Hello, Spring?

I shouldn't complain that it's not Springy yet, because it has been at least in the 50s all week and not snowing/raining. I will need to remember this in two months when I break a sweat before 9am. (Dana is convinced that I am a reptile; I do long for a warm rock to sun myself upon.)

I'm sitting in my kitchen, where I have 4 of 5 different types of seedlings appearing -- I buried the chamomile too deeply to see them yet, but I have anise grass, lemon balm, lavender, and 24 little peaty things of catmint, which I hope someday will be big enough to go in the beds out front. I am NOT a gardener, by any means, so the fact that I'm doing this at all is more than a little amusing.

The dwarf lilacs that went in last summer are greening up nicely, as are some of the catmint (i.e., the ones that didn't die), and the Japanese maple looks like it's anticipating something. It remains to be seen what will happen with the lavender plants and the crepe myrtles -- three of the four didn't bloom at all last year.

The landscaper guy is replacing the dead trees cheaper than he originally quoted, and if they don't take, I'll figure something else out. My father's wife suggested muric acid (?) for them, so I'll get some and give all the leylands a good dose once the new ones are in.

I am hoping to get out to the apron of the lawn with the little grindy tiller thing and some top soil and grass seed and fertilizer, but that's likely not going to be until Sunday. I also have fertilizer to spread for my anemic azaleas and my surprisingly not-dead gardenias.

Does anyone know about peonies? We have six of them in the beds by the front door. Last year they greened up and one of them sprouted a bloom, and then they all went dormant and sticklike. The dead bits have been trimmed off, but I'm not seeing a thing pop up from the mulch yet.

Whoever told me that planting perennials meant I wasn't going to have to do anything needs a good swift kick in the nuts.

Reposted from foolscap001

Wow.

Guess that movie!

(as stolen from thatliardesmond)

Think of your favorite underrated film, type the name into Google and do an image search. Find the best pic and then post it in your journal, but don't say what the name of the movie is! Once you post the picture, it's up to your friends to figure out what the movie is from the pic you posted. No cheating by looking at the image filename! Responses are screened so that everyone can play. :)



EDIT: Comments no longer screened because autumncat and russell_moore are so veddy queek.