Garden -- May 2016

I know I'm late but I was waiting to have some  good news for you.

In the DC region, it ain't happening.  Cold rain. 
If you live here and you have tried to put out warm weather veggies, one of two things happened.
They froze.
Or you had to listen to the weather report and run out and move all your potted plants back into the house.

My hydrangeas got frosted just as they were budding.  I will probably have to wait until next year and maybe the year after that for flowers.

What can you do? 
Well, if  your warm weather veggies are dead, you still might be able to plant from seed.
At this point, you might not be able to get open-pollinated seed.
You might have to make do with hybrids.

While you're waiting for warmth, you have to keep after the grass.

And you can think ahead.
I begged a violet plant from a neighbor who cuts her grass too short and so, of course, has violets, which she doesn't like.
It survived the winter and bloomed this spring.

Last autumn I ordered two roots of wild ginger over the internet.
I planted them as per the directions.
They survived the winter and even had flowers more than a month ago.

I have to get rid of some hosta.  I'll try to compost it but I  don't think it will work.

I'm watching for the cardinal flower to come up that another neighbor gave me to encourage bees and hummingbirds.
I have to pull ground ivy and I'm  composting that.

So just because it's too cold and rainy doesn't mean there's nothing you can do.
Just do some things for your garden, like planning, while you can't do what you want to do in the garden.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved