Buckle up -we’ve got lots of seedy news this Sunday!

Seems I’m not even close to being done planting seeds. These one came in the mail last week.

The Swiss Chard and Corn Flowers got planted directly, but the watermelon and sweet peas needed to be started inside. I didn’t have any more pans for seed snails, but I did still have some of these seed starter kits.

Since the sweet peas don’t like their roots disturbed ,they are probably a better choice anyway. And those watermelon… they are called Mini Mike… like the Sugar Babies I planted last year, they are a small “personal-sized” watermelon. But these Mini Mikes are supposed to have much smaller seeds. But that pack… only FIVE seeds! I certainly wasn’t going to do a whole snail for five seeds.

So, I did five little pods with melons and filled the rest with sweet peas.

Though I’ve tried many times, I’ve only once been able to get decent sweet peas once. It was our first year at the townhouse… but then bunbun came and ate them all.

And those seed snails…. well, it was time to give them some attention. One of the advantages of snails is that you can plant many seeds in a small space. And… you don’t have to pot them on. You just have to unroll and pack in a little more soil every so often. This is only my second time trying seed snails. And last year, I started the seeds late so I didn’t bother with this step since everything was outside. I just put the seedlings in big pots outside.

That’s not an option yet. And several seedlings had started to wither. They needed some attention.

Now unrolling is easier said than done, as the seedlings tend to tangle quite a bit. And once you pack in more dirt, the snails are bigger, and take up more room. I got rid of any snails that hadn’t germinated/died off and managed to fit all the repacked snails in two trays.

While I am only half way through this experiment, I think I’ve concluded that seed snails work best for robust seeds/seedlings.

These pumpkin seedlings look FABULOUS! But more delicate ones, like the marigolds, foxglove and grass have not faired so well. Happily, I had more seed for all of those, so I planted some foxglove direct, and then used a few more of those seed starter kits to plant some back up for the rest.

The biggest disappointment was that all of my sunflowers planted in snails died off. That really surprised me, as they did well last year. I don’y have any back up sunflower seeds at all – so they’ve gone on the to buy list. I MUST have sunflowers in the garden.

In happier seed news, things are happening with the other seeds I planted directly.

We’ve got tiny lettuce and spinach sprouts.

And they we’re wrong about radishes…

They are growing fast! Apparently I could be harvesting radishes before the end of May!

And after weeks and weeks and WEEKS of nothing…

We’ve finally got signs of life in the Winter Sow jugs. If you recall, these were planted with native seeds from the Ottawa Seed Library. These are Joe Pye Weed, Pearly Everlasting and St. John’s Wort. I also have a jug of Hairy Beardtongue, but so far, nothing is happening there.

So that’s it for this week… but another order of seeds just arrived… and I’ve got to get some carrots and potatoes planted. It’s certainly exciting times around here!

This time of year, the garden changes so fast. Many of the daffodils I showed you last week are done. In fact, the catio is almost completely green again.

It’s really only the Snakehead Fritillary giving it any colour right now.

But they are stunning. They’ve been growing for three years or so now, and this is the best they’ve ever looked.

Outside of the catio, there are other daffodils just getting started.

Have I told you just how much I love daffodils???

I didn’t plant any additional tulip bulbs last fall, so I wasn’t sure how the showing would be. You may not realize, but many tulips aren’t perrenials – you get one or two years of them at most. For that reason, the last few times I’ve planted tulips, I’ve tried to stick with Darwin tulips, as they come back more reliably.

And so far, it’s been a good choice. We’ve got quite a selection so far, with many more coming.

They are such a happy sight!

One thing that is reliable…

The Grape Hyacinths! I have them in multiple colours, and as you can see, they are looking fabulous! I’ve got several clumps I can split up and spread around. (Not that they don’t do that on their own!)

And last…

The crocuses and irises I planted in the porch boxes were beyond done – so I hit up Walmart again.

They didn’t have any more of those stunning burgundy pansies I showed last week, but they did have a nice mixed bowl with yellow, purple and blue. It should be good enough to keep the front boxes looking tidy and respectable until the real hot weather hits. Then I can replant them with something that can take the heat better.

Another Friday Felines focusing on the catio. While Saturday was rainy, Sunday was dry enough (at first) to get some more work done in the catio.

I got another load of rocks, and finished off the biggest corner.

While it’s definitely costing more than I planned (and taking longer), it does look really good. And I don’t think I showed you my thrifted bistro set.

Every since we built the catio, I’ve wanted a bistro set for it. While there’s lots of cat seating, the only place for me to sit was on the steps. We found this one about month ago. It was a little rusty but..

Dave worked his magic on it and now it’s as good as new. I picked up some inexpensive cushions at Giant Tiger, and now I have a nice spot to take a break!

Of course, I can’t take a break for long – I’ve got to go buy and spread more rocks. There’s still the rest of the paths to cover. It’s going to take a while though – I’m buying $200 worth each week – because that’s all I can afford at the moment, and all the jeep can carry. (We learned our lesson with the Escape not to overload on weight)

So in the meantime, I’ve been weeding and moving things around. Because I’ve now got the bistro set in the corner, I needed to find a spot for their wicker and adirondack chairs. I’m still working on ideas for the adirondack, but I found the perfect spot for the wicker one.

Right in the far corner, under the Honey Suckle. Technically, it’s in the garden space. But that corner was one of Burton’s favorite nap spots, so nothing I put there ever lived long anyway. I just had a to move some daffodils to make enough space. I think it’s going to look so cozy when the plants grow up beside it.

So far, it seems like the change is accepted!

Sweet Grass socks off the needles. New socks on!

I dove into the stash and came up with more Kroy sock yarn. I liked my Midnight Orchid ones very much… but they are actually just a touch large. You’ll recall that I went up to a 2.75mm needle for those, but down to 56 stitches. So for this pair, I stuck with the needle size but went down to 52 stitches. I think it’s going to be the magic number with Kroy for my narrow little feet (I wish the rest of me was that slim!)

The colour is called Mossy Colours. I see more lichen than moss, but that’s probably just me. And it’s green, so that’s good enough. I love green.

As you can see, I’m already through a good portion of the first sock (I cast on last Friday). I think after these are done, this will be the last pair for me for a bit. My sock drawer is restocked, and I need to get some tucked away for gifting at the end of the year.

Burton did not get his wish – we did not get a nice sunny weekend. Saturday pretty much rained all day, so after doing a little overdue housework, we headed into the studio to tackle those arrows.

If you recall, they were all done – they just needed to be sewn into blocks.

Then I had to pair those pairs up. And do it once more to get some nice, big 16″ blocks

We then laid them out on the bed to get a look at them all together and see the real magic of these blocks come alive.

Well…. after the cats got their treats, of course…

Sadly, there was not enough time left to sew them all together. And I probably won’t get to it for at least a couple more weeks. This weekend, I have to go for a sleep study. I probably won’t sleep well at all, so I don’t expect to be getting up to much. Plus, I really need to do our taxes (and that will take most of a day).

The weekend after that, Mom is coming. So… this one will be in a holding pattern for a bit more. Still, I’m pleased with the progress I have made, considering I’ve had this one planned since before we moved from the townhouse!

It was a full lap for stitching in the evenings…

With both Burton and Rupert on snoopervision duty both nights. Rupert has been especially sucky lately. He’s been in my lap in the evenings pretty steady for the last few weeks.

With help from both, I made some pretty good project. After working on the witch sampler for so long, it’s a little odd to be working on a project with colour changes. I’m trying to work on one “colour set” at a time.

I’ve finished up the ruffly bit at the top of her skirt (and the little bit on the top of her sleeve). Now I have to pick out some colours for the bulk of her skirts.

As expected, I finished up the Wild Grass socks before the weekend. As detailed before – the yarn is Mary Maxim – Step Softly in “Wild Grass”. I got it for $2 at a thrift store – and it doesn’t look like they make it any more. I did not enjoy knitting with it – it was splitty and slippery. But it does make a very pretty sock. As many of you noted, it looks a lot like handspun yarn.

No pattern used – just 64 stitches on 2.5mm needles and regular sock math.

The socks are nice and warm, and hopefully they will wear well. Since I made them short, there might just be enough left for a pair of ankle socks if I use something else for heel and toe. But that can wait… I want to knit with something nicer next.

The inside seeds are all doing their thing… I won’t bore you with more pictures.

But outside seedy things are happening too. Sort of.

I’ve planted three types of lettuce, some spinach, and radishes. I’ve had mediocre luck with lettuce and spinach, so I’m hoping this year is the year! Radishes are completely new.. and apparently only take about a month from planting to harvest – so they should be fun.

I just planted them a few days ago, so there’s not much to see yet. I should see some results by next Sunday.

Dave and I found this giant bird planter at Winners. He insisted I needed it and who am I to argue. I filled it with soil and tossed some poppy seeds in it.

And they are starting to sprout! The poppy I chose for this planter is called Amazing Grey. I’m looking forward to watching them bloom!

As you know, I tossed a pile of poppy seeds throughout several other gardens. I think some are starting to come out… but right now it’s hard to tell from the weed sprouts right now. I’ll have to wait a bit to be sure.

And though they are bulbs, not seeds..

The garlic is looking good!

And last…

The final seed order has arrived – so I’ve got some more planting to do this weekend!

Here we are in Mid-April ,and the daffodils are dominant

No where as much as in the catio yard! Don’t they just look amazing? I really do need to split a few of these clumps up this year, and spread them around a bit more.

Regular readers will know that I have quite the collection of daffodils (they definitely are my favourite spring flower).

These are just the ones in bloom right now, there are many, many more to come!

But it’s not just daffies.

We’ve got a couple tulips – the first a small orange one, and the second, an even smaller species tulip (the original “natural” tulip the ones we know and love were developed from), The snakehead fritillary is also coming alive. It’s actually a type of lily so now that it’s up, I have to check it for the dreaded red Asian lily beetle! It’s worth it though – those little nodding blooms are so pretty.

Every so often, when the wind blows the right way, you get a waft of the hyacinths amazing perfume. I don’t have a lot of hyacinths, but that pink clump has multiplied nicely. I can probably split it up this year too.

And last, I couldn’t resist this gorgeous pot of pansies at Walmart. They had them out front by the doors, and I had the one I wanted picked out from my parking spot. It was just calling to me.

One thing is for sure, Spring has FINALLY sprung!

It’s been raining most of the week, but Burton and I are hoping we get to enjoy some sun this weekend. Here’s hoping it’s sunny and mild wherever you are too!