Dandelions!

The dandelions bloomed today! I was excited to see one out the window this morning, and then realized there were a bunch. There were none blooming yesterday. Mike read that dandelions are a good marker of morel season; it's time to look 1-2 weeks after the first dandelions show up in the middle of the yard. So the countdown begins!

This week it rained and rained, which felt like weather regression while we all thought "May flowers... May flowers..." in our minds. Well, it worked. The grass has greened up wonderfully, and it is nice and long, so Mike is mowing for the first time this year. The rain also brought us a couple beautiful rainbows:

there was another rainbow just above it; later in the evening there was another single rainbow

look at how the rainbow travels in front of the trees

The crocuses were very pretty, and are done just about now. The daffodils are now starting to bloom.

The current state of the garden-- may seem boring, but is really helpful for me to keep track of what's growing when:

irises in the back, daffodils in the front

delphinium and oriental lily

perennials starting

tulips and peonies

still working on the curb appeal

Overall garden

 It's still too cool at night to plant many of the annuals, but garden centers have a full inventory available now. The more frost sensitive ones are being sold from greenhouses, and I did get a few that were on early season sale- little sweet potato vines and bacopas that don't look like much, but for a couple dollars are a great deal, and they'll grow fast; they just have to come inside at night.

I also picked up a few perennials: an anemone that will probably hate this hot location in the yard, some chinese delphiniums, dianthus, Becky shasta daisy. I have a few other things on my wishlist to fill out the bed, and still need a more clear cut plan for the stretch of dirt just along the foundation. There's also a lot of plant shuffling that needs to be done around the house, removal of some rocks and landscape fabric to be replaced with mulch, and other big chores. Someday, they'll all get done, even if I only have time to move 1-2 plants per week!

The outdoor to-do list of early Spring is overwhelming, but it's a blessing after the long winter, and I hope you're enjoying your outdoors, too! 

Warm Weather for Easter!

It's a T-shirt, open-window day! Today I planted oriental lily and freesia bulbs, transplanted some basil to pots, and Mike is working on moving his berries to the back of his garden.

This week, before it got warm again, we went to a local nursery and I was elated to see all the annuals they were selling, an absolutely beautiful sight after an extended winter.

My initial goal was to grow all my own potted annuals from seed this year, but the reality is that all our grow light space is occupied by edibles, and after seeing the pretty stuff they have for sale, I can't wait to take some home!

I took a pictures of a few that caught my eye:

angelonia with huge flowers

petunias

coleus

petunias

diascia

cuphea

nemesia

zinnias

marigolds

 When Mike went to the home improvement store today, I asked him to get some pansies if they were out. Looking out onto our brown deck with brown furniture and a mostly brown lawn in the background looks way different with a pot of these on it!

And in my front garden, finally, the crocuses are starting to bloom! Just in time for Easter.

This is the time of year when it's finally warm enough to use the outdoor table, but it's consumed by hardening off seedlings:

purple ruffles basil

And here is Mike's tilled and enlarged garden this year. He has plans to build a fence. The clothesline poles are going to be a fixture in the garden for now, because the cement holding them in went much too deep for him to pull them out without a big tractor.

I hope you're enjoying the happy return of Spring!