Spring planting progress

I love weekends—who doesn't!? Today the temperature reached 60 and Cavan took a nap—the perfect recipe for garden progress.

Erica x darleyensis 'mediterranean pink'

Today was not an immensely productive day, though I did accomplish what I set out to do. I dug up and returned a Mediterranean Pink bush (erica x darleyensis) to Home Depot; mine had not fared well over the winter and HD has a one-year guarantee on all plants. I didn't have my receipt (honestly, who can find a specific receipt from a year ago?) but I knew they were selling the same variety so I hoped for an even exchange. I left happily with my new, but significantly smaller bush, and six 14-inch terra cotta pots for our deck. I am planning on planting red impatiens to accent the red door to our screened-in patio. But that will have to wait for about three more weeks until after the last frost here in NY.

So, I replanted my bush at home, planted six more Starlight Lily bulbs to extend my summer lily border on the north side of our house, removed more dead foliage from the winter, and planted snapdragon seeds in starter pots. Yet another flower with minuscule seeds. We'll see how they do! Hopefully I'll see at least a couple of seedlings emerge from each pot—I'm sure I dropped at least 20 seeds in each 3-inch dwelling. I have high hopes for all my seeds, but I haven't yet ruled out buying flats of annuals if they don't work out.

Speaking of high hopes, here's my seed update from last weekend's plantings: All 12 of my marigold starters have emerged. Most of my broccoli, spinach, and bibb lettuce has as well. No noticeable progress on the peppers, eggplant, or carrots, but I think they all have a longer germination period. Hopefully all will poke through by next weekend. I'll keep you posted.