great wander around the garden before the rain a few days ago…
excited to discover the milkweed is growing in the ground and in the planter where it did very well last year…
it appears that one of the dahlias may be poking through the soil…
and most exciting of all, the Monarch Dark Dynasty Butterfly Bush has new growth on it… this is huge as I’ve tried to overwinter them before without success…
right now only one of the pair shows any signs of buds, although that one came outside earlier than the other… fingers crossed…
well, well, well… went plant shopping with Hilda the Gardener…
basically it took the entire day and we went to five different nurseries…
what fun… she knows where all the best plants are at each location and has a great sense of what looks good together…
I was also happy to discover that three of them had pond plants and I was able to get a container with three different plants in it…
once we had purchased everything (lol) we had lunch out and discussed our plans…
planting is likely going to happen on Saturday, unless I decide to start on the planters around the deck… although I’m not sure I remember which plants are going where;-)…
just after we unloaded all the loot and I had come into the house it poured for about half an hour…
spent a delightful hour with Hilda the Gardener a few days ago…
we discussed our plans about what will go where in the garden as well as some options for variety this year… even just talking about how the garden might look is energizing…
she brought me shoots from her spider plant which I have now put in water and set on the rooting ledge, lol…
and we set a date to go plant shopping together… not sure if this is a good thing or a very bad thing🤪… her vehicle has lots of room in it…
spent time in the garden on Monday, even though the temperature was cool…
found the trellis pieces and the connectors for my planters and put them up… was worried for a few minutes because those connectors did seem to be hiding… my neighbour was out and helped me fasten them to the chain link fence so they won’t blow over…
added a bit more soil to each of the nine pots and then planted three of them with peas… apparently they like the cold to get started…
brought out the purchases from last week so they could get a bit of sun and set an alarm to remind me to put them back into the garage before bed…
and then yesterday I found popsicle sticks and made tags so that I can remember what got planted where, lol…
I walked to the Park today… first time in I don’t know how long… at least a year, and maybe longer than that…
took a bit of self-talk to get out the door… I am certainly feeling braver on the whole with being around other people, but I haven’t walked any distance for a long time…
so happy that I did it… the streets were clear of water… thank goodness… and there were very few people on the sidewalks and paths…
walking through the forest in the Park always brings me joy… and they have new signs with wonderful quotes along the way…
the trail has been renamed Story Trail and is part of the Indigenous Youth Storytelling Program… what a great idea… the trail has obviously been cleaned up and there was even a hut made with fallen branches… I am hoping that it might be covered with leaves as the summer progresses…
going through the English and Leo Mol Gardens was a bit disappointing, although really, considering the weather, what was I expecting, lol… the gardeners were everywhere raking and cleaning up the spaces, but there were very few blooming things… I saw one tree, a few daffodils and maybe a berginia in a few different locations…
the great news was that it was basically empty so I had ample time to stop and look whenever I wanted…
there were many geese and I did spot a few goslings, which was delightful…
I was a bit tired by the time I made it back to the house, so I had a nap…
the large planter on the deck has been full of water from all the rain… it doesn’t have any drain holes because it was originally a barrel liner…
I dug out the drill and then did a Google search to remind me how to change the bit… after a little experimenting I was able to put in one that would make holes…
dragged the planter so it hung over the edge and drilled a number of holes in it and watched the water pour out…
hopefully, in the next few days I can pop a few of the morning glories into it, along with the obelisk for them to climb up…
not sure if they need it to be warmer, but I can always plant more, lol…
some days those big girl pants are quite comfortable…
recently I came across a couple of pictures of cherry trees from April a number of years ago…
this first photo, which I took at the Filberg Festival in Courtenay, BC in 2011, won us a trip to Kingfisher Oceanside Resort and Spa to enjoy their Pacific Mist hydropath…
this photo was taken in New York, NY, in 2016… I think it was in Central Park..
cherry trees are just so beautiful, and clearly April is a blooming month for them;-)…
it is fun when memories remind me of special times…
it feels as though the weather has been all anyone is thinking about these days…
it has been raining for days and then it turned into snow… there are puddles (or lakes) everywhere and many people have been struggling with water in their basements…
with another gloomy day, I decided to make soup… I used up not-so-fresh zucchini, carrots, onions, celery, and the last of the frozen cauliflower in the freezer… then I added various bits and pieces to season it up…
the result came out nicely and I will have some tasty lunches over the next few days…
