winter is not coming

The calendar might say April, but summer is here in full bloom! My daffodils bloomed in early March, my trees were leafed out by mid-March and now my lilacs are in bloom at the tail end of March. What do they say, in like a lion, out like a July Fourth holiday?

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I cut these Sunday to take over to a friend who was letting me watch the premeire of Game of Thrones on HBO. My Bingo card is House Stark, so I'm definitely winning (be forewarned, the House Stark mascot on these cards looks like a sabre toothed tiger, NOT a direwolf. Fools).

spring has definitely sprung

Spring has sprung here in central Indiana - and dare I say it, summer may have also sprung! We are having insanely warm weather over the past few weeks (third warmest March ever). It's been 80 degrees! I went to Florida last week and it was barely that warm there!

Because of the amazing weather, I got caught up on a bit of yardwork and started some seeds. Last summer, with two jobs and school, I barely even touched my garden. I bought starts at the school fundraiser, got them in the ground, and that was about it.

This year I started tomatoes (Break O Day, Firework and Fox Cherry), California Wonder green peppers, Corno di Toro peppers, broccoli, onions and just for the heck of it, some squash. Most of my seeds are two to three years old so we'll see how they germinate in the next few weeks. The broccoli is from an awesome friend's husband.

I follow Tim's Square Foot Garden blog to know when to plant what here in central IN. He is far more ambitious than I, with cold frames and whatnot. He recommends Dixondale Farms for onions, but I bought mine at Menard's last year so I'm sticking with those for the season. I don't even like onions, it was just something to plant.

I plan on expanding out my raised beds soon so I can actually grow some squash and green beans and not have the tomatoes take over.

spring sprang

FINALLY!! I ordered many, many new and exciting seeds from Rare Seeds, and they arrived promptly on Saturday, along with some bonus radish seeds. Now I just need to get my raised beds built so I can try Square Foot Gardening. I read a book over the weekend while on vacation to get me ready for it- it's very straightforward and I can't wait to try!

Late bloomers

I checked my flickr page just to be sure, but I was right! My daffodils are only just now blooming- and only the smaller bulbs, not the larger daffodils. Last year, they peeked out in January, and bloomed by March 24th. Three years ago, they were blooming (granted, at my apartment, not my house) by March 20th. Where's the global warming?

come out, come out, wherever you are!

I bought some bulbs for 50% off last fall when I was refinishing my floors. I stashed them in the basement and promptly forgot all about them, until I discovered them a few weeks ago. They daffodils and alliums were sprouting in the bags! I picked up some potting soil, mixed it with some peat moss, and filled these pots to the brim. I probably should have planted the bulbs a bit deeper, but I did what I could. Spring has sprung!



(yes, that's part of a blender in the background. ha!)