Conflicting Reports

Everything seems to be "off" this year weather- and garden-wise, in one way or another.

I saw a hummingbird today - the earliest ever - yet the juncos are still here. Some of my Louisiana irises are swelling with buds...at the same time as their usually-earlier German bearded and Siberian iris cousins are blooming.

Nearly all of the tomatoes planted at the Community Garden perished in sub-zero, wind-whipped temperatures last week. Because of the presence of the aforementioned juncos, I continued to hold off on planting my half dozen or so tomato plants, and am trying not to be smug about my foresight. But watching the birds was something my mother taught me from a very young age; our feathered friends possess a sixth sense about weather conditions that we do not. At least, the winter birds have it, anyway. I'm not sure what that crazy hummingbird is doing here already.

Anyway, lots of plant orders are trickling in. I don't consider myself old enough to be even close to senile, but I can never seem to remember/envision what I ordered from these companies when they get around to finally shipping the order to me. I save invoices, make notes, etc., but by gosh I still find myself tearing open boxes like a kid at Christmas because I truly don't know exactly what's inside. A Salvia Pachyphylia 'Blue Flame'? Great! Thanks! (What the heck does that look like??)

I am expecting a 10 lb. box from Bluestone Perennials tomorrow. Ten pounds of plants sounds like a lot to me...! So I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Besides that order, I have six Agastaches and Salvias from High Country Gardens to plant, plus two daylilies and 30(!) Gladiolus bulbs from Dutch Gardens that need to taste soil pretty quick.

And, in what must have been a lustful tropical plant haze, I also ordered several plants from Logee's, including one of those incredible-looking Diamond Head purple elephant ears. Not sure when that order will arrive. I'm trying my hand with a more common red Passiflora (other than Margaret, which didn't do well for me in the past for some reason) plus another round of Tarnok Sarrencia for the water barrel garden and a 'Chad' hibiscus just because it was stupifying.

Call me a multitasker, but I'm also managing several vegetable projects around the backyard. I have two new 3' x 3' beds by the driveway which now host radishes, peas, carrots and beets, and a couple of half whiskey barrels around the pool area with cabbage, bok choi and radicchio. All of these are doing well; the squirrels and/or rabbits are keeping their chewing to a minimum. I've planted nasturtiums around the containerized plants and the marauding rodents seem to be repelled by it. Amazing.

So there's a nice big, fat update about what's been going on with me in the outdoors arena. Spring might be here around Dallas...we're still not sure. But one thing is certain: I'm ready to plant!

Going Dutch

I'm always a little embarrassed to admit when I've ordered from Dutch Gardens. In my book, they're about one step above Spring Hill Nurseries as far as plant quality and reliable customer service...and that's not too good. But gosh, the pictures in their catalogs are intoxicating.

I figured I couldn't go too wrong with daylilies and gladiolus - two of the toughest plants in existence. Here's what my order looked like; these should be arriving in about a month:



Gladiolus 'Black Surprise'


Gladiolus 'Dandy'


Daylily 'Thundering Ovation'


Daylily 'Lori Goldston'

Flower Seeds - Old and New

I was going through my collection of flower seeds and was truly amazed at how old some of them were. Sunflower seeds from 2001, marigold seeds harvested from plants I had...gosh, I can't remember when. Maybe from before I was married, even. I ended up pitching most of the old seeds, as they probably weren't viable anyway, but I decided to try the sunflower and marigold just for the heck of it. The datura was also harvested from a plant and is only a couple of years old. The rest of the list is brand-spanking new seed from either Burpee or Select Seeds. Seeds were started yesterday, 2/14.



Sunflower 'Sunspot'


Marigold 'Jaguar'


Datura 'Double Purple'


Ornamental Millet 'Jester'


Scabiosa 'Beaujolais'


Scabiosa 'Dark Knight'


Maltese Cross


Gentian Blue Sage 'Cambridge Blue'


Amaranth 'Oeschberg'


Gomphrena 'Fireworks'


Coreopsis 'Mardi Gras'


Calendula 'Oktoberfest'

Notes to Self: Tropicals

Notes to Self is a new section that serves as more of a to do list for myself than anything. You see, while I'm good at lecturing other gardeners about keeping lists, it's not something I do consistently. And I should.

My collection of tropicals and otherwise tender plants has boomed in recent months. I've kept (and neglected) a couple of lemon trees in containers on the driveway for several years; it was easy to just roll them into the garage when cool weather came around. Now...well, it's going to be quite a project in getting all of the new non-hardy members into the house. So I figured an action plan would be helpful.

1. Clean Out Garage

2. Already in Pots - Move to Garage or Sunroom
Meyer Lemon
Variegated Lemon
Satsuma Mandarin
Plumaria (2)
Pride of Barbados
Brugmansia (2)
Black Olive
Barbados Cherry
Yellow Shrimp
Hibiscus (2 non-hardy)
Cactus


3. Already in Pots - Move to Protected Area of Patio
Sago Palm
Agave (2) - 'Mr. Ripple' & 'Jaws'


4. Dig Up, Pot Up, Move Inside
Variegated Tapioca (2)
Alocasias (2) - 'Hilo Beauty'
Colocasia - 'Illustris'
Passionflower (2)
Cuban Oregano


5. Propogate
Coleus

Target date for completion: November 1.