A Cold Spell In April

It's April 1st and it's suppose to get down to 48 tonight. It has been some wild weather this year, but i must say I am very grateful: the Lord is giving me the seasons I have craved for so long. It makes not living in Kerrville yet a lot easier to take.

More lily seeds are coming up. I watered them heavily night before last and they are looking better and better. There are true leaves on all the older seedlings. What an amazing thing to witness. I always thought of lilies as having strap leaves, but these are somewhat heart shaped. Very neat!!

I planted Tx Mountain Laurel seeds last week and put them on the hoop table. I have gone back every so many days and dug around in one particular pot. Wednesday when I uncovered the seed the center of it had the consistency of toothpaste. Other seeds in other pots around it look good. I've got to wonder if possibly I contaminated it in my digging around. BUT of the batch I planted several years ago only 3 of 8+ sprouted. I've got to wonder if they rotted as well...

The brug cutting on the hoop table are just sitting there. After the cold spell we had a few weeks ago I thought the renewed hot days would spur on growth, but they continue to just sit there. I thought about fertilizing them today, but with this cold weather I thought better of it.

The mums are sure enjoying this cooler weather! In the 3+ years I've had more than 2 plants I've never seen them bloom outside of fall. This year they bloomed in fall and now they're blooming again. And personally I think it's as good a show, if not better, than last fall - at least on some of the varieties. I lost a couple plants this year, in part thanks to Bear. (He used them as a powder room.) The rest have terrific growth on them. As soon as I get all the new seedlings potted up I'm going to do a bunch of cuttings off them. I can hardly wait!!

A week ago Friday I planted the hardy hibiscus roots I received on Wednesday. By Monday they all had nubs of growth on them and today Fireball, October and one other have growth at least 1" tall. And do they like a lot of water!! I can see I'm going to have to install a drip irrigation system for them and the brugs.

Well, enough for now. I'm sure I'll remember things in a bit I wish I had written down. And, for me, that's going to be the the most beautiful part of this. I can come back and add more without having to adjust anything! ;->