Weekend at the Farm March 6 - 6, 2015

 These are Hoop Petticoats, tiny little daffodils (bulbocodium conspicuous) that I look forward to seeing every spring.

Arrived Friday afternoon.  Left on Saturday afternoon back to town for Nancy's birthday.  Returned on Sunday morning.  Cold and sunny on Saturday.  Cold and rainy on Sunday.

• Laid down one truckload of crushed granite in Max's Garden in the new paths I made in the fall.  Almost finished.  The paths are really narrow because I already had so much planted there.
• The freeze has knocked back all my daffodils, they are all laying down.  The Ice Follies daffodils are really pretty despite leaning over.  This is their first year for blooming.
• I was worried about my flower seedlings - Catmint and Rose Campion - because of the freezing weather, but they are fine.
• I bought 2 big clay pots yesterday and 3 green glazed pots last weekend to put around the pool.  Still need 4 more to make three groups of three on the deck around the pool, but they are so big and heavy I'm hauling them up here a few at a time.  I'm also bringing bags of potting soil up here a few bags at a time. 
• Cut back my Indigo Spires salvia.
• Cut back an Autumn Sage I overlooked when I was cutting back the others.
• Spread 4 bags of Arbor Gate organic fertilizer.  I fertilized all my roses, every bed in the Star Garden, everything in the Shade Garden, everything in the Greenhouse Gardens, all the beds in the Circle Drive, and everything along the Boardwalk.  I will use the fifth bag of fertilizer on my fruit trees. 
• The plum trees are just past their bloom.  It will take several weeks before I know if the freeze killed all the flowers or if I will get plums this year. 
• I did some weeding in the Star Garden.
• Spread some leaf mulch around some of the ferns I planted a few weeks ago in one of my new beds.  And spread some around my Lion's Mane.  Hauled some granite into the Star Garden with the wheelbarrow and covered a few more small paths.  
• Piddled around a while longer - the weather turned so beautiful in the afternoon.  Drove home about 3:00.
• Sunday morning I planted red potatoes.  Decided to read up on them before planting, something I have never done which is kind of unusual for me.  I have grown them many times, but I have never cured them prior to planting which is what my book says you should do.  Cutting them up into pieces and letting them sit for a couple of days and dry out is called curing them.  I didn't cure them this time either, I just stuck them in the ground. Now that I know you're supposed to cure them, this will probably be the year they rot in the ground.
• I spread fertilizer around my fruit trees.  I threw so much fertilizer down that I will probably kill all the wild flower seedlings growing around them.  But my fruit trees need fertilizer.  It is a rainy day, so my timing has been great.  I got everything fertilized yesterday and today.  It's supposed to rain today and tomorrow.
• Decided to prune back my Bermuda's Kathleen rose.  I already removed dead and crossing canes, but today I changed my mind and decided to really cut it back.  It's gotten so big that the canes are sagging all over the place.
• Took a long nap.  Spent the late afternoon and early evening walking around with Bert looking at everything.