after transplanting, putting out new leaves and catching up to the Dwarf Tomato plants.

Below are my Dahlia seedlings, the second batch of saved seeds from 2024 singles.  I had so much fun watching them open last year that even though I saved all of last year's tubers, I started more just to see if I get anything different.  On the right of the tray are my Profusion Zinnias.

I used to start Profusion Zinnias from seed way back in the early days of my gardening.  In fact, they were probably the first annual flowers I tackled.  They are a nice short, bushy little Zinnia and I plan on alternating them with white Marigolds around the edges of my Dahlia beds.  The Apricot will border the bed with orange, copper and peach Dahlias and the Cherry will border the bed with the purple, pink and white Dahlias.  Last year I tried the same thing with Celosia, but Celosia are so tricky to transplant I decided to only direct sow my Celosia and try something different for my border.

Profusion Apricot and Profusion Double Hot Cherry

I am growing a tray of white Marigolds to go with the Zinnias.  The first variety is my favorite from last year Vanilla Cream, and the second is a new release from Burpee, another white variety called Star-Spangled in honor of this year's US Semiquincentennial.  Boy, that's a mouth full.

Star-Spangled and Vanilla Cream

I have the tray filled with potting mix and ready for the transplants as soon as they start putting out leaves.  Next week, the first of April, I will start my indeterminate Tomato varieties and then my indoor seeding will be done for the year.

On March 10th I scattered some Pansy seeds in the Strawberry bed and they are already up.

Look at all of these littles babies!

The Pansies I already have growing here are Delta Citrus Mix which are yellow, white and a very few orange, so this year I added more orange and some blue.

Early Spring Chores

It's time to start the spring garden chores.  

I removed the dead leaves from the strawberries as the new growth is coming in.  I gave them a shot of fertilizer.  Then I sprinkled some more pansy seeds in there to fill in the bare spots and compete with the weeds.

There is already a Citrus Mix of orange, yellow and white pansies.  This white plant is blooming already.  The honey bees are out looking for the crocuses.  This time of year I have to juggle my wire cloches around taking them off of lower risk plants and protecting the yummy Crocuses from both deer and rabbits.  I also go around sprinkling Milorganite fertilizer on anything with new growth.  Critters don't like the smell and it helps to get a few more days out of unprotected crocus flowers and protects the new shoots of Hosta as they emerge.

The Snowdrops and Winter Aconite (yellow) are blooming.  Next will be Hyacinths then Daffodils.

Time to empty the compost tube.  We drag it out to the center and lift it off the pile.  This will still need to be turned for a couple of months to finish composting before it is ready to use.  This has accumulated from last June until fall when I started the tall tube.  The tall tube will be added to until the pea plants come out. 

I removed one layer of surrounding netting from the Pear tree to make it easier for me to get in there and spray with dormant oil and copper fungicide.  Everything is pruned, now I just need a dry day without a March wind so I don't end up wearing it.  I will post about the pruning when that is done.

The other thing I have done is to check on the woody stemmed shrubs. About half of them had lower branches break off from the weight of the snow pinning them down.  I trim the ragged edges cleanly and check for any splits that need to be cut back.  Next we will start edging and mulching.  The lawn is firm enough, but the mulch pile is still frozen.