Another beautiful day

It's sunny and 61. We're temporarily inside. I made my trip to K -Mart and found a roll of twist-ties, some new pruners (I seem to lose them like other people lose gloves or sunglasses--I always need a new pair every spring), and a big plastic flower pot that I'm hoping Taenzer might enjoy rolling her ball into. I also got some packets of flower seeds--sweet peas, mixed-color morning glories, nasturtiums, and I don't remember what the other one was. I'm just going to direct-sow--if they come up, fine, if they don't, I'm not out a lot of money. They had some pansy plants and some very pretty pinks, but I couldn't decide where to put them--which is a pity, because I adore pansies--so I didn't get any.

I made one of my twice-yearly stops at McD's--the desire for grease and salt overcame me. I ate the french fries on the swing while the dogs played--you have to eat McD's fries while they're hot, or they're inedible; you can re-heat the burgers. Both dogs came by and stuck their heads deep into the bag where the cheeseburgers were. They'll probably be dinner. Er, dinner for me. I mean the burgers will be dinner for me. (sheesh...)

I haven't said much about the garden yet this year. I'm pleased and surprised that the crocus seem to have multiplied this spring. I don't know why! I haven't planted any, and so they've been here 20 years--you'd think that if they were going to multiply they'd have done it long before now. Nevertheless, I'm happy to see it. They even seem to have seeded themselves--at least, there's a lavender-striped one coming up in the middle of the vinca that I don't recall having seen before. The siberian squill also seems to have multiplied a bit (I planted them 2 years ago). I hope to have a big pool of deep blue there some time in the future.

I need to get around with the bulb fertilizer this spring to give the daffodils and hyacinths a boost. The clumps of daffodils are getting larger--at least, this spring, there's more foliage; it remains to be seen if there'll be more flowers. But none of the daffodils I planted with Stella are coming up, which makes me very sad. The last autumn she was alive she moved around what's now the puppy pen with me while I planted 100 daffodil bulbs, and I remember it as a peaceful, happy afternoon. I ordered another 100 that spring, and almost didn't plant them the following autumn--I think it was something ridiculous like December or February before I finally got them into the ground. I remember Taenzer tried to "help" by carrying off the trowel, various bulbs,, tipping over the bucket of fertilizer, etc. But I guess that the combination of shade, tree roots, and pounding puppy paws has just been too much for them.

I don't really know what's going on out front--I ought to check it out some evening after work next week, I guess. That corner garden is another one Stella helped me with--she would lie in the grass and watch me work, and watch the world go by, and it was so companionable and peaceful. I don't like being out there by myself, and Taenzer and Timber bark at everyone who goes by, so it's been neglected.

I've got woodchips down in front where the dogs potty, because it looks better than bare dirt and because it soaks up the urine and it's easier to pick up the poop, but it's still kind of unsightly. I've been thinking about planting some of the giant varieties of hostas around the edge of the area to shield it from sight, and adding hostas and vinca every year until I've overcome the dandelions. I'd like to have a thick fringe of crocus and maybe daffodils along the public sidewalk. It would certainly look better than what's there now. It takes two or three years for hostas to stop looking pathetic and start looking robust, but sooner planted sooner enormous, yes? None of the hosta has made an appearance yet, but as someone said, hosta is slow to wake up in the spring. I know the feeling.

Oh, yes, let's see--I've got daylilies, German iris, columbine, lady's mantle, heuchera, and veronica making leaves, and brunnera and peonies putting up sprouts. The European ginger is looking a bit dazed, as it does every spring. It's been seeding itself about--I found a small clump over by the garage, which is a good 20 or 30 feet away from the main patch.

The vinca, of course, is rarin' to go. The lamium looks a little straggly, but it also does every spring and soon starts sending out new leaves. Last year some came up across the sidewalk, but alas, it doesn't seem to be there this year.

I'm going to have to do something about the strip of land between the house and the property line on the west. It has been in such solid shade that nothing, even weeds, grew there, but now that two of the trees that shaded it are gone, it's going to start growing weeds unless I beat it to the punch. I was t hinking I might buy mixtures of daylilies and plant them on either side of a path. Flat stones in pea gravel would be nicest, but I'd settle for wood chips over a layer of weed barrier. Anyway, you could see the daylilies from the street, and a mix of dozens of types would be cheerful and interesting, and they make nice thick clumps once they get established. I could start at the front and work my way back from year to year.

The nice thing about a garden is it keeps you looking forward.