A Rainy May

It's been 3 weeks since I've been able to do gardening in the yard. We've had lots of rain. Plants wait on my plant shelf, on the porch, and in the yard until I can plant them outdoors. Some didn't make it but they're many waiting to be put in the ground. Sun Gold tomato seedlings didn't thrive for me. Two survived but they don't look too promising. Broccoli, strawberries, chard, cabbage, and lettuce in the yard has grown in 7 days of almost continuous rain with some breaks and down pours. I'll pull the broccoli and plant my 2 tomatoes when I have time for the yard. Pansies also need to be pulled from containers and replaced with summer annuals. Coleus seedlings planted earlier have been severely eaten by something, probably slugs and snails. I've never had them  in my containers but I haven't seen caterpillars on them. I'll have to add some more to the container. It's a good thing that I start so many.  

It's been rainy since last weekend with the first return of blue skies yesterday afternoon. We spent a steamy day at Longwood Gardens after having to reschedule our tickets 3 times since Mother's Day due to rain. There is no refund on tickets at Longwood so yesterday was the day before it gets too hot to walk the grounds and go inside greenhouse baking in the sun. This year was for enjoying the plants no pictures. It was warm, humid and sticky with some rain showers that felt cooling and welcome. Missed the beautiful bulbs. As we walked the grounds gardeners were tending beds, removing bulbs, and preparing the soil for summer planting. So we missed a lot and only one bed had been planted containing dahlias, begonias, and edibles such as kale and other greens. Their outdoor container were empty of bulbs and also awaited planting. It would be nice to come back during the summer to see what they plant but if it's this warm now it would be unbearable in July and August. I'll wait until fall to see the mums and for their winter Christmas display. We walked and enjoyed many beautiful varieties of trees and woodland plants.

I behaved and only bought 2 items from their shop. A house plant and a book of wildflowers of the Eastern United States. It's a field guide to help identify plants with beautiful pictures and pollinators for each plant. The book is helpful for me as I try to add more native woodland plants to my shaded yard. I'll show you the book and the plant I bought on another day. I hope you're enjoying this season and your garden. Till next time.