More Waiting

We're in a rainy, cool period now, so there's not much to do in the garden but check the rain gauge and look at things that are pretty much just sitting there waiting for some sun.  I don't blame them.  Who wants to get out of bed when it's dark and damp?

I did get a chance last week to transplant some more flowers: 22 mixed and 'Blue Beard' dahlias, and 9 blacks.  I've got so many dahlia seedlings started at various times, that it seems I'll never be through transplanting.  And now, I have just recently germinated over 50 red cosmos seedlings that I intend to put in the wildflower garden.  But who knows where they'll all end up?

I wanted some red, yellow and orange bell peppers this year, but I didn't want to buy packs of seeds that I'd waste most of, nor potted plants that cost three or four dollars each, so I bought a three-pack of the various colored bells at the produce department in the local Wal-Mart, ate the peppers and planted the seeds directly into starter seed trays.  I didn't know if they'd come up, so I stuffed up to a half-dozen seeds in each plug for insurance. (I don't think they're called "plugs" - cubicles?)

Now I'll have to separate them into single plugs each before their roots get so entertwined it's impossible to do.  Normally, I would wait until they have at least two true leaves, but I don't think I can afford to with them this packed.

 The peas I planted the first week of March are blossoming.

The lettuces (also planted the first week of March) are gaining and big enough to harvest.  The second flush (first week of April) of plantings in amongst them are just starting to leaf out.

Baker Creek Seeds 'Rocky Top' mix

The Chinese cabbages are gorgeous.  They need to be further thinned, but I can't bring myself to do it yet.  They look so pretty.

I'm going to have to bite the bullet soon.  

I would have expected the 'Early Jersey Wakefield' cabbages to have grown larger by now.  The marigolds I interplanted are outstripping them.

The golden zucchini and the cucumbers have germinated and are sitting with their cotyledons flattened out waiting for some sun's energy to produce true leaves.  I'll eventually cull the zucchini to two plants, and the cucumbers back to something manageble from the two dozen that have come up.

Golden Zucchini

The Egyptian walking onions, having never died back, are already producing their flower heads, which will eventually become the bulbs that create new plants when they fall over and drop on the ground.

So much for the vegetables.

I couldn't pass up this lovely little thing I saw at Grandaddy's:  Nemesia 'Sunsatia - Blood Orange'.
It's an annual, but supposed to seed itself.  We shall see.  I may not see any more of them after this year, and I may be cursing myself for having to pick them out of wherever the seeds have blown to.  Or just leave them have their way.

I planted the Nemesia in the rose garden, along with a rose bush I also got there, one of the Eleganzas, since my 'Pink Enchantment' Eleganza was such a success.  This one is red: 'Grand Amore'.

The Allium flower evolution is fascinating to watch.  The wine-colored flowers are dropping, leaving swollen green bisected tripartate ovaries in their place.

That 'Red Crimson' Dianthus that I wasn't sure at first was a Dianthus is blooming.  The way the flower stalks stick up high over the rest of the foliage is ungainly, but the stems with their dark red nodes are interesting.

The Superbells® (Calibrachoa) and Lobelia I potted up are bright and happy despite the current overcast gloom.

I've also got my eye on a killdeer nest.  Every year since I've been here there are exactly four camouflaged eggs laid together in a little pocket of gravel, fortunately not in the driveway, but still at some risk.  I always put up a couple of steel bars where I think they'll warn any drivers of various farming equipment to avoid crushing them, and then I cross my fingers.  I don't know if it's been the same parents each year (I suspect it is), but when you approach the nest, mama (or papa?) killdeer will trot around to get your attention and then head off to lure you away.  I'm going to have to do some research into the killdeer habits and life cycle.

We're all waiting for the sun.