May 15, 2004
A few days ago, I trimmed back the mums a bit, as they were beginning to look leggy. This will be the first year I've trimmed them before they bloom.
Friday morning I saw that one of my dahlias had been very greedily munched on by a slug or snail; grrr! I've decided to try eggshells. We have a lot of them, and they'll be good for the soil�Let's just see if they keep the slugs away!
On Friday, I went to Jerry's and purchased four petunias (two Magenta Madness [dark purple], a lavender, and an Orchid Madness ["tiger striped" lavender and deep purple]) three snapdragons (yellow, orange, and peach), and four cosmos (two magenta, two lavender), all for 99 cents a piece. Today, I planted them in the front bed.
This weekend, I also discovered my seeds-in-a-bag were sprouting, so I bravely trotted them outside and popped them into the front bed. The forget-me-nots are between the Helens flower and the petunias, the asters are between the blanket flower and the rose, and the poppies are near the snapdragons. We'll see just how hardy they are! The poppy seeds appeared fuzzy, so I don't know if they have even a chance.
This morning, I also staked more iris; the rain definitely beats them down. I like to use branches from pruning (or small limbs that have fallen to the ground) for staking, but this year I didn't have enough, so I resorted to a few bamboo stakes, too.
In exciting news : my Jackmanni clematis has its first cling to the trellis, and the other clematis will soon be clinging, too! There's also one tiny bud on the nasturtiums. |
