Kel - I agree "the more the merrier" I'm always disappointed if I have a minute to check in and no one has posted anything.

I didn't get to go outside yesterday either GLD. I had a few stops to make in town and had to clean for company and the day was gone. : ( Hope your foot's ok. I know that hurts.

I checked So-Mo and Races for Yukon Gold seed potatoes but they were already sold out. I didn't think Walmart would have them, but I checked and they did so I bought some there. Hope they really are Yukon Golds.

Thanks for the reminder about pruning roses. I cut mine back today but I'm like you Sunny, it's hard for me to prune them as much as I should. I also cut my jackmanii clematis down to about a foot.

The cover blew off of one of my winter sown lettuce containers and some of the seedlings were bent over from the wind. They look broken so I don't think they're going to recover. I gave all my containers a good watering today. It doesn't take long for them to dry out when it's this warm and windy.

Looks like tomorrow is going to be nice too. I was glad to see that the rain is going to wait until tomorrow night. I need to get caught up on everything before the plants I ordered from Stark Brothers get here. Still wondering where I'm going to put them.

I planted various flower seeds, 8 varieties of tomato seeds, peppers and egg plant in flats. Planted more onions and brocolli, cabbage, spinach, carrots and radish. Still waiting for the potatoes to come up that were planted Feb 20. Does anyone know how long before I should see top growth? James

James, it will depend on the weather. It takes quite a long time compared to seeds. If you are curious, carefully dig down in the row and check; I have done that before.

christie, I do that too....order or buy and then rack my brain as to where they will go. I vowed not to do that anymore............

Foot is less swollen this morning so maybe I can start working on cleaning out the new iris bed, all henbit, and sprinkle on some seeds around here and there before the rain.

I am seeing lots of perennials coming up, mums, phlox, salvia, echinops ritro, yarrow, buds on clems, daylilies, no B & B salvia yet, buds on another clump of daffs. The three blueberries I left in pots and piled up with leaves is looking better than the ones in the garden. I think I will water them today, rain or no.

glenda

The roses are starting to leaf out. I spray with Banner Max and Maneb mixed together about every 2 weeks.

Yesterday, I worked outside all day, I've been wanting the overhanging cedar branches cut back over the lane drive, so first I did that, then hauled them to the burn pile--how I envy those who have a full sized tractor and a front end loader.
Then I cut the barrels into, and filled the bottom two thirds with rotted manure and chips from the chip pile.
This is the trimmings from the commercial trimmers who shred all the branches, and kindly dumped it here, been mixed with cow manue for 4 years, and is now soo rich looking. I'll add dirt next, and plant horseradish, lettuce, etc.
By now, it's 2:30--and I have to dry lot a mare--who's very unhappy this morning.
So, today, I still have to haul about 10 loads of compost to the garden, and spread it before the rain.
I uncovered my tomatoes, peppers and herbs last night, and turned the fan on them. Looks as if everything came up good, including my Opalka tomatoes, that I only had 2 seeds of! And my kohlrabi, Parsley, clitrano, chives, basil, etc--all up fine, as are all my colored bell peppers. I only planted 2 jalapeno peppers, so maybe I can keep up with them. This morning, before I start, I have to debone a cooked turkey, and get it in the freezer.
When I get done outside, I plan on starting broccoli, and cauliflower, again the colored kinds.
Before I quit rambling, and boring everyone--What are your favorite Green Beans? I learned 2 years ago, I do like one kind, even if its a pole bean. Fortex!!

ceresone you tired me out just reading that. I hope we do get rain. I did not get that much moisture from the last snow and it is very dry here. I think I'll go over to my mother's farm and get some more sand and small gravel. I am still working on my hole in the ground that is not yet a pond. I am putting rocks around it and small gravel for a path. I have many daffodils but my yard is ugly. I need ceresone here to get things done. Maybe I can aim the camera so you don't see the ugly parts.

Ceresone, I don't know how you do it! You must be 25 and a marathon runner. I sure wish I had some of your energy.

Helen, I'd love to see photos of the development of your pond. Maybe I'd get busy and see about a small one here. You go first, okay?? I'm thinking if I put one in, though, I'd attract every snake in Newton County.

Almost everyone's yard isn't the greatest now, but when we get some rain and warm weather they will perk up. Hopefully, I will, as well. My daffodils are now in bloom. So good to see them.

Thank you, Beerhog, for mentioning the Maneb and Banner Max mixed. I'll see if I can get some Banner Max. This year I want to take better care of the roses. Unfortunately the HTs are planted in zoysia (I didn't do it!) and it's a pain.

Sunny

Just must tell you that the Magnolia has split its buds open, and the creamy white bloom is showing!!!
Unfortunatly, I gave out--but I did get 23 fruit trees with compost around them--and only 2 garden beds. the seed starting is going to wait till it rains tomorrow, I'm just too tired right now.

Oh man...I was in Walmart today and saw Yukon Gold seed potatoes, but didn't buy them thinking I could later (novice here)...and then I came on here and read the comments and ran back to walmart to buy the last bag...lol.

Whew!!!

Kelli

My pond is small and I am doing it with no plan. I bought some rocks, but they are expensive. So I drove on the dirt road and got some rocks. I am having trouble placing them. I am not sure this will ever be attractive. I had a fiberglass liner before that leaked, so I drained it and cut up my waterbed mattress to line it. This was so ugly but I liked the fish and toads that sing around it. This new thing may not look any better but I know I will like it. I already have two toads and hanky panky going on. I wish they would abstain because I want to drain the dirty water and put in new. Don't want toad eggs yet.

helen, I lifted a patio stone yesterday and two large toads were under it! Startled me.

I toured the yard this morning and was sorry to see the apricot tree is blooming, both plums and green is showing on a pear tree.....not good. They will be killed for sure.

I do have a huge forsythia that hasn't bloomed since 1992 when we moved here...
in bloom! What on earth? Quince is showing some color and a couple of other forsythias are starting to bloom. I now have three clumps of daffs blooming and some more crocus...all white.

helen, good luck with the water feature.

I have lots of daffodils blooming. I like the miniature ones the best. There are also a few hyacinths and crocus. I got three little pickup loads of manure today and am working on unloading the last. My sister says if you get muscles you can eat all you want and not get fat because muscles burn more calories. Chickweed and henbit have taken over here.

Tell your sister that I need more muscles! I am not burning the calories fast enough.........Muscle weighs more too so that is what I tell myself...it is all muscle!

I chopped more henbit today and plan to finish one bed today and finally broadcast some seeds. I misplaced the seeds one day...finally found them. So far, I am not seeing chickweed.

Checking in to brag! I actually got done what I planned and even tilled some large patches in henbit in various beds, did some fruit tree pruning and one or two roses before coming in.
I broadcast red and blue larkspur and the rest of the poppy seeds. I don't see any poppies coming up yet, maybe it is too soon.

I was checking last year's journal and things are about a month ahead!

I had bermuda grass where the poppies were last year. I mulched that area with newspaper, then manure and straw last summer. I think I buried the poppies that usually come up there. There is one growing in the grass outside the bed that is 4 inches or so high. I didn't get any rain; this concerns me greatly. I got coarse sand at my Mother's place the other day. I am going to mix that with soil and plant my larkspur.

Bonnie, sorry, just now got back to this post. I think that in a new bed with poor soil, I would use the legume innoculant with any peas or beans I planted. Then it should colonize in the soil if you have some good compost or mulch in years to come. Next year you might try planting some without and some with to see how much difference it makes.

I forgot about all the poppies that should have sprouted where I tilled! Guess that will take care of that. I don't know where my mind was except getting rid of the henbit before it bloomed and set seed.

Greetings fellow MO gardeners! This is my first post. I love talkin yard, veggie and flower gardening.

today I see our plum tree is flowering, not such a good thing with the cold coming.

Our peach trees are flower budded and just about to burst, last year we had a ton of peaches, I hope we get some this year also, gosh they were delicious. We had our first apples too, only about 20, but they were great, I covered them with zip baggies. I tried the footies on the peaches with mixed results, those dang plum curulios were awful! the fruit tree's need pruning, not sure how, so I've procrastinated.

The red buds are just starting to bloom.

We have asparagus! it's up about 1/2", we put in a 4 x 8 bed of 2yr stock, oh my, lol,

The herbs are awakening, I didn't expect them to winter over. Chives are 6".

Forsythia has a few flowers, it's only 1 yr old.

I trimmed up our 3 white pines, they're 2 yrs old and have at least double in size to 7'. They were so full, the wind was really catching them. I want to be able to mow under them and visually wanted to see past them so I went for it and took the bottom have off, I should have done it sooner and not wasted that plant energy. The hubby will be surprised, lol, It makes him nervous when I prune trees so I do it when he's gone.

I cut off the old sedum stems, the new growth is about 2 1/2", it's planted in a barrel.

The daffodils and crocus are blooming, I really should have separated them, I forget because they are in a bed of iris and tiger lilies so they get buried, that whole bed needs separating, they also are up about 3-4".

The peonies are poking through about 1".

I haven't started anything inside yet, but I have soaked peas I'm going to plant, we have 4x4 and 4 x 8 beds raised beds. Later today I'll start the tomatoes & bell pepper.

Last year I planted a ton of things from seed, indoors, I had a whole 6 shelved unit full with grow lights at every shelf and wrapped in those thin silver emergency blankets. I had flats everywhere and was rather tired of the whole mess by the time I planted, lol, and even then there was so much that some of the flowers never got in the ground.

This year I will tone it down, I'm also one of those hopeless plant addicts that is constantly bringing bargains home with no clue where to put them. I vowed not to buy anything this year without a plan......I better stay out of the stores, lol.

We moved her Oct. 05, the front yard was solid grass, 245' to the road, 105' wide, not one plant or tree, easy to mow but boring as heck and gave no privacy.
So, we planted:
a barrier of Green Giants along the road, with 3 white pines in a corner
a row of wild plums (sticks from conservation dept.) along one side, and rose of sharon on the other side, our neighbor dug spouts from his yard.
6 fruit trees, 2 different apple, 1 plum, 1 nectarine, and 2 different peach, 5 red buds in the front yard and 1 red maple on the west side of the house which will hopefully provide much needed afternoon shade.

Plus a variety of bushes, crape mytles, butterfly, lilac, forsythia, potentila.

Crazy thing is, we planned to change the drive way from the boring straight shot, to a curved so we planted along the curve but haven't changed the drive yet, lol, it looks okay, funds are tight so the change waits.

I'm amazed at how fast things grow here! You'd never know 4 yrs ago there was not one plant out there. Weeds also amazed me, yuck, how does everyone deal with them? Oh, by the way we put our raised beds in front of the house, lol, so we'd be more apt to see and tend to them. The back yard is another story, we're still figuring that one out.

Anyway, nice to chat, I look forward to exchanging ideas and tips. Headed out to stick those peas in the dirt. One more thing, the beds stretch across the front of the house in two rows, with 4' walkways, last year I drug two 4' x 16' from behind the barn we bent them into a arbor between two of the 8' boxes (over the pathway) and planted cukes, peas and beans, that worked really well and made a neat plant covered tunnel to walk under.

Question, there is an old crab apple tree in the back yard with a severe case of root suckers, I battle them every year. Does anyone have any suggestions? I hate to take it out, it's beautiful and the flowers smell amazing.

Welcome, willgarden4food -- Loved reading your post. Your place sounds beautiful. I can't believe how far ahead of south Joplin you are there in Z5-- my redbuds aren't doing anything, the flowering plum is just now showing color, no asparagus up yet, although the herbs and daffodils are doing great.

I transplanted three early broccili plants yesterday -- will have to cover them up tonight, I'm sure. We didn't get any storms here (so far), and we are starting to need the moisture.

Ozarks is a great forum. Glad you joined us!
Sunny

Thanks for the welcome Sunny. We are 15 miles east of Lebanon. I'm also surprised too, since we're a bit further north than you.

Isn't the weather funny here.

Hello all, I am happy to have found you! I am from Wright County but am living in South Alabama for now.

We are buying a small place not too far from home as a retirement place. Retirement is about 5 years away.

We have a nice pond so I plan to do a little aquaculture as well as edible landscaping. There seems to be Maple (yummy syrup in my future) and some native persimmon already.

Oh the plans I have, lol. I am thinking to nursery things here and plant there each year when I spend the Summers there.

Anyway, I just wanted to jump in here and let you all know how happy I am to find this forum! I look forward to discovering life in the Ozarks again.

Welcome willgarden4food and listentohorses! How nice to have two new members.

I am familiar with both your areas.

I am surprised too, at the Lebanon area being that far ahead with green stuff....maybe mine has been held back because I don't remove mulch and dead tops until April. I have had asparagus frozen to the ground before and you just have to cut it down and wait for the next wave.

Glad you both found us!

So nice to see new members, Welcome to all of you.
I tend to ramble on a bit, so please be patient?
I, too, noticed the Forsythia and Redbuds trying to come out--as well as Plums, and Peaches, Hope they make it. I did take a extra large trash can, and upend it over my blooming Magnolia, Royal Ann, it says.
Willwork, that sounds like me--I ended up having a beautiful back corner of the yard, I called it my trash corner, because everything I didnt know where to put--went there.
Lets hope we dont get the snow they're predicting for North Arkansas

Welcome to our new members!

Weird spring. Redbuds are starting to bloom up north and snow to the south. lol I don't think we have any snow in our forecast here but it sure was cold this morning and hasn't warmed up much.

I planted some onions yesterday but got interrupted so the rest will have to wait a couple days. I'm staying inside where it's warm. I still need to plant my potatoes too.

I did some seed shopping today and wasn't very successful. I think all stores are carrying less, even Hummert's.

Next year, I will plan better and order all seeds, even common ones, online.

I did find some kohlrabi and snap peas and a spinach.

Late this afternoon I planted the kohlrabi, spinach and snap peas. I think I will sprinkle them tomorrow to speed up germination.

I also tilled the garden to turn the henbit under once again.

I think I will do some beets, red and gold, tomorrow. I got too hot and just worked in my shirt sleeves. It was a gorgeous afternoon.

The Black and Blue Salvia is coming up and also the light blue salvia farinacea from the roots, not self seeded. I am still leaving the dead tops on everything.

gldnol,

Where did you go besides Hummerts?

Glenda -- Black and Blue Salvia overwintered? You mean they are perinneals??? They are one of my very favorite plants. I love the way they look and made lots of cuttings from a big plant I bought at Home Depot last spring. They are all dead-looking stubs in my perinneal bed now, and hopefully they will recover??? I mulched them this fall with lots of shredded leaves. I'm not being in a hurry about taking mulch off and cleaning up the beds. Ask me how I know it's too early for me to do this. Bad Experience -- the Big Teacher.

Today was the day I filled my new 8 x 4 raised bed. I got it 3/4 full and will just wait for things to settle before putting the final touches on before I plant tomatoes in it. Tomorrow I make my new herb bed beside the compost bin. Going to take an Ibuprophen before bed so I can get out of bed in the morning!

It was a wonderful day -- Kate (my Lab) loves having me working out in "her" yard. We took a lot of breaks together.
Sunny

Violet, I went to Race Brothers and Wal-Mart. I didn't stop at Lowe's. Are there other places I should have checked? I really wanted some calendula seeds and thought that was common enough that I could find them.

Sunny, I have had this clump of B & B salvia for maybe 4 or 5 years now. I think one of the reasons it survives is that is is planted next to the paved drive that absorbs heat during the winter. It is also under heavy mulch of leaves from the nearby tree. It is now become three clumps from runners or seeds.

I pulled up some starts last year and put them in a different place......so far, don't see them.

The Salvia Blue Bedder which is an annual is also coming up from the mother plant. It is a farinacea type.

I took Extra-Strength Tylenol last night but feel good this morning!

Did I ever have a find in the garden!! Well, for me, it was great--even if I did rather screech at first. I was digging up the onion bed with a potato fork, and one clump I turned over had this huge yellow/green belly--it was a extremely large toad! Bigger, his belly alone, than the palm of my hand. Never have I had such a big fellow. Alfer briefly checking to make sure I hadnt hurt him, while his eyes are still bleary, I put him back in his hole and covered him. Won't he have a tale to tell about his "dream" when hibernations over!
Going to plant onions today, think I'll need another bed.
I have a Black and Blue Salvia showing green too--I sent seeds to several years ago, hope they;re having good luck too.
I have to spray a plum(4 actually) and a couple peaches today for Brown Rot, hope I can get ahead of it this year.
Royal Ann Magnolia is in full bloom.

ceresone, are your plums bloomed out? Mine are fully open. I have two, got my first plum last year and it was delicious.
I guess they bloom too early for my Zone 6.

The peach tree behind my house is in full bloom. Watered the roses I have in pots today so they would be ready to be sprayed tomorrow. Hostas are finally showing up. Have a couple of roses with small buds on the already.

gldno1,

Places to call to:
Orscheln's
Lowe's
Westlake Hardware
Kmart
Home Depot
Kmart
Carson's Nursery
Garden Adventures Nursery, Nixa

violet, thanks. Lowes is pretty close to us and I will check them out. I probably have all the seeds I really need anyway!

Well grandchildren an myself went for a walk through the yard.
I have hosta coming through the soil. Foxglove getting about 6-7" high. Alaska daisy are about 10". I have a few pansy's that are still short and green from last year. I hope they start growing soon. I have never in my life be able to get those thing to grow more than one season for me. I guess it is another one to add to my list of just can't seem to grow.
I moved my hanging baskets (quite heavy) of English ivy outside. I over winter them in the garage every year. I wait to check the soil after they start to show they are ready to have the soil changed.
the children were very excited (as was I) to see all the sprouts in my winter sown jugs. So I guess I will be busy whit planting those out in the next couple of weeks.
Have to move shrubs tomorrow since the ground is soft and I will plant out my poppies an my potatoes as well. Wanted to do those a few weeks ago. Just didn't have it in me to get out side.
Bonnie

What a nice rain we had here -- about an inch in the gauge. I saw a possom had made a hole in a raised bed corner, in a row of snow peas, and where the pea I planted there went, I don't know! He might have eaten it ?? They are finally starting to come up and I just can't wait. I'm going to spray with Repels-All this evening on the wood and the dirt and everything else in the beds that I want to keep animals out of. It REALLY works. It repels me, too, but sure worth it to not have one tomato taken by squirrels for the last few years. You get it at Lowe's, about $13.

Beerhog, that's exactly what I'm going to do tomorrow. My peach tree isn't in full flower now and I'm sure looking forward to fresh peaches.

Made a lot of cuttings this morning. Found a beautiful Perilla at Lowe's plus some new-type sedum. I sure will be glad to get the patio pots from the greenhouse outside and have some room--it's real friendly in there.

Still haven't planted the potatoes in bags yet, but may do it tomorrow. Christie, I'll bet you have planted yours by now.

Sunny

lol Sunny - I still haven't planted my potatoes but I got started at least.

I drove all the way out to the recycling facility to get bagged compost and they were out. If I'd been in a truck, I could've just gone ahead and got a whole load. I hate to have big a pile sitting around forever though.

I had some shrubs to move too Bonnie. That can be hard work. I'm bad to plant things in temporary places and then leave them there too long. I moved a viburnum 'Blue Muffin' that was nearly four feet tall. Hope it survives. I accidentally chopped up a hosta in the process and replanted the pieces I found.

Oh only 3 of them are large. All the rest are only about a foot or so. I started a lot of starts to grow roots over the fall and winter in a holding bed. That way I could keep them watered during the winter. I knew I would never walk an tote water all the way down to where I was going to plant them at. lol.
That is whey I want to get them in the ground soon be fore the spring rains start. Yep, I lazy where this is concerned. Way to far to carry 5 gal buckets of water.
I decided I will go ahead an get that mulch from joplin. I will just put it in the bottom 1/2 of the barrels so maybe the rest of the trash will break down over time.
Bonnie

Good morning fellow Mo gardeners!

I have a question, would it be okay to dig some soil up from our dirt floored chicken coup and put it on our raised beds?

I've never used chicken manure before. If I can how much should I put in there? and should I dig it in a little?

the beds have settled about 3" so I wanted to add something to build more dirt.

It might be a good idea to have a bed just for building good soil to move around the property huh.We started with store bought stuff mixing different bags kinda like mels mix, but dang that was expensive, we have 9 veggie boxes.

Thanks for any ideas!

BTW, my peas are up!

The inner Mad Scientist in me is all intrigued by making Bug Juice and Bio-(brewed stuff) to put on my poor unsuspecting plants/soil. I found recipes and info in the Compost forum.

So yesterday I made a quart of yogurt and there was about 1-1/2 cups of whey dripping off. This is full of lactobacillis, as I understand. I'm supposed to do something with this (will have to check the instructions again) but this, watered way down, will Feed The Microherd. Now if anyone asks me, "How many head you got?" I can truthfully answer, "Thousands and thousands."

Whatever, I'm going to spray it on today, cold weather or not. I'll let you know how it all turns out. It may just stink up my beds when the weather turns warmer, but we'll see. I'm sure my dog Katy will love it
Sunny

will garden, I don't know what your soil from the chicken coop is like, but fresh chicken manure is strong stuff. There was a nasty discussion about manure on the soil forum. They suggested composting manure because of harmful bacteria for food gardens. I think I would mix it with something and let it rot a little before using it on veggies. Sunny I sometimes pour old milk on my rocks because I read it will grow moss. Then my dogs lick the rocks. They think I'm crazy. Annie will not let me take her picture. She can hear the little sound the camera makes when you turn it on fifty feet away and hides.

I've got to catch up on my reading. We were out of town for a couple days.

Poor Annie - One of our dogs is scared of storms or any loud noises like fireworks or gun shots. She seems to be getting worse as she gets older. Maybe Annie will let you do an outside photo without the flash.

I hadn't heard of the yogurt trick Sunny. I need to read up on that. It sounds interesting.

WillGarden4food - I'd be afraid to put it on edibles too especially if it's vegetables that you plan to eat without cooking. Not trying to run you off of course, but the Soil/Compost forum will have lots of expert opinions on using manure. Here's what comes up when I searched for "chicken" in that forum. You may want to start a compost bin.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil/Compost forum - Chicken

Well, We were lucky last night, only got down to 35, and no snow. We didnt get the rains some got yesterday, (Sat.) but got about a inch day before, so we're in fine shape FOR NOW.We all know how that goes.
Hope we get some sunshine, so the potatoes dont rot in the ground. Onions look fine.Lettuce and radishes barely growing.
Another forum said not to use a potting soil with fertilizer to start plants, which I've always done. Well, this is "experts" right? So, this year, I used plain potting soil--and my plants are doing nothing!! Moral of this story? If it works for you, ignore everyone else!
Some peaches, plums and pears are about done blooming, have little fruit now. Blackberries and Raspberries are greening up.
AND--It's almost APRIL!!

Once again, I thought I had answered what I thought about using chicken manure from a dirt floored chicken house.

I use it directly around anything. The chickens scratch it all the time so it is really composted with the dirt and straw that I toss in occasionally. I wouldn't use the pure manure from under the roosts if it is kept where chickens can't scratch through it.

I also wouldn't use it on carrots or most root crops but anything else it should be fine.

ceresone, I don't think you need to listen to anyone regarding gardening! If anything, you should share your expertise with them.

I don't think my potting soil (Fafard No2) has any nutrients, but as soon as I have true leaves I begin watering from the bottom with very weak liquid fertilizer solution. Works for me. I also sometimes work the pelleted fertilizer (like Peters) into the mix, especially if it is something I know will be in the pots a long time....daylilies, etc.

We have had close to 4 inches of rain all total so we are good for spring. I want some warm sunshine now!

I did bring everything in last night but they would have been OK outside in the cold frame. I will check the fruit in a few days and see how that is looking.

Well we had rain for the most part. That tiny bit of freezing rain and then snow that began to stick last night as the temps dropped. The temp here said 34 when I was going to bed last p.m. but it is almost all gone now.
So over all I think we did alright here. Went out early to remove the coverings from the hosta beds. They look fine. it is 45 here now.
I had planned to be out planting things this weekend. So guess that will be moved to next weekend.
I did get to read a book this weekend. Have not done that in a long time. An w/spring and all that entails, well I don't think that opportunity will present it's self again too soon.
I did get my ee's and dahlias potted up in the garage so they could get started last week.
Bonnie

Bonnie, I rented a couple of movies so I could hole up while it snowed, but haven't watched them yet. I think I spent too much time going to the window to see if anything was happening. It wasn't, most of the time.

Today I planted my lettuces and raddiccio in the raised bed. Saw the garlic is doing fine from last fall. The three little broccoli plants are just sitting there, but I'm hoping they are going to get it on soon so I can put in other tenants in their space. Spinach gets planted out tomorrow. Of course I sprayed Repels-All on everything again because of our resident bunny and the darned possom.

Picked up small branches that would interfere with mowing tomorrow. The climbing spinach is ready to sprout in their pots and I will plant those in one of the hanging bags with the holes in it I told you about. And I'll hang it on the fence in back of the raised beds. At least that's my plan.

My Mexican petunia cuttings have all rooted and are starting to bloom -- hope I can find their very, very tall cousins to plant in a container this year again. Jenks had them last year.

My yard is a field of weeds in flower. I hate to use weed killer and haven't, since I've lived here. This is the year to do it. I'll just keep Katy off the grass for awhile.

Sunny

This is kind of long now, but the month is almost over so will post here anyway.

I finally got some plants transplanted into individual pots.
I did the red poppies (clump method) and left half just laying on the bench! I spread the entire packet into a 6 inch pot....won't be doing that again.
digitalis mertonensis (foxgloves)
Tall red salvias (saved seed) got a full flat of those now.
Got the pots filled to finish planting the tomatoes.
I hope by the time the seeds I planted last week are reading they can just go directly in the ground from the seedling flats and I can skip this transplanting step.

I uncovered the strawberries....good thing as the straw was soaking wet next to the ground and slimy in spots.

Yard needs mowing, especially the dead nettle.

What are you all up to now?

This IS long. Maybe we needed to do a weekly journal since it's getting warmer and we're gardening more. My fault.

I had little time yesterday afternoon to go outside but it was so windy, I didn't stay out long. I should've looked at the forecast because I think it's going to be windy again today and colder. Sounds like a good day to get my housework and shopping caught up.

I went by Wickman's in Springfield yesterday and enjoyed walking through their greenhouses and looking at all their plants, some things just barely coming up in flats and others that are big and blooming like their geraniums. I couldn't leave without a souvenier so I bought a couple four packs of Pacman broccoli starts since I never bought seeds for that. I was tempted by several things though. They had rows and rows of tomato seedlings, lots of peppers, mostly flowers. I had a fuchsia in my hand and set it back down. Trying to be practical. lol

Almost another month--APRIL!!
I'm sure glad we live a hour and half from Springfield--I wouldn't have any grocery money left, when they put plants out.
Going to repot all my vegetable starts this week, and pitch the plain potting soil I bought, My plants are just sitting in it, no growth, and look a little purple. reminder to self--ignore experts next time--LOL.
Cold today, rained some last night, hope the potatoes dont rot in the ground.
Grass needs mowed, seems its growing good everywhere but in the pasture. And I still have to dry-lot a horse.
Take care, everyone, "see" you next month.

I stopped by Wickman's just before their closing Sunday and my MIL and i bought a flat of pansies for $9.98. I thought that seemed reasonable. Usually I think they are a little high for my budget, but haven't gone through their outside stuff in a while. That would be $5 for 18 plants. I haven't planted them yet...too darned windy.