A very garden weekend

I think we have finally turned the corner with the weather in Milwaukee.  We had snow flurries in the air on Friday night, which we pretended didn't exist as we were driving home in it.  Saturday morning dawned beautifully and the day was sunny and warmer.  It was an especially beautiful morning as I had been looking forward to a woody plants grafting class.  I won't go into great detail about the whole process as it has so many fine points.  I enjoyed the instructor, Michael Yanny very much.  I have heard him speak at other events, so I knew that it would be a quality class.  It also came very highly praised by other friends who did it last spring.  We got individualized instruction with just four people in each session.  He checked our technique and work to guide us through.  Time will tell how successfully we joined two plants together.  I will be purchasing The Grafter's Handbook by R.J. Garner.  We all went home with six pots that we grafted ourselves.  I was partial to the antique apple varieties we had to choose from.  I also did a lilac, amur cork tree, and witch hazel.

 Plants have started popping after a spring rain (Wednesday/Thursday) and a bit of following sun.  I can see the rhubarb poking through.  The dwarf iris are now blooming along side the snow drops.  I covered over a few things in the vegetable garden with straw in November.  I pulled that off on Saturday afternoon and can see some Swiss chard, kale, radicchio, and I think the late planted baby cabbage plants made it as well.  

 

     

It was the official first day of line-dried clothes day today.  I have been putting out sheets and light weight t-shirts most of the winter, but today was an all out, fill up the lines wash day.  Everything dried on the lines without laying them around on chair backs, so that is what makes it the official first day.  I watched birds coming and going the past couple days which we haven't seen since last fall.  Turkey vultures circled the neighborhood while I stood watch over the grill. It was just such a fine day to be outdoors.

I didn't spend as much time outside as I would have liked today.  Between loads of laundry, I was busy making more cutting of coleus, geraniums, and ibosa vine.  I cleaned out some of the old stock plants to make way for more seeding.  The coleus from the last cutting was well rooted and was put into cell packs for spring planting.  I saved a few stock plants in larger pots, back up for failed cuttings and possible starters in the garden.  I seeded my Tidal Wave Petunias and Purple Tower Petunias as they have 8-10 week start time.  I also put in some Red Acre cabbage and Bonsai Pak Choi for early planting out later.  I already have the Brisk Green Pak Choi and the Baby cabbage ready to go.  I set the plants out with my onion seedlings for a few hours today for hardening off.  There is only two weeks until Easter which is my goal for planting them all.  Welcome back, Spring!

Gardens inside, gardens outside...what a crazy spring!

I have started the early seeds of Heliotrope, Mammoth Stocks, and Violas.  They are in the dome to keep the temperature and moisture higher with my seed heating mat underneath.  The dome is ventilated to keep temperatures moderate. 

Onions are up and almost ready for their first hair cut.  When they reach 6" cut them back to 3".  When you are two weeks out from transplanting (April 15th is my date, weather and soil dependent) start setting them outside for a few hours a day, lengthening that time each day.

My first crop of basil and cilantro have been transplanted to cell packs.  I will keep these under lights and harvest the leaves as an indoor crop.  If the basil holds up well, I will move it outdoors.  My plan otherwise is to start more basil seedlings May 1st and direct sow more cilantro into the herb garden.  Cilantro is a crop worth seeding a little bit every two or three weeks to keep it coming all season long.

Coleus, rosemary, and ibosa are all rooting in my jars along my kitchen window sill.  This is also where I am keeping my seedlings and small starts so I can keep a good eye on them.

I have been dividing and upgrading my plants as they have showed signs that they are crowded in their pots.  It is becoming painfully obvious that I really need to come up with an outdoor structure to hold my abundance of plants.

I took a good hour of my weekend to sterilize and wash pots and flats.  I think this is something I am going to try and do in the fall when I can take it all out to the driveway and garage where I have more room to set everything out to dry.  I also will be ready to transplant at a moment's notice so maybe I will not procrastinate so much.

How exciting to come home from work on March 12th and see my dwarf irises in bloom.

The first snowdrops are nodding their heads in approval of our very warm, Spring weather.

Tulips and daffodils are up almost 6" now.  I plant my tulips in the middle of daffs to keep the rabbits from biting off their heads.  It really works.

Rhubarb is showing color and pushing out of the dirt.

I will have early parsley from these plants.  Parsley is biennial so it will set flowers and seeds this year.  I will start new plants to take their place when the time comes.

Garlic is up and making a good showing.  This is one of the fall planted bulbs.  Separate the cloves and plant each individual clove 6" apart and 3-4" deep in mid-fall.  If your soil is tillable you may get some in with our early spring.

Spring is busting out all over!