Mycorrhizal is on its way. I will add it to the dahlias and I may do the tomatoes too. Why not have a good root system for when they go in the ground.
So it's to come via Amazon today because when you live in the boonies you need to ship in … and those deliveries are usually early afternoon. Most days. Let's hope it's on that truck and not the guy that got here the other night at 8:30pm. Who delivers then?!
My plan today is to deal w the plants once that comes and ignore them until then, with the exception of the one tomato. I need to add more dirt as I'm sure it's grown a little taller and I'm finding success and a stronger plant since I've implemented that technique with the continued burying of the stem for more growth.
I think today I might deal w the rest of the seeds. I need to see what's up with the heat mats and remove the ones that have sprouted and fill w the remainder of seeds I plan to start.
Have to make caramel corn for a bake sale today. Hopefully that goes easily. I'll have to clean off my workspace, my hubs is back to dumping crap on the counters, even though the stuff that he's to put away is in the cabinet right underneath. Somedays …
The sun is out, it's suppose to be mid 50s today. Woohoo! Come on spring, I'm ready to say welcome! Now I'm off to deal with all the crazy in my life! Happy Friday to you all.
I was checking to see in my informed delivery of an Amazon box had shipped, but to my surprise my first of two tuber boxes has shipped! Yay! This is a colorful box (well I hope!) of warm pinks, honeys and ambery yellow. I'm hopeful they are as ordered. Notes to myself are to wash the eyes off before planting as in the past they use sulfur dust and I've learned removing this they do better.
I ordered mycchorizal (sorry for spelling!) as that's the one thing missing from my great plant up and I wonder if it's why my tubers haven't been tugging back. So I'll side dress and dig it on in and hope it helps the plants out further. I'm about keeping things sturdy and ready to go.
The seedlings are getting big and hairy. Can't wait to see what they hold in their genes to burst forth. What colors might I have or shapes? Exciting.
As for my layout, I didn't do as I had thought. I was planning to make a row of seed making only blooms. These would be my multiple named varieties I'm planting out and would just allow them from August on to set seed as to not stress out both sets of tubers. So that might be part of my thought process this weekend. I can't recall if these are all the same height or a mix of heights is what I'm thinking. So I'll have to see what I can do differently to accommodate this need. Will see how clever I can be.
As for the rest of the garden readiness - I'm getting there w plants. Totally out of room in my basement! I wish the days and nights especially will warm up to spring temps. As is, when I look at the 45 day we won't leave freezing night temps until the second week of May. I mean, I know the forecast can change drastically but dang, I would love to start moving things out to the porch. No dice. So the basement and patio are hairy with plants. Throw in kid1s houseplants - it's a lot! She's into the trailing type of succulents and is finding success where they sit. Maybe I should convince her to throw some matching pots for these in her art club at school. Will have to see what we can come up with.
I'm more than ready to get growing and in the dirt. I long for color and lovely blooms, look forward to the garden visitors and where this summer takes me.
I see the rest of the country to the East of me will be getting my weather times 12! Stay safe. I'm tired of snow so I'm glad to see it move on out of here.
Time to get rolling! I'm ready!
Big heavy flakes clumped together, the type when they hit my windshield that if they sang on landing would be trilling "PLLLLLOOOOOOOPPPPPP".
I'm not keen on the white out my window, the only reprieve is that we are in April and we can have warmer days to take care of this nonsense. I would have been perfectly happy if it just rained all night long. No dice, the white stuff is about an 1" thick.
Looked at the seedlings today and the larger ones were looking thirsty so I gave them a good drink and headed back upstairs as I think I've been having too good a time with Easter candy. I felt like a stuffed tick in what I was wearing and am now much more comfy, so maybe after dinner I'll go water and observe.
As for the tubers, I've got green in the basement:
Some of them are getting close to being pinched. Once that happens I'll start to shift things on the shelf and get younger sprouts under the lights. It all becomes a game for me between now and when I move them out of the house to the front porch. Until then, it becomes a lot of cycling here and there and back again.
And on a side note, my mom is hanging in there. But the amount of stuff I'm now responsible for is a lot. Today I sat on the phone for a half hour trying to return a call to a person that didn't leave their extension so I'd wait and then have to be transferred and wait again. Got a letter from her law firm - hey because they can't keep talent they'll raise the rates 10%? Is it my fault you can't retain talent via your pay and benefits? How about if you weren't greedy and huge expenses then maybe people would employ your team more often. I don't know the more I have to do, the more my view on others changes and not for the better. I also now have to deal w/ the county on her septic. I mean, anything else want to come at me from this and of her business?
Whew.
So my flowers will be a big reprieve for me once I can move them outside. I look forward to just sitting there and watching them open, bloom and the pollinators visit.
I got my dahlia layout version one completed. I think tonight I will go through a little closer and look at colors and shapes next to one another. I also want to make sure I don't have all my new ones next to one another as well. Made that mistake last year. Nope!
I'm off to see about the watering thing I should be doing. I should also throw dinner in the oven and get it underway.
May your worlds be filling with green and even some blooms!
My weather app says no, but the sky says it could rain. Fine by me, we really need that for the area. We still are pretty dry and crispy.
Today I should water everything both in the hut and in the basement. I also need to pinch the last of the dahlia seedlings as they should have their required number of leaves by now, but I'll check. I haven't been super great at paying attention to where they are currently, to tell you the truth. I've been running quick and not looking deeply when down in the basement.
I have some cannas to pot up, I grabbed two more varieties when at Walmart. I really wish all the box stores offered more selection, but then I guess that's why I should find someone online to buy from with a better selection.
I have a few garden friends in the area. I have one that I trade with, I have one that shares her natives to the area and I've given flower seeds back, I have another that doesn't reciprocate EVER so maybe we can just move to speaking about blooms rather then me giving of my stuff always. I know gardening is sharing, but sometimes when it's a one sided share that gets old. Anywho, it's been a secondary place to find some nice things.
As for the beds: when I was out in the south/southwest planting lilies - I think I need to begin refreshing this space . Long ago, when we opened the bed larger and I was more naive about gardening we had put down landscape fabric in the large area where I didn't have plants. Yes, it has blocked the weeds over time, but as I add plants, I'm digging into it and it's a mess. So I think as plants come up and I know what is where, I may pull the wood chips back, remove the fabric and replace w cardboard, add in some new plants, move finished compost in, get new woodchips and finish it off again. I think I'm finally getting in mind what I'd like that bed to be and look like. It's only been 15-17 years in the making!
Which then got me to thinking, am I doing right by my house and yard? I don't know, I hope so. I dream one day of having more space, but I'm getting older, and the body likes to remain inflammed with no answers why. The medicines help but I'd prefer to not have to use in the long term. Sometimes in my dreams I see the space I think I'm meant to have, then I wake up and say; well that hasn't happened and I don't know if it ever will. Oh I have grand ideas if I could have a larger yard and what I'd love to do. But I'm to that halfway point in life, where most have already settled in their forever spot. I'm still in the starter spot. Anywho, I best just focus on what I've got and how to make it better.
The other spot I should focus on is my quasi shade bed. Unfortunately I have a neighbor that dumped a temporary ugly storage tent on the lot line. Overtime the poly tarp has ripped and he then sided it so now temporary has become full time ick. I still get to look at the ugly. I wish conifers grew quick and didn't get as tall. I am not a fan of arborvitae and haven't had great luck with them: rabbits munching them, drought, or just not happy in the space I put them. I've got a sickly traditional lilac in that space and of course the nettle patch (thanks neighbor who I swear thinks it's a beautiful blooming flower in the summer). What I'd like to do is load it with barriers so I don't see said neighbor. Unfortunately I haven't come up w the perfect solution. Maybe the arborvitae is the way to go. I don't know what I can find locally. A lot of times they offer for the wrong zone at the big box in my area - so I have to watch extra close when looking. Any suggestions?
Sorry, as I try to keep my thoughts dahlia related, but it's a Saturday morn and I'm drinking a cuppa slow and pondering my garden. Maybe I'll come up with something great. Or maybe not.
Happy Saturday all! I'm off to begin my day. Maybe taking pictures of my mess back there will help me noodle what might work long term.
More snow yesterday until this morn - heavy wet stuff! It rained some today but didn't melt the snow. Just made it all slushier.
I was busy with the basement plants today, the hut and then replanting whatever tubers haven't eyed up. Out of all that I have, thus far I have lost 4 varieties due to blindness. There are about 3-4 others but I ticked them back in the hut and will give them some time to see if they get going.
The seedlings look good! The early ones are getting bushy, the youngest ones playing catch up but they are all green and lush looking and some have multiple stems going on so I hope they continue and look good.
Tonight I think I'll noodle that seed section and see what I can get plan for the 2024 seed saving rows. Who knows if this thought will work as I hope. All I can do is try and this is why I'm doing a 2nd tuber of some of my favs and the known ones who have been good seed producers the last few years will be featured in there too. I hope it all falls into place as I think and dream it could.
After going through all the remaining pots - I have two I'm keeping an eye on for gall so they are quarantined if you will. And I'll continue to watch and hope it's not leafy gall, but it might be. I'm just hopeful because I left more of a clump together, it's just a few more eyes on said clump than on a single tuber. Will see what they both do as they are from the same bag of new clumps. I usually pitch when disease presents, but will watch and see how and what it does once they sends shoots up.
On a side note, I made boxed tapioca pudding tonight. I don't eat it often but sometimes you get a craving. Which I had like 2-3 weeks ago and tried to make some from scratch and it was terrible. This was better but not as great on flavor. Sometimes pudding is a comfort food when the world gets to be way too much!
Here's hoping for lots of good things on the growing horizon. And hope exploding eyes really get growing and all goes well!
