It's kind of like Christmas. This time of year. It's time to finally muck about with dirt and pots and seeds and fertilizer and and and and......There's a rapt audience. (Just like at the Christmas Concerts.) Smokey and Spencer from the hill. They flop in the shade. They start to snore.
They like the tinkle of wind chimes and the quiet and dirt sloshing into pots.
I don't have as many hanging baskets as I used to. I found they dry out too fast with a hot summer. Kind of a pain to keep up with. But I always do a few. Especially one with Rhodochiton ( Purple Bell Vine). Hard to find sometimes. My name is down at one of the local greenhouses to be called when a shipment comes in. ( Small town perk) In one basket I probably shove in about 22 little bedding plants. Maybe 23. Or 24. I tend to shake off dirt from the lower half , so they all fit.The more the merrier. Then use the accumulated soil for another pot or two.
Not only pots to plant, but seeds to sow in the back of the hill.
(Reminds me I have to dig out the compost. )
This year I picked up some Fish Fertilizer. For strong blooms. You have to use it sparingly. One year I used so much that the plants burned . Ouch. Had to replant . But the second batch bloomed without even being coaxed. Stuff stinks. Flies will LOVE you...
Hanging baskets are done. Ready for the greenhouse.
It's not very large. Big enough for about 20 musicians. Maybe a few more if they don't bring their instruments. I utilize the space like crazy.No place to walk.And I won't tell you how I hung up the baskets AFTER all of this was inside. (Just imagine Cirque du Soleil)
This year, my neighbours invited me to plant a few things in their veggie patch. Fun Fun Fun. They had already planted potatoes. They grow like wildfire on top of this hill, with the sun beating down, and the deer poop. Great fertilizer. I popped in pumpkin seeds, cataloupe ( have no idea if they will grow, but will see), Purple Bush beans, and Velvet Sunflowers at the far back.
And a sheet of glass to cover strawberries , steaming away in the afternoon.
The cats snored away the afternoon, missing all the excitement.
Day is young, time to plant sweet pea seeds. A gazillion at last count. Sometimes I soak them, sometimes not. Depends if I remember. I've never found it to make much of a difference.
But soaked, or not, I plant them in sea soil at the terrace, in troughs at back of fence, side of house, in large pots ....basically anywhere that I think they will grow. Best not to overthink . Just do. Just plant. Then see what happens.
I even buried some into hanging baskets, swaying in the greenhouse.
So much dirt, so many pots. Running out of seeds. Running out of dirt to slosh about.
And Smokey and Spencer have finally woken up.
