February must’ve been more brutal than I remember, or else I was permanently scarred by last summer’s rain-intensive Year of Almost No Sunlight, because somehow I ended up with 42 different tomato varieties, mostly single plants, mostly mail-order. (And, yes, I understand that completely violates the whole virtuous green locavore ethos of growing one’s own, but there you have it.) This year’s repeaters: Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Isis Candy, Jellybean, Juliet, Oxheart, Pineapple, Rose de Berne, Roma, Sugary, and Sun Gold. Couldn’t find a Garden Peach or Black Pear, but otherwise I’m pleased and hopeful, now that all the transplants have been crammed into what passes for the “sunny spots” in our tiny New England fiefdom.
On the other hand, the boutique seed potatoes I planted early last week aren’t sprouting, but the ones waiting in the kitchen are.
Product review: The Bionic gardening gloves have been worth every penny. Tough enough for the heavy work, but thin enough that I didn’t end up taking them off while potting out tiny transplants. This is the first year I’ve been able to rake winter mulch, dig planting holes, clean out pots, transplant seedlings, and prune the blood-thirsty mini-roses without my hands ending up looking like I’d lost an argument with a large bobcat or a very small bear. But even though they’re supposed to fit tightly, they run small — I actually bought mine at a local garden show, and had to move up from a men’s medium to a large to be comfortable.
Everything in the garden is running a couple of weeks ahead of schedule this year, thanks to an unusually warm & rainy February/March/April. The Zepherine Drouhan (pink) roses and Rozanne (pale purple) geraniums have been glorious for the last couple of weeks, and now the Don Juan (dark red) roses are starting to open. The Siberian and dwarf irises are over, but the daylilies are just starting to bud. After almost 20 years of poor choices, missteps, and failures, I’m finally starting to see results approximating the pretty pictures of my snow-bound phantasies…
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So… how’s your garden plan going?