SPRING MARCHes IN

March was another great month with more mild than cold days.  Thus I planted some more veggies that are usually done in mid-to-late April.  Below you will see some of them - my sweet onions, leaf lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, cabbages, kale, cucumbers and spinach.  I've only had to cover them 4 times this winter.  I also planted the seeds of okra, chives and cantaloupe.  

I was reminded by my eight year old granddaughter Lea that I promised to get chickens.  Below is the coop that will house two chickens to start with.  She is excited to go shopping and pick them out.  I'm adding a six-foot exercise pen and run and poultry wire to the picket fence so the chicks can free range in the garden as well. This area is completely closed off from the resident dog.

My 3-in-3 apple tree arrived from California and I got that planted.  It's already sprouted new leaves.  

Purchased and planted glory lily, purple meadow sage, red fox veronica, 3 kinds of  woodland phlox, purple verbena,yellow blooming edgeworthia, and virginia bluebells, to name a few.  A neighbor gave me some seedlings of her Cushion Spurge and Oxe Eye daisies.

I'm delighted to see that the passalong  variegated Solomon's seals I planted last year are emerging, as are the Hellebores.  My Hellebores were outstanding this season and bloomed for a very long time.  

I want to add more sages to the garden as they are not only long blooming and deer resistant , they don't die back in the winter.

The queens of the shrub garden -the viburnums-have begun their blooming - the very fragrant 'mohawk',  'nantucket' and 'mariesii ' . I want to add some more evergreen varieties as well.  

Life is emerging in the roadside garden -the cobalt blue ajuga, powder blue catsmint, yellow daffodils, and false lupine.  I will add more wildflower seeds this Spring to attract more bees and butterflies.

Farewell to March and Hello to April.