Snow, More Fun

We caught a real break from old man winter. Two warm days cleared all of the ice from the lane. The subsequent frigid Arctic blast turned the mud into a firm surface. Last night's snowfall was within the plowing capabilities of our lawn tractor. The driveway is neatly plowed ready for whatever comes next. When our professional snow removal expert turned in here to plow today, he found the job already done.

Part of today was spent readying the planting bench. Four new fluorescent tubes are needed to replace the tired old ones. Fluorescent bulbs cannot be put in the trash here so the question of what to do with the spent ones remains unanswered. If intelligent restraint controls, we will wait three more weeks before we plant in the basement. Cleaning up the potting bench today suggests a possible early start.

Seeds To Soil

I may be rushing the season but today I planted seeds. Peppermint stick zinnias and China asters were among the seeds chosen. Flowers have always been an after thought here, but this year we will try to start some of our own flowers from seed. Annual asters are our choice to fill in the early bulb beds. Our favorite asters are available at a local nursery but only in large potted groups. We need single plants. The nursery man showed little interest in raising single plants so we will try to do it ourselves. As in all things timing is everything. If we started too early, we will transplant twice, and spend a month moving the plants outside on good days. If we started too late we will wait for flowers.

A dahlia spent the winter in a galvanized covered can in the basement. Two sections were carefully removed from the large root mass and planted in the pots in the foreground. This is a new experience for us. We will report our success or lack thereof. Light for the dahlias will have to come from the window. At worst we may have made more compost.

Becky snapped the picture while I was working a section of 2" by 4" welded wire. More cages are needed to protect the emerging spring bulbs. Rabbit damage has already occurred. The two cages built today are in place protecting the tender green tips of dwarf iris and crocus. More cages are needed. A record of what was planted where would be helpful. The cages could have been placed when the bulbs were planted. Now the only choice is to look for the tips then place a cage, hopefully ahead of the rabbit. We will likely never learn to follow the easy path.