Planting Sweetpea Seedlings. 3.25.22

 These are the sweetpea seedlings I planted yesterday.  They were sort of unintended.  I hadn't seen the ones that I planted directly emerge, so I started these just in case.  Since then, the others did emerge.  I planted these against some deer fencing in a location where they should get Western sunshine, although there will be some shade.  I can compare how they do, with others that will not be shaded.

I had read that they don't like being started in containers because the tap root might break in transplanting. So I planted these before there was much tap root at all.

Seedling Notes. 3.25.22

 This morning I puttered with seedlings.

This tomato was too tall for it's cell pack, somI up-potted it into a tall 4" pot.  This one is "Ukranian Purple".  I think that's the same as "Russian Purple", interchange names, but from the history I read "Ukrainian Purple" seems more accurate.

The other tomato seedlings are looking good.  I may have started them a little too early but, no problem.

It's interesting that Reisentraube is smaller than the others.  I thought it would be a vigorous grower, like Sungold.  As it is, it's more compact than the dwarf types.  In the front of the bottom pack is a pack of thyme seedlings.  They are growing faster than the ones I set outside a couple of weeks ago, which proves I jumped the gun on that one.

Cleaning Up / Rejuvenating Chive Clumps. New Weeding Tool. 3.24.22

I finished cleaning up the chives and garlic chives.  Growing them in containers helps a lot, but once grasses get in there, it's a job for sure.  

Here is the tool I bought.  I want to call it "Klingon Toothpick" but Star Trek might not like that.  I'll just call it "That weeding tool".

This was the best tool I've ever used for close-in weeding of tough weeds.  It's difficult getting close to the chive plants without harming them.  This helped a lot.

After clean-up, I put in about 1/4 cup of organic vegetable fertilizer, filled in the missing soil, and topped with a fine compost-topsoil mix that I hope will be free of weed seeds.

The garlic chives are about 20 years old.  They have been through multiple transplanting and dividing.  I let them bloom last year, which stresses them.  The plants I grew last year from seeds are growing better than these.  A rejuvenation usually get them going again.

The regular chives are from I clump I started ten years ago. I've divided and rejuvenated them a few times.  They usually like that, it's kind of a chive spa treatment.  Next time, they'll will need a good dividing again. 

I did other chores-

Planted two six-packs of sweetpea seedlings I started a few weeks ago.

Planted the remaining half dozen Echinacea, a half dozen Rudbeckias, a few Coreopsis in the wildflower garden.

Planted a row onions that I had started in Jan,  "New York Early".

Moved a daylily clump so I could plant that climbing rose there.

Transplanting A Cutting-Grown Climbing Rose. 3.24.22

 I started this rose from a cutting last year.  It was very easy.  I just pushed the dormant stick into the soil in a vegetable raised bed, as a row marker.

I think I pushed them in too deep.  The roots emerged from the bottom, and grew downward from there.  I dug one out last fall and didn't get enough roots, and it died.

This time I tried to dig as deeply as possible, without disturbing the neighboring garlic plant.

I think I got enough roots.  Also, it's barely Spring yet, so it shouldn't get too much sun yet, until it settles in.  I did give it about 1/3 cup of organic vegetable fertilizer.

It was frosted in the last freeze.  New growth has started.  I pruned about one foot from the floppy growth.  Fingers crossed.  I'll be watching for new growth.

Garden Puttering. 3.23.22

 Today I didn't do much.  It was raining and I'm feeling the full effects of a COVID vaccine booster.  However, I did do the following:

(1)  Re-cover the sides of the recovered cedar planter box, with clear plastic.   I want them to not-be rained on for  few weeks so they will be dry, when I stain and water proof the wood.  Especially the inside - that way I can start setting up the filling for plants.  I can stain the outside later if needed.

(2) Planted some Crocosmia "Lucifer" corms in the deer park / hell strip border.  I bought five via mail order.  This fall I should dig up some of the big clumps growing elsewhere, and divide them.  It would mean a lot more plants, for free, and it would be way too expensive otherwise to buy that many new ones.

(3) Moved a Sisyrichium striatum clump from the edge of the fenced garden, to the deer park border.  I like them but they are messy looking.  Better to grow out of the main view.  I prepped the old location for planting some colorful, modern bare root Echinacea plants that came yesterday.

(4)  Planted a short row of carrots and another of radishes.

(5) Scattered slug bait around the emerging sweetpea seedlings, and also around most of the snowpea and snappea plants.  Slugs like those.  Also around the Rudbeckia, Echinacea, and Coreopsis seedlings and rhubarb divisions.

(6) Mostly I walked around, looking at swelling tree buds, plants emerging from the ground, and taking in fragrance from hyacinths.