Lisa had to take the train down to DC today, but the train has been rescheduled to leave at three, so we were able to get in little more gardening before she left.
While we were up in Claremont to get the fish on Friday, we stopped in at Wal-mart to pick up some potting mix. And we were pleasantly surprised to discover that they had inexpensive, nice looking plants, including a tomato named ‘Northern Exposure’.
The veggie plants come from Bonnie, who had also shown up at the Keene Agway. Apparently they started in Alabama, but they have nurseries all over the south, Ohio and California, and now seem to have bought the Jolly‘s place up in Lempster.
So four tomatoes and three peppers (red, yellow, and purple) are in planters on the balcony. We also picked up two catnip and a lavender which are out in the main garden.
I hauled and spread mulch while Lisa started planting the cosmos, and then I helped her finish so she could make the train.
Another of our species tulips has bloomed. It’s very pretty, red with a black and yellow center. The sort of crinkled leaves are interesting too. They were on the border of the mouse zone: we have nine plants left, of which five are blooming. (All the other van Engelen bulbs seem to have bloomed already.)
We seem to have a double daff, something I’ve heard of but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one before.
Out in the back bed, there’s a little blue volunteer something. The flower is very like a violet (not 100% though), while the leaves are completely different. I imagine violets and pansies could hybridize to make that flower, but where are those leaves from?
And finally, one of our two Tropicana roses died back to the ground but seems to be coming back. The other one had some green left early in the spring, but is showing no signs of sprouting. BTW, the last of our “Sub-zero Roses” demonstrated that they were not sub-zero enough by not making it through the winter.