I plan to just clear up some of the old mulch that is laying around next weekend. I have some daffodils, grape hyacinth, and crocus growing so far.

Sarah

I was thinking about going out and purchasing some knockout roses. The soil is quite dry. Should I wait or is this the time to plant roses?

garden_grammie:

If you can find the roses at a nearby nursery with roses outside, it is OK to buy and probably plant. If they are bare-roots in containers (no leaves), that is quite safe. I planted 20 of them late last March.

I saw greenhouse roses (leafed-out) in containers at Home Depot sitting outside and they looked OK. I have 3 greenhouse roses that I am getting acclimated to outdoors now. They are in their containers and sitting outside. I bring them in at night. I will plant them mid-week as soon as I see that low tempreratures are going to be above freezing. I'm going to do the same with my 12 minis that are also greenhouse roses and in bloom.

If there in an April freeze, I will cover them for the night.

I purchased a Knockout rose and an Endless summer Hydranga at Waterloo Gardens in Exton. They told me it was OK to plant outdoors, so I did. I watered them in pretty good because it is so dry. I also bought a Lenten Rose. Waterloo is a very dangerous place for me to go. I can't stop myself!!!!!

Grammie-I know what you mean about Waterloo. It is a good thing I live in Bucks County and are not near Waterloo often. I am going to Exton on Monday, for work, and I will definitely make a stop at Waterloo.

Sarah

There are about 25 roses to prune this week, and 10 to get into the ground. I also have intentions of moving an Abe Darby since I'm not thrilled at his current location. Fortunately he is only a couple of years old so he isn't enormous.

Then I am just waiting for the hostas to poke their noses up so I can move a couple of them. I got a new weeping dogwood and the hostas are currently in the middle of where I want to put the tree. Digging the hole for it is going to be quite the effort - 3 root ball is over 3 feet across. I am seriously considering digging only about 2 feet down and making a raised bed around the rest of it LOL!

Busy busy busy....

Alexa

My parents came to visit this weekend and did a lot of "grunt work" for me - raking, clearing downed limbs, burning, etc. (My excuse is two very young children and a DH who is MIA on business all the time).

So, I have my pick of FUN chores to do this week. I ordered rain barrels and lots of soaker hoses. I've always been bad with the watering, and this year I'm envisioning a very lush, full garden thanks to winter sowing and more persistent watering!

While I'm waiting for the barrels and hoses to arrive, I will winter sow annuals; clean up and acidify the moss garden area; clean up the perennial beds; probably relocate a few plants; and spread corn gluten meal on the lawn to prevent weeds. I have to plant some blueberry bushes, asparagus, rhubarb and a peony. If that doesn't satisfy the urge to plant, I'll probably put out a few of my winter-sown perennials.

If I have the time and energy, I really need to do something about the deer eating my baby bottlebrush buckeye and Rhododendron shrubs.

I also need to place my online orders. I'm way behind this year!

Today was a good day. I planted 3 English roses, 12 miniatures, and 4 bare-roots came from Edmunds--S. Big Purple, Firefighter, Julia Child, and Amber Queen. The bare-roots are soaking in water now.

Now, I rest and take tomorrow off.

I went to Waterloo today (I was in Exton for work), and bought a dahlia (one of my favorites), a mini African violet, and lavender. I wish Waterloo was closer to where I lived, although it may be good they are not, b/c they would have so much of my money and I would run out of room at my house for plants. ;)

Sarah

First I am staying away from nurseries, I winter sowed over 50 containers and want to make sure I have enough room for the seedlings before I purchase plants.

This past weekend I cleaned up flower beds and picked up fallen limbs. I've contemplated dividing a couple of perennials but may have to wait a couple more weeks to make sure the soil is completely thawed.

Oh yeah and I planted spinach and lettuce seedlings in my garden and created a cold frame over them with 1 gal plastic opaque flower pots and 4 stormwindows I picked up from a house that was torn down last week. We are still getting nights at or around 30 degrees so I wanted some type of protection.

Karen

I've been doing a little bit everyday----Pruned roses ---spread alfalfa and Rose food ----haven't planted anything new this year.
I have a PT app't to check on just what I can do after back surgery.

Daffys are all coming up ---the crab apples are getting green and it is supposed to be warmer by thurs and Fri.

Spring is here.

Florence

Chipping up the privet I chopped a couple of weeks ago.

Raking away dead weeds.

Mulch, mulch, mulch.

Water, water, water.

Tax returns.

I got carried away with the pruners today---One of my New Dawn bushes has been slowly engulfing a poor little Tiffany.
So I chopped away at ND so Tiffany can get some sun.

Florence

I did better than I expected. I planted all my roses, put the Mills Magic Mix on the ones from last year, pruned them, and planted two pelargorium. I have about 16 more of the pelargorium to plant. My largest is 21" tall and 26" wide. It is about 6 years old now.