The tomatoes are starting to bloom. DIL did this over winter. There's a walkway all around the plants.

Wow! That looks like a lotta tomatoes. And dang! how do you get in there to pick 'em?

And I planted nothing today. I am watching my pole beans sprouting and putting out their first leaves, tho 😃

I spent a pleasant couple hours at our wonderful local nursery. I should have about everything for all my pots and planters and picked up a couple of hanging baskets too. Planning to get ferns tomorrow.

Carol, we can walk around it all, and go in-between plants. Hoping there's no snakes around. ;)

Tina, I'm going to our local nursery tomorrow hoping they have what I want. Tonight I clipped the Clematis vines to the poles since tomorrow is a heavy wind day.

We started the day with a trip to a nursery and bought more plants than intended, so I guess we did our part. We have a lot growing and blooming, but my DH would love to have those tomatoes!

My seedlings need to get in the ground soon, but it has been so wet here and the temps have not been warm as usual for this time of year.

I didn't know it was National Gardening Day, but I did volunteer at opening day of our yearly Plant Sale at the Botanical Garden. We had a great day with loads of customers.

We got our Burpee seedlings, but it is supposed to be super cold next week, so not sure if DH will plant them. He prepped the large containers so they are ready, and we can at least cover them if he does that, but we probably need to hold off on the raised beds until after the next freeze coming up.

Looks like a good start, Oakley.

I have most of my pots filled with plants, my herbs planted in my herb sink, and am currently looking for a clematis for our tall obelisk. I have a mandevilla on my smaller one.

My neighbor’s crossvine spilling over the fence this week:

The wind has been so awful here … the other day, it blew a pot into Daisy and broke her back legs off. Yes, NOC in background. :D Since this picture, the grapevines in the wild back area are now lush green.

Easter cactus buds opening, right on time:

Perennials in my beds are late this year, just starting to pop up. A few salvias are blooming already, love them.

Jinx, we have those strong winds too. Hardly ever lets up. Strange for April. I need to check the grapes to see if they've budded out yet.

I woke up sore from yesterday, not sure I'll make it to the nursery. lol

We got 10 more inches of snow yesterday and it's still coming down. I shouldn't have opened this thread.

Wow, Daisychain! Ugh. 😕

Yup, I am really over this whole winter thing, but it really is inspiring to see what you all are growing. I've got my cannas and geraniums under the grow lights in the basement, just waiting to get outside.

I've got all my flowers/small shrubs sitting next to my pots-ready to plant. I still need to plant a couple of Japanese maples waiting to be planted around the fish pond (but no fish LOL) area. I'm trying to make it Japanese garden-ish. My husband attached bamboo fencing to the fence in the corner behind it a couple of years ago, and it's getting a facelift this year, with more trees and plants.

It's going to get up to 88 degrees here today. Not ready for summer yet!

We've been having very strong winds lately, which I think is unusual. In the summer, I wish we had more wind-so humid here, which is where the outdoor kitchen fans come in.

@Jilly I think I shared the two new clematis I purchased. A deep pink one and the other is a purple/blue. They are both growing. One was to replace one I wasn't real happy with out back, and that darn thing is full of huge buds!! It's a lighter purple. I guess it's staying for now. I also have sweet autumn clematis which will be huge. I cut it back in the fall and it's already up a foot or more. It will be thick with vines and small white flowers. Blooms later in summer/fall. You have to be careful or it will take over. @OllieJane I love japanese maples. We have the red in our back landscaping and last year put in a new one when the front landscaping was redone. It's a laceleaf, green. I was so glad it survived the winter!

My lavender (potted) is coming back. What I cannot see a glimmer of it my cone flowers??!! I read somewhere they can come up late, so I'm hoping that is the case. They are hardy, so I don't understand??? I was counting buds on the iris last night.

We've had strong winds this year too. My husband and I were commenting on it the other day. We don't remember winds like this in the past.

Tina, yes, love your clematis!

I had SAC at my last two houses, love the scent when blooming, but don’t have a good place for one at this house. I had the last one on an arbor next to the house, that thing would try to grow up past the roof. :)

I don't know much about vines. Is Clematis good for the sun? Or I should ask, which are good for hot summer? Most of my backyard is shady/partly shady. Our pool starts getting shady around 4:30-5:00pm in the summer. However, I would like a flowery vine to grow up a cedar post on our outdoor kitchen, which gets more sun. I would need to plant in a planter because we have concrete in front of that post.

eta: I bought a mandevilla a couple of years ago and had to continuously feed it a phosphate plant food to keep it flowering-but hated the thorns, and we do walk by it continuously-so had to be very careful.

I'm hoping to hit the garden centers at lunch today and bring home some plants.

However, I'm probably won't go out as much as I usually do. I think my focus will be on maintaining what's there. My heart just isn't in it this year.

@Tina I bought a couple of larger Japanese maples and three smaller ones this year, all a different variety. We'll see how it goes. It's very shady there, so they should do well. The only thing is our sprinkler system doesn't go back that far, so I am having to be religious about watering them myself. It is more challenging to get to behind the rocks/pond.

OllieJane, mandevillas don’t have thorns … do you mean bougainvillea? They have awful thorns and need lots of food, like you said. Mandevillas are such easy keepers — bloom non-stop, aren’t heavy eaters, fairly drought-tolerant. I love them. :) Two kinds … one is more bushy (and will climb a little bit), one more of a true vine.

I’ve had bougainvilleas as annuals for over 25 yrs and decided last year — no more! I hate the thorns.

For clematis, there are tons of varieties for all growing conditions. I think you’d like them!

I’m so jealous y’all can have JMs. I can’t grow one at this house.

@jinx LOL I guess it's the bougainvillea! I always get them mixed up! I will look at clematis!

Our Lowe’s has so many mandevillas this year! They have a section fenced off in the parking lot, completely full of them. I have 7 new ones so far and not done yet. :D

(I have some I overwintered from last year, too.)

Bougainvillea grows great here (as an annual) and I do it in a basket so have no problems with the thorns. Didn't buy one this year though. Mandevilla is easy peasy! I bought a small one yesterday but may get another one. I've never tried overwintering, but my MIL has one we gave her two years ago for Mother's Day. It's done great.

I have 4 Clematis. If you buy one make sure you find out what "Type" it is. Meaning when they need pruned and other info.

If you look at the 2nd picture I posted above with the two obelisk..I added another one yesterday...the Clems you see are Huldine and they were pruned in late March almost to the ground. You can see how fast they grow. No more pruning until next March unless you want to cut them back.

I have a a purple Clem I planted 40 years ago and it's almost ready to bloom. It's not a type 3 though.

This is from last year and the plant which I didn't know when I bought it, can grow up to 20 feet! Oh well.

What I did was let part of the vine grow horizontally onto a rose bush.

Those are Cosmos in front of the Huldine.

I’m still working on my project. We are at sons townhome temporarily but I couldn’t take looking at the area off the screened patio. He has rented it out for several years and it needed help. Part of the problem was there was no slope for water runoff. All that was there was the three palms I planted eleven yrs ago , mold and a few patches of weeds & grass. The last few days I planted some dwarf mondo grass under the overhang to the left. Today it got rained on😊. Starting from the planting corner I gently slopped the land to the stepping stone corner. That seems to be working nicely. This little area has been a lot of work. I also ended up having to put a temporary fence wall blind up in the far planting corner to keep my dog from trampling it all while scouting out new things to bark at through the fence. And, I still have the small side area to finish where I created an area with a ledge, stepping stones, dark gray stones and faux grass. That area will have a small curved mondo grass area as a transition to the main area on the corner.

Still lots to do but I’m getting close.

JT, that looks great — very welcoming and pretty!

Thank you Jinx! I can't straighten my spine completely but the view is better lol.

Y’all, look at this! Since I took that picture of my Easter cactus this morning, look how many more buds have opened!

Here it was last week:

JT, very nice! But,not fair! Those Palm trees!

jinx, that Easter cactus is very showy-and I love the hot pink!

Oakley, I have a lot to learn about Clematis and vines apparently, I didn't know you could grow them year after year in our state. Very pretty behind the birdhouse.

Jinx, I want one of those Easter cactus's. I wonder how it would fair in Florida zone 10 A? I can't do things that require much maintenance due to a tenant in the future. I put a weed underlay barrier in the planting bed and am also adding a rubber mulch looking strip under the fence boards...anything to help stop it looking like cr@p in case they are lazy.

JT, I wish I could say, but this is my first one. I’ve been reading up on them, and think they’d do fine for you, but don’t quote me. :D

I’m trying to figure out what I’ll need to do this winter … I’ll keep it inside for sure, but it sounds like they need a certain number of hours of darkness. I think they’re very similar to Christmas cactus?

It’s an experiment right now, I hope I can keep it alive! :)

Jinx, does it get big? I wonder. This would take up my whole area lol.

I hope not! 😂

FWIW, I have 2 Christmas cactus in pots on my south-facing front porch and they seem to like it, despite my neglect. They bloomed for a second time about a month or so back. Pretty sure Easter cactus is the same type of plant, just a different variety?

And I'm wondering what you feed yours to make them so nice and green?

I want an E. cactus too! I've been into houseplants since my early 20's, and was lucky to work in a local greenhouse during both pregnancies after we moved to a rural area. I'd never lived in the country before and wasn't familiar with what grew here other than wheat. :) One day I took a walk to the pond while DH was at work and found what I thought was a rare plant. Somehow I got it out of the ground and brought it home. Never.again. Hate them with a passion, and they are pests! I haven't seen a Prickly Pear in years. Worse than bullnettle.

They grow here too - those spines are lethal! Fruits are tasty tho.

Thanksgiving vs Christmas vs Easter Cactus There is a difference! Now I need to find a place to buy one if they're available.