Just a bit longer ...

We've had a string of increasingly mild days in the past week, and that is a good thing. Although we're not expected to have a frost this week, it might dip down to the high 30s in the evenings. It's been raining for the past few days, so it looks like April showers have started a little early. However, the rain will do our front yard some good and the grass is already starting to perk up. Now, if only the brown spots would grow back!

Last weekend I freshened up my little flower bed with some cedar mulch. Unfortunately, the lavender in the front right side is not doing well -- Copper has repeatedly trampled it while chasing tennis balls and other doggy things.


Most of the seedlings in my office nursery are thriving. I have transplanted many to party cups because they were looking kind of yellow and sickly. The added room and fresh potting soil has done them well.


As you can see, I have way too many peppers. I think I have about 20 plants representing at least 4 or 5 different varieties. I even managed to grow some Ancient Sweets from from seeds that I harvested from a grocery store pepper. I was pretty proud of that. Hopefully, they will take as good as the store bought fruits.



The parsley, clinatro, and dill are all looking good, although my cilantro plants are really leggy. Mint and basil have been brought home for transplanting to party cups this weekend.

Unfortunately, not all is well in the office nursery. I made the rookie mistake of using immature compost in my bean plant. After a few weeks, I had a swarm of fungus gnats in my office buzzing around the plant (and my head). And so, for the greater good of my other plants and my office mates, this plant was sacrificed to the evening frost. This has significantly reduced the swarm size in the office, but I think we are going to have to make fly paper an integral part of our decor for the time being.

Bit o' yard work

It's been a while since my last post. I've been reluctant to do much gardening in recent weeks because we are currently renting a townhouse, and I didn't want to invest to much in a place that we will be moving away from soon. Unfortunately, our most recent bid on a new home fell through and it looks like we are going to be here at least a few months longer than I hoped.

To cheer things up around here, I headed over to the Dutch Plant Farm and picked up some perennials on the cheap. I got some honeysuckle, lavender, and coreopsis. For some reason, the plants that I bought we only 30% of the cost of similar plants on the table. I am hoping that this was a pricing mistake and not a reflection of some issue with these guys. We'll see.

Our dog Copper was very excited to help out, while Edgar was busy chomping on grass by himself.


As you can see, Copper's regular fertilization of our lawn has led to a lot of brown spots. I am hoping some of this will grow out once the weather gets warmer. In our next place, I think I am going to have to train the big guy to do his business in a more focused area -- preferably out of sight.


I decided to place the two honeysuckle plants in the back in hopes that some day (likely long after I am gone) they will climb up the fence. I placed the lavender in the front and the coreopsis in the middle. I'm not sure that this really makes sense in the long run, but I suppose that they can always be transplanted later if the lavender get too big and shade out the coreopsis.