Spend the Spring Digging!

 Spend the Spring Digging!

First warm day at the end of March- Cover beds to kill grass- use cardboard and rocks, wet it down

• herb bed in garden
• front porch
• "wildflower" garden by River Road

April 16- Spring Break! 

Dig front porch and “wildflower” beds

Begin clearing slope- clear weeds, move large rock and smaller rocks, dig swale across the middle of the slope, add pressure treated board at bottom

Begin clearing fence line- Measure and outline garden fence border with string and stakes, cut the edges, dig out grass around the back side side of fence, where extension of tomato bed will be.

April 23- Clear two sides of fence this week, digging a little every day.

April 30- Finish digging fence line, finish final side this week

Finish (amend) front porch and “front lawn” beds and sow seeds for “wildflowers”

Finish digging slope, amend soil

May 7- Put up garden fence, finish broccoli beds and plant broccoli, row cover

                Use remaining wire fencing to make compost pen for leaves and grass clippings

        Remove both shrubs by hammock

        Move mullein "weeds" from lawn and garden to the front porch bed

May 14- Extend tomato and strawberry beds, add bagged soil,

Demo front porch steps to use to expand the raised beds, Put tape over the "dangerous" lack of steps until you can put wooden steps up 

Sow seeds (in addition to seedlings started inside)  for cornflower and yarrow in middle “flat” swale section of slope so seeds do not wash away.

        Wait as long as you can to do your spring garden clean up. Ideally, you should wait until the daytime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees F for at least 7 consecutive days. Use mower to chop up leftover leaves (even over in the neighbor's side, behind trees, keep this mowed this year?) put in pile behind compost bins using the leftover garden fencing.

May 21- Finish clearing zucchini and herb beds. Amend soil with compost.

May 28- Plant out tender seedlings: tomatoes, zucchini and basil, flowers 

Sow seeds for zinnia, echinacea, bee balm, marigold, dianthus and milkweed in front porch bed and "wildflower" garden facing River Road.  Use extra rubber edging around front porch beds and hostas. 

         After foliage dies back, move daffodils and grape hyacinth to the front edge of the front slope. 

Direct Sowing

Early Sowing Flowers

Cornflower-  Direct sow in average soil in full sun after danger of heavy frost. Sow seeds evenly and cover with ½ inch of fine soil. Firm soil lightly, water and keep evenly moist. Seedlings will emerge in 7-10 days.

White Yarrow- Temperature: 60 - 65F Depth: Do not cover the seed but press into the soil Moisture: Keep seeds moist until germination Average Germ Time: 20 - 45 days

Coreopsis- Temperature: 65 - 70F Average Germ Time: 20 - 30 days Light Required: Yes Depth: 1/16 inch Moisture: Keep seed moist until germination

Late Sowing Flowers

Echinacea- If sowing Coneflower seeds outdoors, wait in the spring until the daytime temperature consistently reaches 70F. Sow purple coneflower wildflower seed shallow, 1/8 inch and keep the soil surface moist. Mulch over the wild flower seed is considered essential for outdoor seeding and a depth of 1/2 inch of clean straw should be effective.

Bee Balm-  If planting in spring, prepare the flower bed in fall so it will be ready for planting as soon as the weather warms early in the year. Sow seeds immediately after the last frost. Sow evenly and cover with 1/4" of fine soil. Keep evenly moist. Seedlings emerge in 22-30 days.

Dianthus- To direct sow outdoors, plant seeds to a depth of 1/8 inch once all danger of frost has passed. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings emerge in 14-21 days. 

Zinnia- Direct sow seeds in average soil in full sun after all danger of frost. Sow seeds evenly 12 inches apart and cover with ¼ inch of fine soil. Firm soil lightly with your hand, water and keep evenly moist. Seedlings will emerge in 7-10 days. Thin seedlings to stand 18-24 inches apart, depending on the variety, when they are about 1-2 inches tall. 

Fence the Garden

 Fence the entire garden

Here's my inspiration: Our Edible Garden

It was supposed to be next year, but actually it will be less work to do it this year. Instead of making and digging two more wooden fences for new beds, I will fence (and dig) the entire garden this year. It's going to be lots of digging. Leave the shovel out there and do 20 minutes a day over a week to get it all done before planting out. 

Even Monty Don, my new garden crush, admits when he had to dig out the hard pan in his garden, he did it little-by- little over several days.

• Use existing hardware cloth and dig 1' down and angle out 1' like an "L" or like the inspiration idea, just clear the grass for 1 foot out from the fence line.
• Cover the 1' cleared area with mulch to keep grass from growing back into the garden beds and a neat look.
• Use 4' metal "U" posts pounded in 1', then use 4 foot Fencer Wire
• If necessary, add 1' chicken wire flopping out so groundhogs can't climb over, use cheap hanging plant brackets to overhang fence
• Add nice metal gate
• Remove as much grass from paths as possible, lay down cardboard or newspaper to kill remaining grass, cover with chips (from the tree if it gets taken down in the back, or ChipDrop) and available rocks

Materials

 Materials 

☐ Drip tubing and emitters for new beds-                                 

☐ 10-10-10 Fertilizer for flowers                                                                                                                                         

☐ More Perlite- to amend herb beds?

☐ Two (2) straw bales for strawberries and broccoli- use extra for lining paths

☐ Six (6) bags garden soil for expansion, four bags for garden, two bags for front slope

☐ Six (6) bags of compost from S. County Recycling 3 bags for $8 

☐ Paint both tomato trellis- exterior paint

☐ Garden Fencing- two rolls, 72 ' circumference of garden

☐ Four green fencing "U" stakes

☐ D- Handle flat spade to remove sod

☑ Grow Lights- Two- 2

☑ One seed starting flat- extra large to extend time before transplanting

☑ Boiled Linseed Oil- prevent rust on tools wooden handle (use vegetable oil for metal parts)

☑ Furring strips for new tomato trellis-  1" x 2" x 8'- four
    use 1 x 1 porch rails for rungs
    add more diagonal cross pieces for stability

☑ Metal trellis (2) to raise bird netting over strawberries

☑ Four (4) cinder blocks for expansion- take from front steps, good excuse to rebuild

Lessons Learned

What I Learned Last Year

• Prune Basil sooner. When it grows 6-8" (hands-width) and has second set of leaves, prune the tops of the plant.

• Do NOT use Lowes straw- too many seeds! Tons sprouted this year and will probably be a problem next year too!
• Use DRIED grass clipping for tomatoes and Pine straw for strawberries.
• Compost should be 2/3 brown, so every time you add kitchen scraps, add a couple handfuls of leaf mulch (make a pile behind compost bins). Also add a scoop of wood ash every other time.

• Start tomatoes and basil later, plan on planting Memorial Day weekend. 
• Pinch off the bottom suckers.
• Go out every day, even though nothing is happening and tie up the plants to the trellis several times. Don't wait until there is a lot of growth, too hard to manage a tangled mess.
• The velcro tie up tape works well!
• It's difficult to weed and harvest strawberries in the asparagus bed. Consider moving the strawberries elsewhere. 
• The metal garden arches worked well to hold up the asparagus fronds for the season, but they need to be more firmly anchored in the spring

 Perennial Border in Blush, Cream and Green

This flower is my inspiration for the perennial border. 

Plan

I have wanted to put a perennial border at the back of the property, something nice to look at from the back window and add a demarkation to the back of the property. Once the dying tree and brush around it is removed, there will be room for something nice. 

The side closest to the forsythia is a little shady, but should still work fine. 

The theme of this border is built around the Shirley Temple peony and the Morden Blush rose.  Choose plants that will go with these two. I also find green flowers interesting, so Bells of Ireland and Zinnia Envy will be an interesting plant to grow. Also have flowers that are a mix of the two, Echinacea Cherry Fluff and Zinnia Queen Lime Blush are a good mix of blush and green.  Green Twister is an interesting flower with green and a pop of hot pink. Sedum Autumn Joy will give good foliage in the summer and  fall color. 

Start with one area, and then after two or three years expand to the next area, repeating the same plants. Shoot for big areas of the same plants, not single plants.  Have some annuals so it looks good in the first 2-3 years while the perennials come on.

Back of border- privacy screen

Rose of Sharon Pink Shiffon

- height 8-12' width 4-6'

Break up the back with  Spirea and Weigela, buy locally
Spirea

    - 2-3 feet wide and 2-3 feet tall 
    - Instead of a solid wall across the back, break it up with this slightly lower shrub

Weigela, 

- 4-6 feet wide and tall
- easy to grow shrub

- seems difficult to find the large old-fashioned variety online, try to buy plants locally

Mid-border

     Peony Shirley Temple

    - 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall

    - pink, turns white at maturity, buy at least three         bare roots

    - this plant should be the center of the border in the     early summer, good foliage the rest of the year

Zinnia Queen Lime Blush- 1 foot wide and 2 1/2 feet tall

and 
Zinnia Queen Lime- 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall

-A nice big swath of each of these will look good in the middle of the border.

- Long lasting flower should give color into the end of the season

- Annual, so would have to start from seed each year, but easy to grow from seed or direct sow each year

Cosmos Apricot Lemonade- 15 inches wide and 2 1/2 feet tall

    -start from seed, annual- might be good to fill in border while             waiting for perennials to fill in over 2-3 years

    - shorter than some other cosmos

    - good cut flower

Bells of Ireland or Hudson Valley Seeds

- 28" tall, 8-12" spacing

- cool looking plant

- annual, but good self-seeder

-good cut flower

Morden Blush Rose

Even though I don't really care for them, every perennial border should have roses. Garden Answer showed these and mentioned that they have a nice red-orange rose hip in the fall and winter. Expensive $50 bare roots, so get one as a specimen plant in the center of the border.

Heirloom roses

High Country Roses

Front of border

Alium Roseum

- pink

- 1 foot wide and 1 foot tall

- perennial bulb

- blooms early summer, make sure to find another early blooming variety, too many last bloomers in this bed already

Sedum Autumn Joy

- 2 feet wide and 2 feet tall

- perfect easy to grow plant, flowers in fall

Echinacea Cherry Fluff

- 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 foot tall

Lantana White  Annual Shrub

Winter/Spring 2024

1. Lawyer- take down tree/ get property from town
2. Survey and mark out stakes
3. Grow Green Twister Coneflower, try out in porch beds with rudbeckia, later move to new perennial border

Summer 2024

1. Clear ground in area
2. Mark out first bed and measure and mark future beds
3. Mulch deeply to kill weeds on whole area

Fall 2024

1. Plant border shrubs, may have to work around the stump of tree
1. Rose of Sharon- $85, Spirea $65
2. Plants bulbs (alium) and bare roots Peony Shirley Temple
1. Alium- $20, peony- $55, 
2. Total $200

Winter/Spring 2025

1. Start seeds for zinnia, Bells of Ireland and cosmos
2. Transplant Green Twister coneflower (if survives from 2024)
3. Plant roots of Sedum, Echinacea and Phlox

Garden Calendar

February

• Give your tools a good cleaning and sharpening.
• Get your seed orders in if you haven’t already to ensure you get what you want. This year plan to grow at least one new vegetable that you've never grown before; it may be better than what you are already growing.
• Resist the urge to work in the garden! Warm spring days can be deceiving, and unpacking perennials too early can spell disaster when the weather inevitably turns again.
• Collect all of your seed starting equipment together so you’ll be ready to go. You will need lights, heat mats, sterile medium, and your preferred pot type.
• Start your first seeds inside for broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, head lettuce, onions, and parsley. 
• Most perennial flowers should be started inside by the end of the month as well. You can also start inside flowers and herbs that have a long germination period, like rosemary, snapdragons, and begonias.

March

• If you haven’t already, now is a great time to prune your fruit trees, berry bushes, and other woody ornamentals on your property. You want to complete this while still dormant and before spring growth begins.
• Start transplants indoors of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.
• On nice days, turn your compost pile. 
• Resist working your garden soil! Working soil when it is still too cold and wet creates compacted clots.
• Clean up any leftover dried debris from garden beds and toss in the compost pile.

 April

• Prune Zinnias. When the young zinnia plant is 6-8 inches tall, cut the central stem just above 2-3 side shoots. This early pruning encourages
  
  multiple stems rather than one.

• The second or third week of April should be safe to start the process of hardening off for transplant outside of your broccoli, onions, parsley, and any other cool season crops that are at least 5 weeks old. Select smaller rather than larger plants of the cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts) since overly mature plants exposed to low temperatures early in the season tend to bolt into flower too early.
• Establish new plantings of grapes, strawberries, raspberries, asparagus, and rhubarb as soon as the ground can be worked. 
• Even though the garden soil may be thawed, you'll want to wait until the soil has had time to drain away all of that extra moisture so that it's not a muddy mess when you start digging and raking to prepare your beds. Seeds planted in soil that is too wet will rot. When you push your shovel into the soil to see if it's time to plant, it should not pull up clumps of wet soil. It should emerge relatively clean.
• Clean and put up hummingbird feeders on April 28.

May

• Wait as long as you can to do your spring garden clean up. Ideally, you should wait until the daytime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees F for at least 7 consecutive days. Pollinators and other helpful bugs will thank you.

• Outdoors you can sow seeds directly into the garden for beets, carrots, chard, kohlrabi, late cabbage, leaf lettuce, mustard, collards, turnips, radish, spinach, onion sets, onion seeds for bunching onions, and peas.

• Have a trellis system in place for your tomato patch before the plants begin to sprawl.

• Plant new trees and shrubs now.

• Take suckers from lilac and replant elsewhere (behind the new perennial bed).

• Begin hardening-off frost tender plants now including vegetables, herbs, perennial and annual flowers that have been started indoors.

• Fertilize perennial flowers (Peony) now as growth is beginning. Most will only need fertilizing every three years and only at this time of year.

• Harvest asparagus. Pick for about two weeks and then stop so the fronds can unfold and begin feeding the root system. Harvest for three weeks the next year, and four to six weeks after that. Pick too much, and your plants will not be able to develop the strong root system and energy reserves they'll need to produce an abundant crop of spears the following season. The diameter of the spear has no bearing on quality. Spears should be harvested when they are 5" to 7" high and before the tips begin to loosen. 

• By the end of this month, it should be safe to plant almost everything outdoors -tender annual flowers like impatiens as well as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. 

• Cover Brassica crops with floating row cover to protect from cabbage moth and flea beetle damage.

• Wrap zucchini stem in Ace bandage or aluminum foil to protect from vine borer.

• Newly transplanted vegetable plants should be protected from cutworms with collars. Cut strips of cardboard two inches wide by eight inches long, staple them into circles and place them around the plants. Press the collar about one inch into the soil. These collars will fence out the cutworms and protect the stems of the vegetable plants.

• Forsythia Propogation- Continue the forsythia hedge across the front by Zenner Road.  Take spring cuttings from new plant growth as soon as forsythia comes into leaf.

June

• Fertilize Asparagus mid-spring or late summer when it is actively growing.

• Add compost and fertilizer to Peony after flowering.

• Move bulbs right after they go dormant. The best time to dig up spring-flowering bulbs, such as your daffodils and grape hyacinth, is about six weeks after they finish blooming. At this point the foliage will have died back (if it hasn't, wait longer) but you can still see it, which makes locating the bulb easy.

• Aphids of all types show up on a range of host plants as soon as the warm weather arrives. Look for them in newly unfurling foliage and sticky leaves are also a sign of their presence since they secrete a ‘honeydew’. Black sooty bold may also in this sticky substance and while alarming looking does little to no damage since it does not penetrate the leaves. Aphids, however, do damage the plant. Spray leaves with a strong jet of water to dislodge most of them. Insecticidal soap is an organic approved product that provides pretty good control as long as the insects are wetted well. A second and third treatment to kill newly hatched eggs may be needed in 5-7 days.

• Squash vine borer adults are 1 inch long, orange and green day-flying moths that are emerging from the soil now. They lay brown, button-shaped, 1/16 inch eggs at the base of the vines of summer and winter squashes. Examine stems daily and remove eggs by hand to prevent burrowing of larvae as they hatch. Wrap lower 6 –12 inches of stem with aluminum foil or floating row cover to prevent egg laying.

• Early June is an excellent time to take softwood cuttings of shrubs to start new plants. Some shrubs which can be propagated in this way are spirea, lilac and viburnum.

• Stay out of the garden when the vegetable plant leaves are wet. Walking through a wet garden spreads disease from one plant to another.

• After your vegetable garden is well established, it is best to water it thoroughly once a week rather than giving it a light watering every day. That way, a deeper root system is encouraged to develop, which will later help the plants tolerate dry weather.

• In most cases, blossom-end rot on tomatoes, peppers, squash and watermelons can be prevented. Do this by maintaining uniform soil moisture by mulching and watering correctly, planting in well drained soil and not cultivating deeper than one inch within one foot of the plant. Also avoid the use of high nitrogen fertilizers.

• Continue planting direct-seeded, warm season vegetable crops such as beans, summer squash and cucumbers.

•  Everbearing strawberries should be fertilized use one pound of fertilizer per 100 square feet in three or four installments spread out evenly from early spring through early August.  June-bearing strawberries should be fertilized after the last harvest of the season. Pinch back strawberry flowers for the first year.

• Prune the catmint hard after its first flowering is over. 

July

• Start seeds indoors for heading cole crops (broccoli) for your fall garden now.

• Watch the leaves of your tomato plants for signs of leaf spot diseases.

• Continue monitoring for pest insects talked about in the June task list.

• Garden flowers, whether annuals or perennials, benefit from "deadheading" after flowering. By removing the spent flower heads, energy is used to produce more flowers or foliage and roots. Many will produce another flush of blooms.

• Flowering requires lots of energy so it can be quite helpful to fertilize flowering annual plants once flowering begins with an all-purpose liquid fertilizer such as 20-10-20. Fertilize one more time before the end of the season.

• Make a strong comfrey compost tea. When the leaves are at least 2 feet tall, use a garden knife or shears to cut them down to a couple of inches above the soil. Harvest the outer leaves first so the plant can continue growing. Fill any size container halfway with fresh comfrey cuttings. Fill with water, cover, and steep for 3-6 weeks. Warning: This will smell really bad! Strain off the liquid and dilute by half. Do not use on young plants.

• Divide and transplant bearded iris using the vigorous ends of the rhizomes. Discard the old center portion. Cut the leaves back to about six inches.

• Consider installing a bat house to encourage bat habitat, they eat mosquitoes!

• Transplant iris is in the summer, after the iris have finished blooming, up until fall.

August

• Continue your bug removal pest damage inspections! Remove and treat as needed.

• Avoid pruning trees and shrubs since doing so this late in the season can stimulate new growth that will not harden off in time for the cold winter weather ahead. Delay pruning until the end of the dormant season early next spring.

• This is a good time to order and plant spring flowering bulbs for next year's early flower display. Plan for different flowering times to extend the season.

• Continue deadheading flowers which will allow plants to use energy reserves for a final flower display.

• Some perennial flowers and bulbs will start to go dormant this month. Marking their location with a painted popsicle stick or drawing out a map of your bed is helpful come spring so you don’t forget where things are.

• Pick summer squash and zucchini every day or two to keep the plants producing. Allow plants to get only 6- 8" long (one hand span) before harvesting 

• Remove old plants which have stopped producing to eliminate a shelter for insects and disease organisms.

• Every weed that produces seed means more trouble next year. Control weeds before they go to seed.

September

• The earlier in late summer or early fall you can plant bearded iris the better results you will have.
• Move established peony to new perennial bed. Plant new blue hydrangea in front slope bed.
• Make preparations for mulching your beds for the winter. Bagged mulch is always available, but getting a truckload delivered is very economical. If you don’t think you can use a whole truckload, ask your neighbors if you can split a load.
• Many fibrous rooted perennials should be transplanted every 3 -5 years as a general rule. Fall is the time to divide and transplant plants that flower in the spring while fall flowering ones like chrysanthemums should be done in the spring. Divide peonies and iris. Cut back tops to 4 -6" to reduce transplant stress. Thoroughly prepare the new planting site.
• Keep harvesting second plantings of the cool season vegetables including radishes, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, chard, spinach, broccoli, and the other cole crops. 
• Allow plants to finish the summer growth cycle in a normal manner. Never encourage growth with heavy applications of fertilizer or excessive pruning. Plants will delay their dormancy process that has already begun in anticipation of winter in the months ahead. New growth can be injured by an early freeze.
• Fall is a good time for improving your garden soil. Add manure, compost and leaves to increase the organic matter content. Wood ashes contain phosphorous, potassium and calcium. They can be placed on vegetable gardens and flower beds as a top dressing that will feed into the soil all winter.
• Be sure to keep strawberry beds weed free. Every weed you pull now will help make weeding much easier next spring.
• Take cuttings from your rosemary plant after the flower has finished blooming in late summer. 

October

• Plant Garlic bulbs just before first frost. Plant cloves 3" to 4" deep, orienting them so the pointy ends face up. Water gently to settle the soil, and then cover the bed with a 4" to 6" layer of straw. Even as air temperatures drop, the soil will stay warm enough for the newly planted cloves to establish roots before the ground freezes. Sometimes you'll see some green shoots form in fall; that's fine and won't harm plants. They'll begin growing in earnest in spring. If you planted hardneck varieties, they'll probably form curly scapes. It's best to cut these off so the plants will direct their energy to producing large underground bulbs. The tender stalks can be used in stir-fries or sauteed with vegetables.
• Plant spring flowering bulbs. Once your daytime temperatures are in the 60’s or lower consistently, this is a good time to plant your tulips. Swap out purple Alium for two blue varieties.
• Drain the hoses and empty the bird baths before a hard frost.
• Dig and divide spring and summer flowering perennials now. Late summer and fall flowering ones can be done in the spring. Cut foliage back, replant and water well. Wait until winter is in full-swing to add new mulch for winter protection during their first winter.
• Cut and dry or freeze remaining herbs.
• Remove, chop, and compost asparagus tops after they have yellowed and died for the season. Wait until the ground has frozen to mulch.
• Cut strawberry foliage down to one inch. This can be done after the first couple of frosts, or when air temps reach 20°F (-6°C).Mulch strawberry and asparagus plants about 4 inches deep with straw.
• Save seeds from favorite self-pollinating, non-hybrid flowers such as marigolds by allowing the flower heads to mature. Lay seeds on newspaper and turn them often to dry. Store the dry seeds in glass jars or envelopes in a cool, dry, dark place.
• Comfrey cuttings make an excellent bioactivator in the compost bin. If you have a large amount of dried brown material—such as fall leaves—layering it with comfrey cuttings is an efficient way to balance out the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and jumpstart decomposition.
• Make a note of any particular productive or unsatisfactory varieties of vegetables that you planted this year. Such information can be very useful when planning next years' garden.

What I'm Growing 2022

What I'm Growing this Year

Alium Milenium

Seeds 

Tomato, Five Star Grape- Johnny's Was planning on trying the "Juliette" variety, but decided it was too similar to Roma tomatoes, so I went with this one because I think grape tomato is more what I like. Make a second tomato trellis  

Cheap and easy way to support
netting over vegetables

 Broccoli-Gurney I'll give these a try. I keep reading that you need to cover these to prevent pests, so I ordered netting. Will do a simple sticks and glass jar method to support the netting. I read a good tip to use old socks filled with dirt or sand as a weight to hold it down.

Use 4' porch railings and 
leftover furring strips 

Zucchini- Gurney  This is the vining type of zucchini so build a support like this and train it up and over. Also, have heard some things online about wrapping an ACE bandage around the stem to keep off the borers. 

Borage Borago officinalis - Strictly Medicinal Seeds
Nasturtiums- Empress of India-Strictly Medicinal Seeds  Nasturtiums and Borage for companion planting with garden vegetables. Also, both are edible! I have had good luck with marigold in the veg patch in the past, so hoping these will prove beneficial as well.

White Sage- Western Mugwort, (Artemisia ludoviciana)- Strictly Medicinal Seeds    

Direct sow: White Sage- may be invasive, of course AFTER I ordered these, I read somewhere that they may be invasive. I'll plant them in a small pot with the lavender and keep an eye on them. This year won't be a problem, but like mint, it bears watching.

Basil- use leftover seeds

    Last year's basil did well, I'll use up the seed this year. Just make sure that I pinch it back early and often this year to avoid bolting.

Lavender- use leftover seeds- I'm still not sure that either the ones in pots or the ones I brought in to the basement will actually come back this year. So just in case, I'll start 5-6 more from seed this year. 

Marigold- use leftover seed. I bought new prettier marigold seed to use in the more visible parts of the garden, so use up these seeds direct sown in the back of the garden. 

Seedlings or Crowns

Thyme- buy plants locally, doesn't seem like it's worth it to start these from seed.

Strawberries- Honeoye Junebearing- Gurney- expand the strawberry bed one additional cinder block in the back for these strawberries. These are June bearing, so hopefully I'll get enough berries to make something, not just a few every day.

Rhubarb- Chipman's Canada Red Rhubarb Gurney- plant on the visible side of the shed. Wait to harvest the second or third year.

Front Slope Seeds to Start

Marigold, Strawberry Blonde- Burpees- Prettier marigold than the orange ones. Plant in the visible sections of the garden. Save the rest of the seeds for next year.

Salvia- Victoria- Burpee- There are already three tall, spiky flowers in this bed, so don't go crazy with these. Save remaining seeds for next year.

Dianthus Arctic Fire- Burpee- This is not exactly the color I wanted, of course I found true white ones after I ordered these. Plant for this year, esp and they define the side of the border. Consider transplanting elsewhere next year. Use remaining seeds in "wildflower" border and front of porch.

Cornflower Blue Boy- Burpee- Start as many seeds as possible, and then direct sow the rest to fill in the middle section of the bed.

Zinnia White Wedding- Burpee- Start as many seeds as possible, and then direct sow the rest to separate the "blue" flower sections.

White Yarrow- Achillea Millefolium- Outside Pride Start as many seeds as possible, and then direct sow the rest to separate the "blue" flower sections.

Veronica Spiked Speedwell- Outside Pride- There are already three tall, spiky flowers in this bed, so don't go crazy with these. Save remaining seeds for next year.

Slope- Plants 

Catmint- Walker's Low- Burpee It seems the you can't buy seeds for this variety, so I bought one plant. Plan to divide in three years- ordered 2/6/2022, Zone 5 Shipping begins the week of  April 11, 2022 

Green Twister Coneflower- Plants Gurneys $13 ordered 2/6/2022  Zone 5                                            Shipping begins the week of March 28, 2022. From the reviews, it seems like this is not a very strong variety. I'll try it this year for the novelty of it. Plant in the front slope, baby it and see what happens.

Silver Carpet Lambs' Ear - ordered 02/6/2022 High Country Gardens

    Zone 5 Shipping begins the week of April 25, 2022

I could not find plants of these anywhere last year, so I figured I'd order them this year. Two plants for around the birdbath, and two for the front of the slope bed. They should spread and fill in a lot of space over the years.

Alium Millenium- ordered 02/6/2022 High Country Gardens

    Zone 5 Shipping begins the week of April 25, 2022

These look so cool, I just couldn't help myself. I have so many tall flowers, with little filler, it's going to look weird all by itself in the bed until things fill in. Doesn't fit the blue theme, so maybe dig these up and give them away in the fall to make way for Zamin Alium or Delphinium. 

Wildflower Bed 

Plant these extras out "front" of the house facing River Road. Dig up the flat area with stumps that are difficult to mow around.

Mintleaf Bee Balm- Burpee

Coreopsis- Yellow Outside Pride

Echinecae- Purple Conflower- Outside Pride

Milkweed- Northern - Syriaca- Live Monarch