Wow! They are looking good with the Buddha!!

debra

Thank you, Debra. Twenty-seven plants so far, I think there are five more yet to pop. We had rain last night and maybe more today, so I might be seeing them soon.

I mulched yesterday except for the far corner because voles are there. So I put down mole/vole prevention granules and as an extra insult I stuffed "gifts from the cats' litter box" down the holes.

My next plan is to remove all the debris from the bottom of the "green monster" hedge to check for more vole habitat.

Really nice! I’m excited too... and it’s only April 7! Here are some shots from my deck this morning. We had a lot of thunder/lightning/rain last night so they’re even perkier than yesterday.

I looked at Accuweather and Weather.com forecasts for the month, for Baltimore. I was shocked to see that May 1 and 2 are predicted to have night temps of 28 and 29. Otherwise, the night temps from here on in are supposed to be in the 40s and 50s up to the first week in May, my normal frost-free planting date. Yesterday, my friend and I drove (actually, I drove) with her kitten to Gettysburg, because that was the closest low-cost spay clinic to us that had an open appointment before a months-long wait. We had such a wonderful time while the kitten was at the clinic, going to 2 local large nurseries. The most absolutely gorgeous plants we'd ever seen at a nursery where they actually raised the plants---they were easily twice the size of anything at Home Depot or even our local Baltimore nurseries, but substantially cheaper. And they had varieties we'd never seen. I was smitten with a new geranium Crimson Flame and bought 6 for my window boxes. They had 6 colors of New Guinea impatiens of the regular kind---$3.49 each. That would be $6 here. And they had a new improved NG impatiens in ELEVEN colors--$4.50. I got a few of the latter in a deep pink. My friend got gorgeous vegetable starts and some marigolds. I got a variegated vinca vine for only $2.49 that was virtually exploding in growth from its pot, and market packs of purple petunias and portulaca for $3.49/6 plants. My friend and I ate our lunch amid rolling green hills in deep farm country, entertained by the twittering of numerous birds at some tables and chairs one of the nurseries had. They didn't have much in the way of hostas, just a couple common varieties, but they had a supremely beautiful setting going for them. After we fed deeply of the plant buying opportunities, we picked up the now-spayed kitten and headed home, utterly content. I will not plant my new beautiful plants yet, so I can move them to Rubbermaid tubs if the temps drop as predicted in early May.

What a great day! Isn't it just wonderful to find a new nursery to shop at? It's always fun to see what different places have in stock and at this time of the year, everything looks fresh. I won't plant outside either since we can have frost in my area until mid-May. It is going to be near 80 today in some parts of my area. It will probably hit the mid 70's at my house. This means everything will simply pop up and then the worry about freezes begins for me. Hope the kitten is doing fine. That's a very good thing that you are doing for the kitten and your friend,

Thanks, Miles. I can't remember having such a perfectly wonderful day in YEARS. My friend will now be free of a howling kitten in heat keeping her up all night long, and the kitten will be free of the danger of getting a pyometra infection. Plus, the kitten now has her distemper, rabies, etc. shots and is microchipped. My friend took her in when she found her on her porch, fearful of predation by our local red foxes. I could not imagine my friend driving herself with a loudly meowing frightened kitten on the seat beside her---it would have been distracted driving and potentially dangerous. So I volunteered to drive, and my instant payback was the outstanding weather, sublime views of green rolling hills, emerald fields, beautiful horses grazing, splendid old houses dripping with gingerbread flourishes, all punctuated by the twitter of many birds. We were stunned by the friendliness and outstanding service at the nurseries as well as the high quality of their plants and the amazing prices. The shrubs and trees nursery, where we ate our lunches on a sunny patio, was called Boyers and had been there for a very long time. They also have pick-your-own fruit (in season), a wine room, a farm market, etc. The amazing flowers and vegetables we bought were from a place called Taylors, 2 miles down the road.

We ate lunch on the patio (you can see one of the tables peeping up in the middle at the bottom) with this as a view!

Wow, Esther, I agree with miles a lovely day, a good deed and wonderful plant shopping day! I just heard on the weather that there may be a freeze later this month. I was hopeful that we would not have one this month. I remember smudge pots around road construction when I was little. I wonder if I could put one in Hosta Alley, oh well, I have coverings. lol

Thanks, windymess, for the pictures. They are beautiful!