Obviously my garden didn't get the memo!

Winter seemed extremely long this year. But I kept telling myself...."just wait until all the bulbs and lilacs bloom, it will be spectacular." Obviously my garden never got the memo I sent out about having a garden blog. In the memo I stressed how important it was that they put on a good show this year. Maybe they are bashful. I did mention that I would be beaming photos of their petals all across the globe. So you can understand my disappointment when this is what popped up.That by far, is the puniest daffodil ever to sprout in my garden. Wasn't there a Christmas song called Puny Poinsettia??? How about a follow up tune called Puny Daffodil?

On a brighter note. R and I planted about 100 hostas in the large bed under the giant Ash tree by the road. Only one plant was missing it's tag. Probably some squirrel has it stashed away.

Yesterday I put all the hosta tags into my notebook. It's bulging at the seams so I will need to start a separate notebook just for the hostas. I think my last count was 174 varieties.

The fruit trees are just days away from blossoming. I did notice that the peach tree we replaced last year has very small buds. I am beginning to suspect that there is a problem with the soil in that area.

These flowers are always the first to bloom. The photo makes them appear larger than they are in real life. But at least they are not puny...they are just petite.

The theme for today is raking......

I've decided that when possible I will post on all my blogs (3) using a theme. Today's theme is raking.

The weather was unseasonably cold and windy today. R and I planted the remaining two Paw Paw trees. That will give us 4 trees and two varieties from two different growers. Keep your fingers crossed that they don't die. I know bare root shipping is frequently done but it is always shocking to open a package and see something that looks like it belongs in the burning pile.

The ground was extremely soggy so it was impossible to plant the remaining hostas. I checked the weather forecast and it looks like fair weather until Wednesday or Thursday at which time it will start raining again. Unfortunately I am scheduled to work 12 hrs all week.

R just walked by and said...."The Gardens of Gear Acres???......sounds like the name of a soap opera." Yes, it is. He is rather witty today....he just came up with "As the Gear Turns."

Rather than waste a whole day because the weather wasn't up to snuff, we put our winter coats on and headed out of doors to rake. Here at 'The Gear' raking is a never ending saga. We raked the area along the fence by the road. It's amazing the items you find after the winter snow melts. Along with the usual snack food wrappers, straws, and drink lids, we also found a discarded Pantera CD and a small empty Crown Royal bottle. Could someone have been drowning their sorrows about hearing of the passing of Dimebag Darrell???? Who knows...I just wish they would throw their stuff somewhere else.

So there you have it.....As the Gear Turns....stay tuned and find out if the hostas get planted.

Garden Graphics Book

Today we were hit with quite a storm. Hail stones the size of dimes and a lot of wind. The sirens blared and there were reports of a tornado. So far there hasn't been any confirmation on the Weather Underground of a confirmed tornado so let's just say it was windy...real windy and rainy...real rainy.

Still nothing to report garden wise. No tulips, daffodils, or buds to speak of yet. So in lieu of photos of my garden, I'll show you a photo of the book I purchased on of eBay.

It's a cute hardcover book by Gemma Nesbitt called Garden Graphics. The book details how to draw diagrams of your garden using little graphics to represent certain flowers. You can see the little drawings around the edge of the front cover on the dust jacket. I'm sure somewhere there is software that does the same thing but I think in this case, a hand drawn plan is more appropiate.

Gemma Nesbitt? Interesting name.

When will I start drawing????? Well, first I need to finish planting.......etc. Until then......I'll just preuse the pages and draw in my mind's eye.

Tulips and Daffodils Bulbs

It felt so good to be outside in the warm air. This winter was a very dreary winter with a lot of snow and grey days.

R and I continued raking out flowers beds and areas of lawn that still had leaves remaining. We are really on the downward part of our raking. I need to seed a few shady areas so that those areas will be ready for the spring showers.

Saturday I had a little extra time (wow imagine that!) before I left for work so I popped into Kmart to see what Martha was offering this summer. I have no idea what she's offering as I never left the garden center. In the clearance bin were packages of tulip and daffodil bulbs. Normally by the time bulbs get to the clearance bin they are all shrivelled up. I flipped the clear packages over and was surprised to see them in such good shape. I was able to purchase 12 packages for 99 cents each, two larger packages of tulips for $1.57 each, and two large bags of daffodil bulbs (32 in each) for $3.97 each. Then it was off to work. Martha.....I'll have to check you out at a later date.

On Sunday we planted all the bulbs and two pink peonies root clumps. All the peonies we transplanted last year have sprouted, so I know they survived. Now I just hope we planted them at the right depth.

The 22 various lilac bushes we planted last fall, all have buds. I can't wait for them to get about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. R and I decided that this next fall we are going to plant additional lilacs on the other side of the fence. That should give us really dense coverage when both sides grow in.

Tomorrow I'm going to plant the 2 Paw Paw trees that have arrived so far. I have two more coming from a different grower. Today would have been a great day for planting but as usual I scheduled an appointment for today before I had to leave for work at 3pm. I can predict the weather 30 days from now by scheduling an appointment for my nails, massage, or hair. I can guarantee that those days will have fabulous weather. Some day when I'm retired it won't matter if it rains because there is always tomorrow.