Sow and Sew

Do you ever feel as if you're being watched? When I finished yesterday's post, I looked across the room to where Eliza's window seat is, and I saw this:

He was waiting impatiently for us to get busy with our outdoors work. So okay, Buddy. Let's go.

The first thing I noticed outside were these yellow tulips, growing in the whiskey barrel where the mint has taken up residence.

Beyond, the cherry trees are in full bloom, and looking so pretty.

Walking past the culinary herb garden to the greenhouse, I noticed the first buds have appeared on the chives. I'll be making more chive blossom vinegar soon.

In the greenhouse, I planted 21 pots of sunflowers. There are seven different varieties, but I planted two seeds in each pot, and three pots of each. If history is any indication, I've had trouble getting these to germinate sometimes, and so I planted reinforcements. If I get two of each, I'll feel as if my sowing has been a success.

Glancing out the door, I saw these two scaredy cats. They won't come into the greenhouse when I'm in there. I think the hose spooks them. Kitties are not fond of water or watering ilk.

Also, I planted three little pots of the Irish poppy seeds. The poppies aren't Irish, but the seeds came from Ireland. Also three little pots of zucchini. I really only need two zucchini plants to supply zucchini to my entire family, my neighbors, my neighbors' families, the town of Newberg, the city of Portland, the state of Oregon...that's probably about it. Still, if any of the seeds are duds, I want to make sure I get enough.

When I looked out the door, Sadie was still there. She was even bold enough to cross one paw over the threshold, but that was as far as she would go.

Smitty was on the wall behind her, sniffing out squirrels who live among the junipers.

Finally, two kinds of lettuce. The "Red Sails" lettuce is a really nice red leaf lettuce. Buttercrunch is a butterhead lettuce (some people call it a Boston lettuce). It was new to us last year, and we liked it. I still had some seeds, and so I planted it again. The plastic over the pots will keep the soil moist until the seeds have germinated, and then I'll remove it.

So that was all I needed to do in the greenhouse. Smitty likes the wall for relaxing. The concrete keeps his tummy cool while the moss gives him a nice soft place to lie.

The next job was to plant the annuals in the four large pots along the sidewalk. My friend Marei tells me the purple ones in the middle are called Pincushion flowers or Scabiosa, if you must know their snotty botanical name.

The next ones are the cyclamen. The itty bitties in both pots are called alyssum. The pink flower on the right in the image below is not cyclamen. I'm not sure what it is, but it's in keeping with the pink theme.

Marigolds. The pot below is located in a weird place for sun exposure, but the marigolds seem to like it, and so I keep planting them every year. In the upper right-hand corner is a volunteer pansy. Anything that can survive the winter gets to stay where it grows.

And then the stinky geraniums. They are pretty when they grow up and fill the pot, and they are good bloomers. I'll forgive them for being so stinky.

This next image is a volunteer snapdragon. It has been coming back year after year. Since I'm replacing the pot where it was growing, I dug it up none-too-gently and stuck it in a pot in the greenhouse temporarily.

These are the broken pots I'll be replacing. The middle one is plastic and not broken, but it's time to get matching pots. I'll use that one for something else.

Finally, the cherry tomato. It shares its whiskey barrel with some volunteer strawberries and pansies. They kind of photobombed this picture, but you can see it there right in the middle. I put a tomato cage over it, hoping no critters will come by and eat it, as they did last year.

And, my work done, I walked around to see what else was blooming. The bleeding heart has its first flower buds.

Also, the strawberries are starting to bloom.

And I noticed the first flowers are opening on the wisteria at the front door. This one is really pretty when it's all in bloom.

With my outdoor work done, I had time to sew three more 4 x 4s onto the Pansy Mosaic, and that completes the top section. Nine sections to go. If I'm going to finish this before the end of the month, I'm going to have to get a move on.

This morning I'm waiting for the pesticide guy to come. We have a contract with a local company known as The Killers. They come whenever we spot any carpenter ants, but they come annually to do a maintenance spray around. We haven't seen any bugs outside this year, but with warmer weather, we begin seeing carpenter ants. We want to stop those buggers before they even get going. So there's that. When he's come and gone, I need to make another run into town for potting soil and the rest of the annuals. As long as I'm there I'll pick up a few groceries, and then get back to my sewing. It sure is nice to have some good weather after so many weeks of rain.