by Melody on April 14, 2019

Well, I was so excited to get out in the yard this weekend and get spring finally going – Saturday was 81 degrees and beautiful – but, alas, Monday's forecast has dropped to 48 for a high and 23 for a low....maybe some snow. Sigh. Guess I'll leave my houseplants inside for another week or so.

I did get outside however. This is the perfect time to start pulling weeds (throwing them in the compost pile) and start inventorying what I have available for pots and planning where I can put them and in them. Since I am living in a new house for this growing season I am also trying to gauge where my sunny and shady spots are. This task isn't easily done until the trees leaf out and, of course, the earth's position changes a bit summer to winter; the sun is higher in the sky every day and the shady spots actually change.

This may sound horrible, but it appears that one tree (in my extremely tree-filled backyard) has died and I am pretty happy about it – I might now actually have one sunny spot to grow some tomatoes this summer. Grafted tomatoes have really hit the scene over the past couple of years and I am very anxious to try growing them. Grafted tomatoes take the wonderful flavor of heirloom varieties, such as Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter, and pretty much "marry" them to a different root-stock, which is more vigorous and more resistant to diseases – production of fruit is much higher and tomatoes do not succumb to the diseases that can afflict those heirloom varieties. I want to try growing a "standard" variety of a particular tomato side by side a grafted one of the same variety and see if I am as amazed as some of my gardening friends have been.


Grafted tomato plant, and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, images courtesy of Burpee Home Gardens

This coming week I am hoping to post the before (well, honestly – the actual) pictures of my main project for the year – turning a 30 x 50 plot of incredibly bad and inhospitable soil into an entry garden. I am not joking about inhospitable; raking the foot of dead leaves off of it today revealed tree stumps, strangely placed concrete "lumps" and numerous, numerous rocks. There was also a rather large cable snaking across the ground so I guess I'd better call somebody before I dig!

Also, my little plot is backed by a chain-link fence. I don't know about you but I hate chain-link fences; so unattractive. I am going to show you how I turn this fence into something more attractive and something that more effectively compliments the plants that I use in my garden. If the fence were mine I'd tear it down, but being a renter means I have to do some camouflage.

Also, and I am so excited about this project, next week (pending the weather forecast) I am starting the floral arrangements for my daughter's wedding which is May 17th. I am making a pallet planter and several large pots – the plants are started, growing, and ready to transplant. I am using several newer varieties of plants, including euphorbia, ipomoea, calibrachoa, and petunias, intermixed with some tried and true plants, such as silver dichondra, dusty miller, and salvia. I have big plans and full liberty to do what I want (Yay!!!) because my daughter does not want one particular color scheme for her wedding.


I love this beautiful pallet planter by Fern at Life on the Balcony.

And, finally, speaking of color schemes – I want to share some pictures in the next few weeks of how the color of a particular container can influence how the plants you place in it present themselves; the color of the pot can drastically change how you view the color of the foliage or bloom.

For container and other garden inspiration while we wait for spring to come back, check out Local Grown Plants' Pinterest Boards. 

That is all for now, but I am so excited to share all my thoughts and ideas with you and I do welcome all of your thoughts and suggestions as well. As the weather warms up we can really get growing!