If April Showers bring May Flowers, what does June Rain bring?

FUNGUS !!!! I'm turning green are you? And not in an eco-friendly kind of way. (Although I suppose it is!)

Well, May planting was hectic, as you can see, no time to blog. We spent May dodging rain drops in an effort to get all our annuals planted, and June has been the same. Last week I went out and sprayed all my Zinnias, phlox, roses, for powdery mildew, black spot, and a host of other fungus' that I'm sure are lurking under those wet leaves. With many fungus' they don't start growing until the rain stops, and the temps rise, so I might have a slight chance of preventing complete defoliation of my roses, but with weather like this...who knows!

Lawns are looking a little yellow, since too much rain will leach out all the nitrogen in the soil, so if you have a lawn, I'd put on another light application of nitrogen. (10-6-4 ) It's the same with your containers, if the leaves are looking a little yellow, add a shot of slow release fertilzer to all your pots.

But, mostly, the rain is great! The rest of my garden look spectacular! Everything is growing like crazy and all the woody plants, and perennials we planted this spring are loving it! Unfortunately the weeds like the rain too, but, hey, we're gardeners, weeds are our middle name!

Spring has Sprung!

And thank goodness for that!! As you can see by my blog posts, I am definitely one of those hibernating kind of gardeners! If it's under 60 degrees, it's all I can do figure out what to make for breakfast, let alone plan for the spring that never seems to come! I try my hardest to get out there and do productive outdoor activities, but, like that spring seed, I need warmer temps before I emerge!

In saying that, we were very busy this winter, we expanded our shop into the building next door. We had a great time doing it, and it looks fabulous. It still isn't huge, but it gives us that much more space to allow us to showcase more cool stuff. We were able to use some reclaimed barn wood to blend the new space with our existing store. We also have a tiny backyard now, which enables us to hold about 30 flats of plants for retail sale, so that's exciting too.

So....Spring is here! Yipee! What are we doing now in the garden? We're planting primrose, pansies, linaria, and bleeding hearts. Yellows, reds, orange with black stripes, cool blues,... anything goes when it comes to pansies, we're so glad to have any color this time of year. For all those gardeners who like to be subdued the rest of the year, pansy time is when you can cut loose! So....start by ripping out anything that looks dead or crummy, (remember, in a small space garden, take no prisoners! Replace it!) Prune out bits of dead in otherwise healthy plants, trim the dead out of your roses, and give everything a little fertilizer. You have to think about watering again, since your planting new stuff, and don't forget to dead head your pansies, it will make them flower longer. If your vegetable gardening, then your planting lettuce, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, chards, etc. We're selling organic soil now from the Organic Mechanics in Media Pa, and it's great for growing veggies in a box.

Stop by the store once and awhile to see our outside plantings progress, we try to keep changing and adding to it, so that our customers can see how to use some of the stuff we sell. We also have a great roster of professional gardeners and designers coming in to give free workshops this the season .(you can check our website for times) All of them are very talented, and I learn from them every time they come into my store, so I'm sure you will too.

So I've been gardening, or prepping for gardening, for about two weeks now, and, for all the complaining I've been doing all winter, (my hands hurt, my back hurts, I think I've got arthritis honey..) As the Temperature climbs, and my hands get back into the soil, all my ailments slowly recede. I'ts another miracle recovery!!! Thank you Mother Nature!