Temperatures peaked in the low 80s on Saturday, prompting a flurry of gardening excitement and run to the nearby nurseries. Strong’s and Home Depot are represented in this wagonload of plants. (By the way, this is a great idea to showcase small, planter-sized plants–I may have to shop around for a metal wagon to add to the garden decor!)

On the wagon name list: zonal geranium American White Splash, hybrid verbena (multi-color), verbena “Superbena Royale” Peachy Keen. Homestead Purple verbena, Limemound Spirea, Lemon Chiffon Coral Bells, multi-colored thrift, licorice plants, and boxwood basil.

Another impulse buy at Strong’s which I hope I won’t regret are these beautiful Songbird Bluebird columbines which I will plant in the blue bed and heavily mulch.

We accomplished plenty this Saturday. Weeds were pulled, much of last year’s debris cleared. Our compost bin got a good turning. Lawn got a good low cutting, and we plan on getting some weedkiller down this week. Many of the plants we bought previously finally got planted in their respective spaces and we even discovered some oldies making a comeback. More on this subject later.

Limemound spirea, thrift (armeria unidentified cultivar), licorice plants went into the front azalea bed. Lemon Chiffon Coral Bells and Curcuma roots went into the front shade bed. Asparagus and boxwood basil into the veggie garden bed (I had emptied spinach, cilantro, arugula and gai lan packets into this bed earlier in the week). Various thyme plants made it into the cinderblock wall; however, I failed to care for the Pesto Perpetuo basil plants which perished when I put them into the leek row. Hot and spicy oregano cuttings also made it into the cinderblock wall.