Mowed lawn for first time this year

Last year the first mowing wasn't until April 13. So, this is what about two weeks earlier. The grass was pretty tall because I waited as long as I could due to my lawn service spreading fertilizer and crabgrass preventer on top of the grass. It was already long at that point. I watered the lawn twice to get it all down as deep as I could before cutting it.

I got four full bags of grass. I put it all near the compost pile and spread it out so that any fertilizer and weed killer could be leached out before putting it on the compost pile.

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More plants arriving

Received three Dianthus 'Zing rose' (3) and Echinacea 'Magnus' (3).

The Dianthus worries me a bit. I think that this hot dry climate might prove to be a bit too much for these delicate plants. I have seen them in containers around the neighborhood, but I'm putting them in one of the perennial beds in the front yard. Hopefully, with the improved soil texture they will keep watered well enough.

The Echinacea can take dry spells quite easily so it will go where I took the Rose 'Honey Perfume' from in the back yard by the shed.

The Forsythia is blooming! Beautiful yellow leaves on long arching branches.

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Hummingbird feeders

Hung one hummingbird feeder today. I want to see how early they begin arriving. We hung several feeders last year starting in May when we first saw them flitting around the yard.

This year I want to be prepared for when they first get here.

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First bulbs of the year

I planted a bunch of bulbs in a temporary spot last Fall, because their permanent spot has not been worked yet. This would be Allium 'Sunny Twinkle', Allium 'Alpine Rosy Bells', Iris 'Beauty Dutch Mix', some Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, and Crocus. One of the Allium ‘Sunny Twinkles’ has sent up shoots.

Tulips and Daffodils are coming up as well.

The larger of the three Lilac bushes is blooming! Flower buds are about ½”. This is especially exciting because this is the first year it has bloomed, the other two were purchased and planted at the same time and they have not yet bloomed. It is from Stark Brothers Nursery and called 'Fragrant Purple' which is a bit peculiar because I cannot find anything about it anywhere online except for Stark Brothers and then only in the catalog I first ordered it from two years ago. I can only guess that it is a hybrid that only they have. The flower color is dark purple.

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Planting pansies

This has become one of my most anticipated Spring 'chores'. It has been, the last two years, my first trip to the nursery after the long winter months. I go, ostensibly, to purchase Pansies. But the real reason is to be able to walk among all of the beautiful greenery and colorful flowers that provide the proof I need that Spring has indeed arrived. Nothing rejuvenates me more. I think my wife is in on this little guilty pleasure of mine because she lets me go by myself so I am not 'pressured' with the need to hurry. I get lost in all of the choices of everything there is to offer. I haven't yet ventured into anything other than Pansies but I am certain that, in the future, after all of my plots are finally up to snuff and able to provide the support these plants need, I will be tempted to bring home something I had not gone to the nursery planning to buy.

Oh happy day when I can finally place that crabapple tree and the crepe myrtle I have been eying. The Hydrangea will certainly be one of the first shrubs to go into the perfect spot I have picked out for the perennial bed in the back yard next to the deck.

For now I have to be satisfied with the few beds that are already growing plants.

You see, I have been building up three perennial beds in the back yard and two in the front yard for two years (2007 is the third year) and have a few plants here and there as 'testers'. Sort of the 'canary in the coal mine' if you will.

I'm not sure if I have put enough compost into these plots to over come the clay. I have been frightened by the horror stories of how water-logged clay soil kills plants. I have been keeping careful records of how much compost I have added to these plots to combat the clay and if these plants survive then I will feel more confident in buying more expensive plants.

Last winter I bit the bullet and bought a starter Butterfly garden from Bluestone Perennials. Every plant I have purchased from them in the past has survived and arrived looking healthy enough that I feel confident I can plant the 51 plants that will arrive next month.

I must admit that I am a bit apprehensive and nervous about having to put that many plants in at one time, but I have at least gotten to the point to where I believe I have a reasonable chance to make it work.

The soil was really easy to dig in this Spring in the few plots I have been building up so I added a little more just to be certain.

So, with Pansies and trowel at the ready, I come home to plant that one perfect 'welcome mat' to what will most assuredly be the best gardening season ever.

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