Ghislaine is blooming!

This is the rose that I keep in a container in the sunroom all winter so it gets a head start in the spring. Bloom color this year is a buttery white (it was more peachy pink last year). It's beautiful but not exactly what I was expecting. I'm wondering if the cool temps had an effect on the color-it's been on the deck for several weeks, I pull it in when we get a frost advisory. The outside roses have little buds on them. Captain Sam still isn't looking good. I haven't pruned it back yet, I was hoping it would bounce back. I'll prune it today. I started the morning glories, nasturtium and pipevine inside last week. I should have started the pipevine earlier (like February). The morning glories are up (including the cypress vine), I think I saw signs of life from the nasturtiums yesterday.

We've had wide swings in the weather this spring -typical of the area. Highs in the high 80's then a few days later: snow. I resisted temptation and haven't planted out yet. There are a lot of bed sheets draped around in the flower beds around here I guess some people couldn't wait! A hard freeze is predicted for tonight for areas outside the ity and away from the lake.

Today
Sunny. Highs in the lower to mid 50s. West winds 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest.
Tonight
Clear. Widespread frost overnight. Lows around 30. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph becoming light and variable.

Tuesday
Mostly sunny in the morning...then increasing clouds with a chance of rain by late in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 50s. Southeast winds 10 mph or less becoming east 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tuesday Night
Rain. Not as cold with lows in the mid 40s. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. A chance of showers in the morning. Highs in the lower 50s. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.

Thursday
Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers. Highs in the lower 60s.
Thursday Night
Showers likely. Lows around 50. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Friday
Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. Highs around 60.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 40s.

Saturday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.
Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.

Sunday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

What's blooming: Azaleas,Columbine, Creeping Phlox, Lilacs, Tulips, Wisteria, Oriental Poppy

April wrap up

Started digging up the new flower bed near the mailbox. It's a lot bigger than I thought it was. I had it covered with cardboard for a few weeks (I should have done that last fall) I uncovered about 2/3 of it and dug up squares of sod and turned it over- it took about 6 hours. I didn't get to the last 1/3, it rained yesterday and was pretty cold (we had a fire in the stove). I'm still undecided about what to plant in that bed. I was going to go with purple and red but I'm thinking that's going to be really garish. Now I'm thinking pastels (that will go better with the beds closer to the house). If I go in that direction I will dig up Hippolyte (rose) and move it down there and plant the red flowers up by my Winchester Cathedral rose. I also may move Distant Drums down there where it will get more sun. I'm also going to plant some veggies in that area since the space is so big. I'll probably put in some GWR tomatoes and maybe the lemon cucumbers and a squash or zucchini. Captain Sam isn't looking so good, the roses in that bed are being attacked by a little brown worm that's boring into the emerging leaf buds. I'm hand picking them and squashing them but the leaf buds are being destroyed in the process. Russelliana and Clotilde Soupert are holding up better than Sam. I'll try cutting him back and see what happens. I might move him out of there and put Gruss an Aachen there. I need to move Gruss because DH wants it's space to put the woodpile. I have a lot of work to do.

Volunteer Borage is coming up in the veg garden. Peas and fava's are getting bigger. Last years chard is still going. Spinach and onions are looking puny.

What's blooming: grape hyacinths, forsythia, cherry trees, azaleas, narcissus, primrose, tulips, bleeding hearts, creeping phlox, lilacs are just starting (about 2-3 weeks early)

Today
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers through early afternoon...then becoming partly sunny. Highs in the mid 50s. Northeast winds 10 mph or less...becoming north. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Tonight
Partly cloudy. Cooler with lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 10 mph or less...becoming north and increasing to 10 to 20 mph.

Tuesday
Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. North winds 10 to 20 mph...becoming northwest. Gusts up to 30 mph.

Tuesday Night
Mostly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph...becoming west.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. West winds 10 to 20 mph.

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.

Thursday
Sunny. Highs around 60.

Thursday Night
Mainly clear. Lows in the lower 40s.

Friday
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.

Friday Night
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Lows around 50. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Saturday
Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. Highs in the lower 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers. Lows around 50.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. Highs in the lower 70s.

Helllllooooo Ladies!

The new roses have arrived! I had a nice little package on the stoop when I got home today-it was like Christmas all over again! They were all neatly packed in damp newspaper and arrived in great condition. I'm going to Syracuse later this week where my friend Renee has a freezer full of fish heads and guts that she'll give me to put under the roses. My lovely husband thinks I'm nuts.

I decided to take the plunge with Winter Sowing after some encouraging words from Catherine at gardnerprogress. I read up on how the whole thing works and figured it might not be too late to do a little this year. I got a bunch of milk jugs that I was saving for the Early Tomato Experiment (that's kind of gone by the wayside) and 2 plastic tubs from BigLots. Drilled holes, made labels, got some more soil at HD. I went with Alyssum, Foxgloves, Cosmos, sunflower, chamomile, nigella and coleus. I also finally got the delphinum pots out of the tupperware container in the fridge and put them in a milk jug. Everything is sitting out on the back deck. I wrapped the heck out of everything with tape-we've got psycho squirrels in the neighborhood and I didn't want to give them an easy target. I did all of this on Saturday-by Monday the Alyssum was starting to sprout-CRAZY!

I also started on my trenching project on Saturday. I got a nice flat, square shovel from Bristol's Nursery- it's a Fiskar's "the Best Shovel Ever" or something like that (late Birthday present from DH). I have to say it's quite nifty. The Y shaped handle is very comfortable and there are little treds on the top of the shovel part for me to jump on to get it to go deeper in the soil. I had read somewhere that Victorian Trenches are very labor intensive and not for the faint of heart... blah blah blah. Whoever wrote that was kind of a whiner. It's really not that bad. I did the beds on the West and South side of the house in a few hours. I think the key is to do it when the soil is nice and damp but not frozen. I can't imagine it would be a lot of fun to do in July when the ground is hard as a rock. Or in January when it is hard as a rock for a different reason.

Tomato Update: I think97 is the final count for the tomato plants. I'm sending out emails to friends asking them if they want any. I sent some down to my SIL in MD along with some Grandpa Otts Morning Glories that I started from seed saved from my house in NC and a rose bush that I propagated from a cutting last summer. I need to take it easy with the tomatoes next year.

I saw a tulip this week- woo hoo!