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.   

Star Garden Just Before the Spring Flush March 1, 2015

Weekend at the Farm February 28 - March 1, 2015

This is my Pearl Bush (Exochorda racemosa) blooming.  Pearl Bush blooms in the very, very early spring, around the same time as Ornamental Quince.  I've always wanted to buy / grow  Quince.  Pearl Bush and Quince bloom even earlier than Forsythia around here.  It's always nice to have things blooming in the cold, gray winter months.
 
Came up on Friday afternoon by myself and worked in the afternoon.  Spent the night, worked half a day on Saturday.  Drove into town for the wedding of a co-worker, Cassandra.  Bert and I danced up a storm.  I'm sure all the people that work for me will have a hey day over that.  What we lack in style we more than make up for in enthusiasm.  Came back up on Sunday morning with Bert and the dogs.  The weather was really cold and misty all weekend.

• Friday afternoon I pruned the grape vines in the Orchard.  That was a much more pleasant job than I remember it being last year.
• I also cut back the autumn sage along the back of the house and the sage in the Kitchen Herb Garden.  Looks a lot better, neater.
• Hauled lots of wheelbarrows full of granite over to the Greenhouse Garden.  I laid it down thinly because I was covering an old layer in a path I've previously made.  When you spread it on dirt you lose a couple inches of when you walk on it and grind it into the ground.  When I spread it on dirt I try to cover it with about 4 inches.  When I am re-covering paths I spread it as thinly as I can, an inch or two.
• On Sunday I spent the morning spreading crushed granite in the Shade Garden just for a change of scenery.
• I transplanted several Ox Eye Daisies and Verbena Bonariensis that were growing in paths.
• I sowed all the Nicotiana alata seeds in partially shady beds in the Star Garden.  I'm not expecting any frost for the rest of the year.  Maybe some light freezes, but they should be okay.  I also sowed the rest of the Catmint seed in the Star Garden.  The Catmint I sowed a couple of weeks ago seems to be doing fine, so I finished it off.
• Sunday afternoon I finished the area next to the Medicine Garden, it is the area where the wedding guests will walk through on their way to their seats for the ceremony.  Looks good.  
• Planted two packages of Strawberry Candy daylilies, some in the front flowerbed and some in the Rose Garden next to Chrysler Imperial.
• Packed it in about four o'clock - cold and tired.

Completed Project March 1, 2015

All finished.  I still want to lay some granite down on the other side of the Medicine Garden, but unfortunately I'm almost out of rock.  I want to use the rest of it to do the paths around my new beds in the Star Garden.  I have new beds on both sides of the Star Garden, the shady parts.  I worked on one side today and almost finished.  The other side remains undone.  Maybe next weekend.
Here is the finished Medicine Garden.  The wedding guests will walk through this area to get to their seats for the ceremony.

Progress on my Latest Project February 28, 2015

I made some headway on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning covering paths with a fresh layer of crushed granite.

Paperwhites in My Garden March 1, 2015

 Above, Erhlicheers.  I think they are superior in beauty to all other paperwhites.

 Above, Erlicheers, Grand Primos, Naked Ladies, Candida Rain Lilies, and Chinese Sacred Lilies.

Above, Grand Primo Paperwhites.

Bright Spot on a Gray Day

 Above, this little clump of daffodils was saved from a deserted house on Nixon Lake Road.  I wonder if the owner of the property would agreed that the house was deserted?  One bulb has grown into four since I saved it.

 Above, this is a double narcissus odorous.

 Above and below, buds just opening of narcissus odorous.