Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The latest weather roller-coaster

To recap:
March 14th(ish) - snow (Surprise! it was supposed to rain)
March 21 - 70 degrees
March 26 - more snow
March 28 - lows in the 20s
March 31 - predicted 60s/70s

Sheesh. This is why I was outside in the dark tonight, lousy flashlight, covering the irises and Supposed Lilies, in the probably-vain hope that a cheap plastic shower curtain can save them from temps in the mid-20s. I'd planned to put together the raised bed over the weekend, and start the spinach, but 3 inches of snow scratched that idea.

And we were just watching half a dozen deer in the empty lot next door. They would be the main reason I'm planning to replace the hostas, and predicting that the garden won't be a smashing success. :)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

They must be kidding, right?

The weather forecast is calling for 2-6 inches of SNOW in the area this weekend!! Seriously.

So I was out in the dark trying to cover up the irises with newspaper - not helped by the fact that I have a lot of newspaper, but not much heavy stuff to weight it down with. The worst of it will be tomorrow night, so I have time to cobble together something better. The irises, lilies, and hostas are already out, and the Bradford pear is starting to bloom. The pear's on it's own, but I'd like to protect at least the irises and some of the lilies. I just moved the irises last weekend, so they're not quite settled in yet. One I bought last year and it's been in a container since then; the others that were transplanted were living under the evergreen foundation plantings. I'm surprised they were still alive. The second clump of irises is in a better spot, but could stand some dividing. (I swear, the people who lived here the past two years were clueless about this stuff.)

So much for my plan of knocking a raised bed together this weekend and seeding some spinach and radishes. And dividing/moving the mass of lilies we have - someone must have gotten a heck of a deal, they're everywhere. No clue yet what they look like, I don't think they were blooming when we looked at the house. Have to see if I still have the house-hunting pics. I hope they aren't all Stella D'Oro - Stellas are common around here, a little variety is nice sometimes.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Brrr

Sleet last night. Oy.

Hopefully the irises won't be too upset
.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Gardening

Let the gardening begin.

The irises, poor things, have been relocated. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to plant them under the foundation plantings (evergreens), but really? Think again. Ditto for daylilies under the deck.

Today I finally got around to putting seed-mix into the little Jiffy greenhouses I got for Christmas. Half got the leftover Miracle-Gro seed starting mix. Don't care for it, it's too chunky. I found a couple of large-ish bits of bark. Other half got the Jiffy organic seed starting mix. Now to decide what seeds to start, plant them, and get everything labeled. I'm probably late to the party - high temp today of 80, but there's still a month or so of possible frost. And just last week it snowed.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Weather Wackiness

Yesterday's newspaper forecast: Slight chance of rain tonight (Sunday night), clearing tomorrow. High 52.

What we see outside right now:


That's about two inches of "chance of rain" and it's still coming down. Melting underneath, though. Lots of slush.

My original plans for this morning were to move the half-dozen irises that some nitwit planted under the evergreen hedge, and as many of the (presumed) daylilies that I could manage, after creating their flowerbed. Not happening. In fact, I had moved two irises over the weekend, including one that over-wintered in the garage in a flower pot with some lilies. Last night, 10:00 or so, we got home from the in-laws and I dashed out with a flashlight and bucket so they could spend the night in the kitchen.

So, instead, I'll maybe be figuring out the Jiffy (probably tm) tray greenhouse that I got for Christmas. I need to figure out what to start first; probably coneflower, peppers, possibly broccoli or some herbs. Then I'll have to find a warm spot for it.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Time flies, so does the Shuttle

Yes, I haven't blogged for a month. Layout of the new house = not much PC time.

So. Shuttle Discovery undocked from the ISS for the last time today. There was (supposedly) a lovely double fly0ver this evening. Unfortunately it was cloudy here and I didn't bother going out to be disappointed. There's one last chance to see her tomorrow, unless the mission is extended for a day.

A trip to Florida for the launch in April is a possibility. I put my name in the drawing for good viewing-site tickets.