Sandpaper Hands

I can tell it’s spring because by Saturday night my hands felt like sandpaper.

I know I should wear gloves but just can’t seem to keep them on.

Just need to get my hands in the soil – really in the soil. 

And that’s what I did this weekend – all weekend.

It was, for me, the first long gardening weekend.

Actually, it began on Thursday evening in the front yard.

I went out to stake down the daffodil leaves and Torry, Cassidy and Sloane from next door pitched in.

Daffodil leaves need to die all the way back in order to feed the bulb and bloom for next year. 

This takes awhile and can be not so pretty in the process.

I used to braid them and stake them down which is lovely.

Or it was until Megan and I succeeded in edging all my loooooong beds in daffodils.

It would simply take forever.

So instead I take leaves in each hand, twist them around each other, tuck the ends in and stake them down.

The stakes are made by cutting the ends from a wire clothes hanger with wire cutters. 

Just make one cut on the bottom to save your hands.

They work great and are free – except for the Advil you’ll need to get your hands back in shape. 

You can also use landscape cloth stakes.

By Saturday the real fun began.

I spent most of the day in the shady part of my garden. 

Ferns have been sending out runners all winter and were popping up everywhere.

So I spread the joy a bit transplanting them to other shady areas.

Then new Digitalis, Astilbe and Bleeding Heart were added. 

Digitalis is really not known to like my house but I keep trying.

Because they like an acid soil, last fall I added a few pecan shells and leaves to the soil and today I added a bit of lime.

I’ll keep you posted.

The good news is that Belinda’s Dream roses are looking great – considering. 

Hopefully, I’ll at least have fall roses and they may still surprise me this spring.

And speaking of bloom the Japanese Tree Peony bloomed this morning.

I’ve put this poor plant through two moves and once sliced it in half with a shovel.

This year it’s full of buds and blooms – proving that patience does pay of.

Nature teaches us to be patient if we will listen.

Dahlias are some of my favorite flowers. 

 They are fall blooming so they are one of the last things to come out of the ground in the spring.

Technically, they should not overwinter in this zone but they often do so I don’t dig them in the fall.

Come spring it’s always a guess to see what holes I’ll need to fill in.

So this year I came up with a new plan.

The tubers arrived this week and today I planted them in pots. 

They can begin to grow in the pot and when I know what is or is not coming back I can fill in with new ones.

Hopefully, I’ll be ahead of the game – we’ll see.

The rest of today was filled with transferring tomatoes into bigger pots.

I won’t put them out until later on in the month so this should give them more space to form more roots.

The weekend ended as it began.

Torry, Cassidy and Sloane returned.

This time we planted fescue in basket liners for their Easter baskets.

It’s easy.

Fill the liner about half full of moist potting soil.  Cover with a solid coating of fescue seeds.

Then add a light coat of potting soil and water with a gentle spray.

Keep in a sunny window and spray to keep moist.

In 10 to 14 days you’ll have a bed of real grass for all those Easter eggs.

Tulips are beginning to wane so I’ll end with small pictures of the ones that remain and other joys of spring.

Enjoy the week.

Gail