Mother Nature is going all over the map for May, we are either 15-20 below the average temp, or 15-20 above the average temp. I've had at least 4 days at, or above, 90* already (maybe 5). There were also lot of days in the upper 80's, and after the cold front blew thru Thursday evening, this weekend we have been down in the 40's. Right as I was getting ready to put the pellet stove to rest with a full hopper I am looking at the possibility of putting another bag of pellets in there to keep the house warm until Tuesday morning, when the temps will skyrocket again. I'll have to reinstall the portable A/C; it exhausts thru the window next to the stove so I had to remover it Friday morning. Fortunately the portable A/C's are much easier to install/remove than window units, so it's no big deal.
Last Sunday I got the vegies planted. I had to lay down another course of stone (actually changed it from a square to a long rectangle) in order to install the 3rd planter so that each of the tomatoes will be able to use the fence for support. The red rings are around tomato plants and the wire is around pepper plants. To the left of the peppers are basil plants I got from the local TSC.
Monday I took off about 1/3 of the day and cleaned up the roadside garden. I pulled back all the old mulch, added manure and humus, then spread new cedar mulch.
In the last couple of days, some iris that Cop Car gave me bloomed in the driveway garden
The Black is Black iris I planted a few weeks ago bloomed. It has a very light sent with overtones of citrus. I cut that stalk after it blew over from the cold front coming in and it is now in the living room.
The two azaleas above the new garden bloomed also. I planted those back in 2017. Gibraltar (top) has 6 rounded petals and the Mandarin Lights (bottom) has a classic star shape with 5 points.
Interestingly, even though when I planted them they were visually different colors of orange, they really are that close in color now. Picture from the day they were planted (Gibralter on the left).
One of the Rose of Sharons I planted last fall has started to leaf out, the second has not. That is interesting as they are planted within 5 feet of each other, so I'm unsure what the deal is. I did a scratch test, and the un-leafed one still shows green, so I'm hoping between watering and the 1.25" of rain we received yesterday will do the trick. Both RoS's came from an FHC'er from down in MA - he was digging out volunteers and I asked if I could have a couple.
This weekend has been wet and cold. Originally it was supposed to just be cool with occasional showers. I'm not complaining about the precipitation we have received thus far, and hope that we get the inch or more they are forecasting for today. However, it does put a crimp in my plans of finishing laying of stones for the expansion of the garden above the azaleas.
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