You sound like me!

Deanna

This goes on every spring for me. I am actually far more organised as far as the garden goes than I usually am this time of year.

But what beautiful pictures you will have to show this year. I always move things around, & buy more, but not nearly to your scale :) I don't know how you have the energy.
I bought one of the azaleas that is supposed to bloom spring, summer & fall. We'll see how that does. Got a new dianthus, lily, salvia, scabiosa, & a columbine. Got a new calla lily too, one of the dark ones. It was in flower & already fading. My other calla lilies are just now coming up. I wasn't sure they would come back this year, supposed to be too cold here, but they always seem to come back.

Rita, I think you are a sucker for punishment! I don't think I have ever knownanyone who works the way you do! I can't wait to see all the new plants!!...Ellie

WHEW, that does sound like a lot of work, but if you are like me, it is work that is enjoyable. I stopped by the local Lowes today, for a bit of potting soil, and had to force myself to just get out of there, plus they were so busy probably for Mother's Day. Which was I good thing cause I wanted to get home and start working in my garden. So I left with just the potting soil, but it sure was tempting, and I know that if they hadn't been so busy, I would have left with much more. !!
cindy

Since we are in an extended drought I vowed not to kill myself with filling every container I owned (considerable) with annuals for display this year. I did that last year and was sick of the whole thing by August, but of course I couldn't stop watering until a blessed hard freeze came along mid November. What I didn't count on was withdrawal and my brain justifying that since daylilies are drought tolerant that I could go on a shopping spree for them for containers. I just finished the last of them yesterday. I totally understand where you are coming from Rita. I garden on a smaller scale then you do, but the mind set is still the same. Good luck to you and all of us.......Maryl

I don't know what I would do without my garden, even if I do complain everyonce in a while. I love to be out there puttering around ot just sitting in my lawn chair looking. Not much sitting going on lately LOL!

I actually have all my containers planted and filled already. Did bunches way earlier of impatients and finished the rest today with annuals I just got. I only put annuals in my pots as I don't like to grow anything permenent in pots. I do have to water often but they are all near the backdoor and easily reached by the hose.

Another thing is that I like so much color in my garden and flowers all the time. So I am very fond of annuals as they bloom all summer. Makes for lots of planting.

I already planted this spring a flat of impatients, two flats of snapdragons, one flat of violas with another to go yet, my flat of marigolds, some red verbena (love red verbena), 3 6 packs of nasturtiums and some annual daiseys. Need to plant the flat of zinnias (and start more from seed) and buy a flat of portulacas. I am wondering if I forgot anything :-((

The guys that cut the grass were here late this afternoon for the first time this spring. He is the same guy that does all my hardscape and terracing work. He just kept repeating that it all looked so beautiful already.

I planted several 6 pks of Marigolds last year,and they have reseeded and I have marigolds every where,and they have flowers on them already.Some had came up in the wrong place and I pulled them out and potted them up and gave them to my youngest daughter,since shes been busy planting flowers, in her little flower bed,I bought the short ones,and they grow so wide they take up a lot of room. Can't wait to see all your neautiful gardens this year with everything you keep adding to it.

Jean

Here is the little annual garden that I did afew years ago. Thats were I planted the Marigolds which you can see there. Just to the right, you can see a small section of the lupine garden which is just next door.

Those marigolds don't look too exciting as they are just planted but those plants grow and spread. They will fill that front section in front of those lilies in very quickly and never stop blooming. I got a really pretty Marigold called Bonanza Bolero which is multi colored.

I feel your pain. While I've never ordered two hundred of anything I can never get everything planted. I have a constant pot ghetto of at least fifty pots probably more.

Your gardens are always lovely but I get tired just reading about all the planting you do :)

Well, I managed to get everything I bought yesterday with the exception of one perennial potted Shasta Daisey planted and got some other things done in the garden besides. I put in my four new tomato plants with the eight I already had that makes twelve. I said the other day I had had only 4 planted but that was wrong, don't know what I was thinking.

The biggest project today was planting that flat of zinnias I had bought as where I put most of them (up very top of the daylily plateau) required lots of weeding before doing planting. But it is done now and everything should start taking off growing quickly.

Tomorrow I plan to start on my lily bulbs that arrived yesterday while I was off getting myself plants. I am done for today.

I empathize with you. We do eventually get everything in the ground. Is is lovely, and will continue to be with all your existing and new plants.
kay

Most years it is actually much worse than this in the spring as not only am I planting and doing the spring moving of plants but I always have at least a new garden bed to create. Out of room so this year finially no new garden bed to create, just fixing up those that are already here. It is great because I have the time to improve and add to some areas that I have been thinking on.

Now that my lilies are planted (hurray) I guess I can get to starting on that last flat of violas that still needs to get inground. But I am thinking about what day this week I will go back to the nursery. I am thinking end of the week, maybe Thursday, go back out to the out east nursery that I love that has the Lupines. If they have the Cut and Come Again zinnias that I like, I will get afew for the second terrace of the kitchen terraces garden. Plus I still need a flat of Cosmos to plant upstairs in back of the Dutch Iris and at least a flat of Portulacas for the backyard.

I do the EXACT same thing and it's getting exhausting! However, everytime I go outside and stroll through my yard I feel like it's worth it.....
Jason

I have been doing this for the past ten years, literally. I started the garden redo in 2001. It is very much worth it when I look around at all the beauty that is in the garden. So I really do know what you mean.

My last mail order of the year was my order of Fruit Punch poppies that I bought from Graceful Gardens and it arrived late yesterday. I unpacked it and left the plants on my back stoop to rest up from their journey LOL! At least this was the last plants I have ordered this spring.

Now I need to go arriange them along in were I intend to plant. I am afraid I will have to move daylilies that are in there in order to make this work. Sometimes I think I will never get done with moving daylilies. Its getting tiresome already.

Had to look up your poppies, lovely color. Poppies are another thing that don't do very well for me, too humid maybe. Lauren's Grape annual poppy, does reseed some though, & I love the color. I found a few glads in the garage I need to plant, otherwise I'm all caught up. Getting ready to go into town, may have to stop in at the nursery :)

Some of the poppies don't do well, for instance the Iceland Poppies that I see potted up each spring at our local nurseries are a waste of time and money, they never come back. But the perennial Oriental Poppies usually do well here. Just that I don't have any. Well, I have one old orange that has been here at least twelve years.

And last year I tried annual California poppies grown from seed and it was a big success. They flowered all summer even in the horrendous heat until frost. Then they self seeded and came back this spring.

But when I saw these Fruit Punch poppies, I just loved the colors and had to have them. You know if I want something I just order it as I have no will power too resist. I knew were I wanted to put them and I think it will look really nice so of course I just ordered away. Nice plants. I asked and was told that they should flower this year, just later than normal this first year as they are new transplants.

I totally understand the not keeping up. Last Wednesday I got 14 boxes of daylilies; and more the next day plus a box of hostas.......over 90 daylilies. I was planting in the rain; and then the whole next day. Yesterday 7 more boxes plus in between the daylilies two car loads of annuals. Whew!!!!!!!

When the daylilies start to arrive in the spring I considered myself lucky if I got each box done as it came it. That usually didn't happen, I always ended up behind. No matter how much I planted I had soaking daylilies until the orders finially finished coming in and I caught up.

Plus I always seem to find other plants besides daylilies to order and of course I add lots of annuals each spring so flats and flats need planting each spring. I buy them, mostly get them planted and then go back out to a nursery and buy something else.

I really, really did not want to move those daylilies in there around were I wanted poppies so I didn't move them. I just put the poppies in back of them were there was some room around the birdbath. Basicly I squished those poppies into the space that was there instead of being able to spread them out some if the daylilies had not been there in a row along the front. Whatever, it is done.

After that I moved three Siberian Iris and my two Geums from last year. That was a sad story, mail ordered ten and they sent me the most teeny tiny plants that I just could not keep alive thru the summer. These two are the survivers and they are still what I would consider small plants.

Then I stated on planting some of my Glamini Gladiolas. Got tired of doing that and hacked back some shrubby out of hand shrubs under my dogwood tree. And so it goes. Always something to do out in the garden.

We are going to have a bonanza of bloom pics this year when all your new and old plants start blooming! Hooray, I love your pictures even if they do cost me money. I have to go to work tomorrow night, so all I plan to do tomorrow is plant. I have a flat of snap dragons (3 year old grandson insisted they get them for me for part of my Mother's Day plants. Almost a flat of petunias, and four nice big Pentas need planted too.And a couple of later tomato plants. I will then rest most of the day.

I do love the way the shed is turning out.

kay

I love snapdragons, one of my favorite annuals. I try to have at least some each year. This year I planted two flats of them and don't need any more. Really I am trying to get the garden to be more cottage garden instead of just daylily garden. Plus I want a sucession of bloom. Things should go from one to another in bloom and just keep going that way. So there always seems to be something more to plant.

Friday I went out to the nursery again and bought Portulacas and Zinnias. Yesterday I got all the two flats of Portulacas planted. I think they are going to look extra nice as I put most in the terraces garden by the kitchen door. In the first terrace. The rest I put way out front around a sedum plant. They are budded up but not in bloom yet so I will take pictures once they start blooming. Got the Sundail Mix.

Then I had bought two flats of Cut and Come Again Zinias. Got one flat planted between the middle of the second of those same terraces garden between daylilies were I had left room and the rest out front in the topmost of the two belgium block mini terraces. Still have the bottom terrace to do. But not today as I instead finished the planting of the last flat and a half of violas I had sitting here. Was raining this morning but trying to clear up some now. Enough for me to plant at any rate.

So I have lots of zinnias this year. I had already planted a flat of State Fair Zinnias in the backyard, above the daylily terraces garden.

Back to the main subject, the violas were harder to get planted as I planted them in that Columbine garden, more out front in between the tulips that are in there. I had to work around the tulips. I had the violas for weeks but had to wait, couldn't get them planted. I was afraid I would break off the tulip blooms. Now that they are almost done, I am not worried about breaking off blooms. Most are done anyway.

About the only thing I got done in the garden today was getting out and tossing around the bulb fertilizer. It was dark and dreary this morning and the only way to work was between the rain showers. Was that way yesterday too.