Thursday, April 18, 2013

Spring Full Speed Ahead


While it just started raining this evening, we've had a nice stretch of sunny weather here. The dry, warmer weather is jump starting some of the local gardening. Our last frost date is usually around Mother's Day, but no one seems to be waiting.

Today I stopped at a nursery to get some seeds and discovered that everything I could want and then some is on display and for sale. I resisted most, but of course I had to get some cucumber starts for my cat, and a couple perennials for railing baskets.



Peas, lettuce, spinach and pansies are doing well in the deck planter




Tulips and wood hyacinth are blooming in my parent's yard



Blue hyacinth mixed with a yellow flowering creeper mom added to the bed
(let me know if you can id this plant)

On my way home from the nursery I stopped by the community garden. A lot of work has been done there in the last few months. Paths recovered in bark, posts added to plot corners, and a new message board has been built. 

We've been there a couple of times recently, once to decide it was too early to rototill, and another to place some cardboard down in a psuedo experiment on weed control.

But, unlike last year, there hasn't been so much rain to stave off tilling. My plot is one of the few (weedy) untilled plots left. One next to me is already tilled and planted. We are now making plans to get compost next week and hopefully take advantage of a rototiller for hire.

2 comments:

  1. Hi! I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that yellow flowering creeper is something you might want to rip out before it gets a firm grip on the garden (see: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification/yellow-archangel.aspx). I recognized it because we have it here as well (north of you in Vancouver BC suburbs). It was left behind in a planter by the previous owners of our house. I stupidly tossed the contents into a compost in the back and by spring it was everywhere. Once it gets established it's pretty much impossible to get rid of. While it's pretty, it also will choke out a lot of other plants.

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  2. Thanks Gaile, that's my mom's yard and I sent her your link. She loves it, so I picture her yard about 10 years from now completely covered in this stuff.

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