It Is Time!

Yes.. it is time. It is time to get busy with those flower seeds.

The last frost of the year has marked it's coming and going on the magnolia tree .. which of course was in full bloom and oh so beautiful. Each spring we watch breathlessly as the beautiful blooms open ... wondering who would win the race.... Jack Frost or Magnolia.

This year the tree won. It opened the beautiful blooms one week ago. They were in full bloom for about five days.. five days to enjoy their beauty. Then along came the frost ... turning the blooms brown overnight.

Each year ... we keep track of that last frost.. and it has for years been the last frost of the year. Now we confidently mark that last frost as the time to get out in the flowers again... and what a glorious feeling that is after a long cold winter.

Here is what I will do now.....

Tonight I will put the Heavenly Blue morning glory seeds soaking in a small cup of water. After 24 -48 hours the seeds will have softened and cracked open.. ready to safely plant.

If you live in an area where the spring is still very cold and the ground the same .. I would encourage you to wait until you too have a day when you just know it is time.. time to get out with your flowers.

You will know when that time is.

After I have taken care of the morning glory seeds, I will get out the zinnia seeds I harvested from last year's zinnias and go out and plant them.

This of course .. is after I have cleaned last year's growth out of the garden. I like to leave it in through the winter for the effects. Once I got rid of the old stalks and stems .. I put a weed killer on all those little green starts that seem to jump upover night.

The garden cleaning I did a week or two ago.. when it was nice enough to get out there to do it... but still too cold to plant anything. That way the ground was able to just rest a while as the weeds were wiped out.

Now... the zinnia seeds will be scattered lightly around the area in which I want to grow them. I then will cover the seeds with fine earth.. just enough to cover them so the birds don't come and eat them and keep them lightly watered until I see the plants emerge.

If you have had no luck with seeds .. then I would advise you to go and find starts of the flowers you wish to see growing. They really aren't all that expensive to buy when you consider the joy you receive from them all summer long.

I have made the mistake of planting my seeds too early and the spring rains along with the cold have caused them to rot... and I replaced them with starts from the local nursery. I enjoyed doing that.. I have to admit.

There is a neat satisfaction in putting in a seed and waiting for it to pop up.... but there is also a great feeling of satisfaction of putting in a plant .. presto... instant growth!

Next I will plant the sunflower seeds. Nothing needs to be done in preparing these to plant. I will simply go and stick one in each spot I can envision seeing a sunflower growing. I love the Mammoth seeds.

Now I will look forward to that first trip to the nursery for new plants... and that is for another day.

Get out in the dirt.. it is time. Enjoy!