Pretty Colors!

I've finally embarked on my journey into gardening.

A few weeks ago, I may have reported, I replaced the topsoil of the planter behind the bench in my garden. It's in better shape now, and is more even both in consistency and in its level. It sloped off quite a bit at the edges, and it seems like there was a bunch of different kinds of dirt in there, including maybe even some sand.

Having done that, last weekend I bought three tomato plants and planted them. And then today I bought another tomato plant (four seems like enough, really) as well as a dozen and a half pansies, and planted all of them. They ought to get plenty of sun there, and all the rain we've been getting should also make them happy. I think last week's tomato plants have already settled in and started growing; one in particular seems noticibly larger. If the pansies do as well, it should make for a nice garden this summer. They're very colorful: Light and dark purples, whites, yellows, and reds.

In the next couple of weeks I want to research what to feed the pansies, and eventually I need to get some stakes for the tomato plants, once they grow large enough. Meanwhile, the planter is still only about 2/3ds full, so I can find some other things to plant in it as well. Marigolds? Snapdragons? I dunno.

I also will need to decide if the drip watering system I've installed is sufficient for these plants. It's got drippers every 12 inches or so along the lines, and I have three lines in the planter (which is about 2 feet wide and 10 feet long). I may end up converting it either to drippers positioned next to individual plants, or to a light-pressure spray system. Not really sure yet. I'll have to see how things go this summer.

I also want to buy some containers and start planting flowers on my porch upstairs, to make it a nice place to hang out during the summer. And then there are some bare strips of dirt in the front of our building which would be nice to full up - the homeowners association is pretty much leaving it up to us in the building as to what to plant. That said, we're going to have someone look at the sprinkler system in there area, as it probably needs to be replaced, so I don't want us to plant anything before then. I'm thinking, though, that violas might be a nice replacement for the snapdragons that never thrived too well in the part-sun area in front of my garage.

I'm thinking violas or some flowering groundcover might be good to fill a few barren nooks in my patio garden, too.

And sometime next month I want to drain my pond and muck out the bottom of it. The plants in the pond are going great guns, so I think they can survive the shock of full water replacement. Once I do that, I might see about getting some new goldfish for the pond.

Lastly, I have this rose plant which was planted in a very strange location - against my chimney, where it gets only part sun, and is underneath some grape vines. Go figure. It eked out a living last year, not really looking sickly, but not exactly thriving either. I've been thinking of transplanting it to a container and putting it on my porch. Well, this year it decided to throw up a couple of shoots, and one of them is as tall as I am! I suspect it's all the rain that's driving this growth. It's also showing signs that it might even blossom soon, which would be unprecedented. I'm still doubtful I want to leave it there, but I figure I can wait a few weeks and see what it does.

Debbi spent much of last week sick, and was ill for much of the weekend, as well. We ran some errands both yesterday and today, but also spent a bunch of time just hanging out at home, watching baseball, and so forth. I also chatted with my Mom on the phone, and she seems to be doing well.

A lot of my friends have been sick lately, and although I've often felt not quite 100%, I've actually been extremely healthy over the past year. Certainly I haven't been sick enough to consider taking a day off. Unusual for me; I usually get nasty colds once or twice a year, but not so far.

Speaking of health, I had a dental checkup on Thursday, and got a clean bill of health. Heck, my gums' recession has reversed itself slightly since last fall, probably because of my more aggressive flossing. Oh, and Mom was getting her own checkup at the exact same time I was. Now that's coincidence for you!

Hard to believe it's almost May already!