Oh, I thought you were debating on digging them up with your 'round shovel' : ) Yes, your gardens are beautiful! I have looked at them before and am still very jealous of your hardscape: ) I would start your caladiums as soon as your can in pots inside. As soon as your soil reaches 60* I would pop them in the ground, in the pot or not. Maybe you can use pebbles or some other light 'mulch' where you plant them so in the fall you know everywhere you put this type of mulch you have bulbs to dig up? Or maybe you can use your drawing talent (which is awesome) and plot out where you planted them? Mine still do better in pots up here because it keeps their roots warmer. Do those ideas help? Keriann~

Today I lightly raked it, seems to have helped the seedlings come up out of the dead grass that had smothered them after the rain flattened everything out. I also reseeded some areas, we could get lucky with the weather (although I don't think I'll get germination in 6 days like I did 2 weeks ago when the highs were 80).

Presuming your soil drains as it should and holds sufficient moisture, I would suggest mounding your bare roots with planting mix. Cover the bud union and canes so only the top inch or two protrude from the mulch. It may be easier if you take corrugated cardboard and cut it into strips which will permit you to create a cylinder large enough to slide over the canes of the plant. You want it tall enough to be sunk into the ground an inch or two and cover the tops of the canes. Fill this will a loose mulch or planting mix and keep it moist. Your bare roots may be struggling to retain enough moisture to remain alive, so they possibly aren't getting enough to actually grow. By keeping them dark, cool and damp, they have a better chance of absorbing the moisture they need to grow. Those conditions encourage root growth. Warm, dry, sunny conditions favor cane and foliage grow, which is an intense stress on plants which haven't already developed feeder roots. Soaking them for several days in a bucket of water prior to planting also helps. You want to water the cylinders to keep the planting mix damp. If it settles and exposes more of the plants, add more mix and water more. You only want the top inch or two of the canes exposed until new growth begins from the cane ends. As they begin developing, you can begin gradually removing the planting mix from the cylinders so you acclimate the plant to the hotter, drier, more extreme conditions. Kim

this is just my 2nd year with bluebirds I had another nest of 7 chickadees early this year that all hatched and fledged on the timetable but i have a pair of bluebirds who laid 5 eggs last egg on April 15th 2012 and has been 21 days and none have hatched???the mother sits on the nest still and the male still visits-she though is scared off easy(anytime we open back door)but goes right back on-we did have a couple of cold snaps in between what is longest eggs have gone and still hatched(i might have a record here)