I hate you, Edmonton. I've been feeling a little warmer toward you recently, but that was just Stockholm Syndrome.

Plants not dead! Pt II

The weekend was pretty much a write-off, garden-wise. We had a little hail storm yesterday and it was kind of miserable all weekend. I'm home sick today, and actually I would be home anyway since it's my day off. I'm never sure which is worse, missing work because you're sick or having to give up a day off on the couch, watching movies and feeling sorry for yourself.

I did venture outside, though (my dog insisted on being walked even though I told her I was sick), and I took some pictures of what's going on out there.





My peas are starting to come up. The rough weather left some of them a bit exposed but they seem none the worse for wear.



This mysterious plant is growing right on the edge of an old compost heap. It's in quite a damp and shady part of the yard. I have no idea what it is, but it doesn't look anything like our ususal weeds. I'm going to leave it and see if it grows into anything interesting. Is it crazy to think it might be bamboo? Does bamboo even grow here? There are some bamboo shoots that ended up in the compost near where this mystery plant is coming up.



Apple tree buds!



On the inside front, all the watermelon and pepper seeds are sprouted now.

Finally: I've been covering up my outside beds at night, but it's looking like I might finally be able to relax about it. Here's our friendly weather forecast:

I don't mind my tax dollars paying for weather forecasts like this!

Plants: not dead! pt I

Today I finally summoned the courage to lift the covers on my perennials and see how they had fared through the spring storm.




I wasn't sure what to expect, but they're doing fine-- at least, these ones are. (Some other perennials were under cotton sheets because I ran out of proper covers, and they're still too snowy to check on.) I covered them with plastic lids (saved from a catered event at my work), and I guess the snow insulated them before it actually got cold. I think at the coldest it got to around -6 earlier in the week. I would like to know what temperature it was under the covers!

[The plants are, clockwise from the top, creeping jenny; periwinkle; some succulents including several hen & chicks; and the one in the middle is a mystery, even to me. I bought it from the farmer's market without a tag, but the person at the booth assured me that it would take over my garden if I let it, and that sounded like my kind of plant.]




I have several watermelon sprouts now and the very first peeking signs of a pepper. The peppers should have been in their pots weeks ago, of course, but these seeds only just arrived from Terra Edibles. There are two watermelon varieties, Cream of Saskatchewan and Sugar Baby; and the peppers are Jimmy Nardello, a sweet Italian pepper.

the May spring fake-out, and the despair that accompanies it.

This happens every year, and every year it's like I have no memory of anything that has happened in previous years. The garden centres are open. There were plants for sale at the farmer's market last week. Therefore, I must shop for plants! And my indoor seedlings are looking bushy and anxious to meet the outdoors. In fact, if anything, I am running out of room in my basement for them. And I have a whole bench full of new perennials and annuals in my living room, under my biggest available window.




Whereas outside it looks like this:




You're mean, Edmonton. We woke up yesterday morning to a huge dump of snow, cold, miserable winds, and a sense of self-pity.

However, when I woke up this morning I know it would be miserable outside, and I also knew there was a chance that I would have a few more sprouts. And lo and behold, the first of the watermelons:




That's a sugar baby watermelon, and even though at this moment it seems unbelievable that it will ever survive outdoors, I know that in a few weeks today will be like a half-remembered nightmare.