Yea!

Congratulations on all your survivors!! That was a great idea and since they were rocked in the bosom of Mother Nature through the cold season, they should grow and thrive now that the weather has warmed up. Of course, you started with an advantage since both Bluestone & Santa Rosa are top-notch growers and send healthy plants.

I potted up (quart pots) two winter sown jugs of perennial geranium 'Splish Splash' that had their first true leaves--3 sprouts per pot. That's two jugs down and 183 still to do. That's down from 500 the first year and 300 last year. I'm waiting another week or so before clearing winter debris & mulching straw out of the beds but I know it'll be there waiting when I'm ready to get started.

Did you decide you didn't want to grow the gaura this year after all? You never sent for the seeds I offered you back in (I think) February. No problem--I'll have buckets of them again next fall if you're still interested or, if you would like to WS them this year, they're ready to pop in the mail any time.

I still want them - just got busy with out of town company and haven't gotten to the post office. My brother came to visit from Florida for a week and then a week after he left my sister and her husband came from Texas for a week. I should get an envelope in the mail sometime in the next few days. I am WAY behind on everything. I keep forgetting I'm not a kid any more.

I keep forgetting I'm not a kid any more. Me, too, except when I hurt something! Congrats on your successful experiment!

Lordy I can barely move after refurbishing that rose bed yesterday. 5 catmints from the winter survivors made it into the flower bed, adding to the 3 catmints already there. It is backed up by a kind of fence - pairs of cinder blocks stacked on each other with pairs of split rail type timbers inserted into the holes of the cinder blocks. Today since I can barely move I had to choose a sit-down type job so am painting those timbers. I can use my little tractor-scoot to sit on while painting. I am paying now for a winter of inactivity and a pair of blown-out knees. But it's all good - as long as I can move, I will move. I think when you quit pushing yourself is when things REALLY start going downhill physically.

Love this garden quote:

Who has learned to garden who did not at the same time learn to be patient?

The patience applies to our [limited, restricted] physical abilities as well as to the types of things we can grow. I use a little rolling sit-upon cart for weeding, edging, planting because both my knees were toast many years ago and I refuse to let that stop me from gardening and enjoying all the fun and excitement of getting dirt under my fingernails year-round/whenever possible.

Of the 100+ seed types I winter sowed this year, 45 have sprouted and yesterday I potted up hardy geranium/cranesbill sprouts that had their first true leaves. Just seeing those sprouts (+ 2 Advil) is enough of an answer to the question, "Is it worth it?"