Planting

The giant Hostas Mum sent me in the mail from B.C-
they're doing pretty well, they probably don't realize they're in zone 3 yet.

This giant smile is because she just clung to my leg and licked it- this is how it is around here-
like a mama sandwich- one babe on the inside and one on the outside. The other day N was leaning on my stomach and the baby kicked her in the head- pretty hilarious.

On Monday N and I braved the wind and got our pansies planted, All of my window boxes and planters and flower beds around the house are done, and I'm so happy for that. It's still very early really, and we;re sort of taking a chance on it- but Pansies and violets are pretty tough, and really may long weekend is sort of the 'planting time' around here so a week earlier shouldn't be too risky with the weather we've been having.  Anyways, I have mostly have perennials around the house, and have been sort of shuffling them, and dividing them, and re arranging them to suit my liking, I think I've just about got them where I want them- we'll see how they do this year- and if they need to move I'll do it next spring. 

It was supposed to be the week we put seeds in the big garden too- but N is sick and K is sick, and I'm just fighting it off with the Neti pot and vitamin C, so that's pretty time consuming. Despite the plague and the really strong wind that's been hammering our area, I've managed to get most of the seeds in the ground. We did onions and potatoes and corn last week, but today I went out while the sickies rested and got in all the root vegetables (how did I end up with four varieties of Carrots? and only one variety of beet?), and Greens, the only things left are peas and lettuce. Oh and the milk jug flowers.

I've transplanted all the bachelor's buttons, which took to the winter sowing method the best- but then were quickly outgrowing their confines. and the sweet peas have been transplanted too- destined for containers by my front doors, I'm hoping the early start will translate into earlier blooms. All in all the winter sowing was pretty effective, and because I have limited growing space for seedlings indoors, I felt like it was more reasonable to winter sow the flowers for the garden. Hopefully I'll have a lot of flowers for cutting, and lots to attract pollinators, and deter pests. I think I'll do some the same way next year- but maybe less cosmos- they get really huge out in the full sun, and tend to shade out the veggies- so I try to use them pretty sparingly- though they are very pretty.

I'm hoping to get it all in the ground before Friday, but we'll see about that- it's tough enough planting with a well toddler- I forget how a sick toddler assumes barnacle status, and the roomy space you usually operate with (an inch) becomes no space at all- with a runny nose pressed up against your thigh.