April Showers Bring Nursery Visits!

I waited for sun all day today to try and get a picture of the bed I completed prepping. It was no use. It rained all day. I took this in the pouring rain a few minutes ago. It's primarily perennial spouts right now though sharp eyes might pick out a few broccoflower.

This is a mixed bed inm that it contains or soon will contain annual vegetables and flowers, perennials and even a fruit tree. The temporary fencing is surrounding a few purple cabbage I'm trying to protect from the bambis. The lettuce bed is back by the birdbath. The stick in the center is a baby cherry tree. Last year it had one cherry on it. The sun exposure is also mixed. To the left of the birdbath is the trunk of a large maple. Everything to the left of the stepping stones is part shade with increasingly larger amounts of sun as you move to the foreground. It's a very pleasant area to garden in with shade just a step or so away.

This morning the rain was only a fine mist so I was able to go out and move the dead tree hubby chopped up to the woodpile. After that, I started turning some of the sod over for the bean bed but it was just too wet and I worried about messing it up, so I stopped. I then began to clean up Mrs. Moon Pulmonaria but it started to pour so I bailed on further garden work.

Instead I studied my Chicagoland gardening map and decided to spend the afternoon visiting nurseries for inspiration. I hit a bunch of them north and west. I didn't buy a single plant which is pretty much unheard of for me. I just didn't see anything unique and of the must have that variety. It was still a great way to spend the afternoon. Then it was home to help the husband hang some closet doors, transplant some zinnia's into bigger pots and move Carbon tomato into a gallon size pot. It's getting huge! It's so weird how these tomatoes grown under the exact same conditions are growing at such different rates.

All and all a very good weekend. The next couple of days is forecast to be rainy and cool but after that, it is t-shirt and shorts weather baby! That means sixty degrees or more for you southern types. ; )