Soggy with inspiration

It's another rainy Monday, but the weekend was clear and dry and toasty. We spent Saturday afternoon working in the yard; speading mulch, painting and installing fence pickets, transplaning iris, planting a small redbud tree, and planting some hostas that came from the neighbor (seen above in the "before-n-after" photo). I am anxious to mow the lawn, but I am holding off until it grows a few more inches. Our lawn is no work of art; it's a mix of grass and weeds and small spring flowers. I don't mind, as long it keeps the mud off my feet and gives Chris a place to play. On Sunday, we visited five gardens as part of the Historic Garden Tour. In short, I would have to say that it was a moderately inspirational adventure; but not as remarkable as the bulb tour last weekend.

In 3 days, we head to California. I am certain we will visit a garden or two on our trip. :) jem

If it's not the rain, it's something else..

The bulb tour was super! The beautiful flowers and the captivating presentation made up for the cold drizzle. I came home with 2 Dahlia plants that I am anxious to find a spot for. We have discussed putting annuals and other flowers around the perimeter of the garden fence, but I am not sure how soon we will get to that, or if we will wait until we can put in something more permanant.

It rained for the first 3 days this week, and we are anxious to get back into the garden. Last weekend, we dug up the monsterous forsythia colony in the front yard and replaced it with 2 abelias (photos coming soon). It looks 100% better, AND we were able to give a few of the forsythia plants to our friendly neighbor. She is an avid gardener as well and has already offered us a redbud and as many doffodil bulbs as we care to divide. Sweet lady, she is!

{Digging up the forsythia}

{Letting our sprouts have some outdoor time.}

This evening, Bill is bringing home a load of mulch, which will end up in our many beds around the yard. I am still in the process of deciding which beds will serve which purpose. I would like to have herbs near the back door, even though in our master plan we located an herb garden in the front yard. So some things warrant rethinking.

This weekend is supposed to be lovely, with temps in the 70s. We will garden and play sports on Saturday. On Sunday, we will join the horticulture-loving masses and participate in Garden Week Virginia 2009, visiting at least 3 of the featured local gardens. Ahhhh, sweet inspiration!

Bulbs for breakfast

Today is Friday and it has been a full and busy week. We will be anxious to have a little R&R this weekend. Mingled in with the R&R, we are planning to visit Brent and Beckys Bulbs, just east of Richmond. For some time, I have been wanting to learn more about planting bulbs, and timing your bulb beds to produce year-round color.
Also, we want to shuffle around some shrubs-- swap a forsythia for some abelias, and maybe dig up some more irises.
It is just beginning to rain, which likely means I will not get a chance to plant more carrots this evening. Perhaps we will rent a British movie and dream of English gardens and grassy hillsides with sheep and rock walls..... jem.

Promise

We are starting some seedlings in doors-- Tomatoes, Peppers, Squash, Cucmbers, Watermelon, Pumpkin. The seedlings show an amazing level of vigor as they germinate and begin growing, easily doubling in size each day.

Chris puts the finishing touches on the 2x4 nailers prior to helping put up the pickets. He's anxious to get started again today-- he's never been so excited about working. We won't question this turn of events. bm

Eggs Of Many Colors- Sure Sign Of Spring

One of the surest signs that Spring is here?...colorful eggs begin to appear. We will hide some in the garden/yard later today. Folks coming over for a cookout. Beautiful weather...highs in low 70's. bm

One word- Rain

It's been raining for two days. And I believe it will rain tomorrow. While I know that the rain is good for our garden and the regional water supply, I am longing for some of that cheerful spring sunshine!

Bill planted beets and more lettuce a few nights ago, in much more reasonable quantities than I did last week. I haven't seen any of the out side plants sprouting yet (not enough sun?) but some of our indoor seed starts have sprouted! It's so wonderful to see the small green shoots curling up out of the soil. Even though it will be months before we will get any produce off those plants, I already feel as though we have been successful in our venture.

The weather forecast for the weekend looks promising. In between baseball, house cleaning, and a festive cookout, I hope we can get some quality gardening in. Until then, We'll stay dry inside and think of all the ways to eat spinach! :)
jem

A request for our dear readers

We are really excited about our up-and-coming garden and we think that keeping this blog will be helpful and fun for us and for you too! We'd really love to know who reads our blog, even just occasionally. It would be much appreciated if you could leave a comment once in a while so we know you're out there.
Thanks!!
J & B