This week I finished the front yard plantings, putting geraniums into the pot in front of the lilacs. I went to Jewel a couple of days ago and bought another 30 geraniums and 8 Broccoli plants of the variety “Destiny.” The deck plantings are complete. I bought two hanging baskets at Goebbert’s for $39.99 each. Ouch! But they are the purple and white petunias that I love. I also put geraniums in the pot by the cooking deck.

I bought three more Shishito peppers and six Gypsy peppers to complete the raised planters. The arugula and radish seeds are up at least 1/2-inch and it’s been less than a week since planting.

I drilled drainage holes in two of the large pots I bought at Costco and transferred the soil from last year’s hanging baskets and the old deck rail basket into them. Then I emptied the soil into them from the two cherry tomato pots by the deck. That got them only a little over half full – they are enormous. I put the remaining half-bags of potting soil into one and almost a whole bag into the other. I planted two large cherry tomato plants in one and two grape tomato plants into the other and put the decorative cages into the new pots. I topped off the other pots and cleaned up the lower deck.

Today I weeded the enclosed trellised area where I plant peas. It was loaded with Dandelions and thistle. I got peas planted as well as the eight “Destiny” Broccoli plants. That was as far as I got today as the rain was starting.

Thursday and Friday will be rainy, and then warm and dry for the weekend and into next week. This will be the push to rebuild the wood beds and assemble and install the steel beds. I need to purchase four more of the steel planters. If the weather holds, I can get the bins installed next week and have RT move the compost/topsoil mix in the following weekend.

This weekend, I’ll get the container garden planted and also rebuild the herb garden to prevent soil loss.

I took a risk as the weather ahead looks warm and bought 9 Shishito Peppers at Home Depot yesterday. I planted them today and need to get three more. I’ll need 4 more pepper plants to fill the second center bed. I think I’ll get either Melrose or Gypsy peppers.

I also planted Heirloom Arugula (Roquette) in the other half of the planter nearest the cucumbers. The other half of that planter has Pak Choi. In the middle bed, I planted two 2-foot rows of Burpee Cherry Giant Radishes and a single 2-foot row of Burpee Heirloom Crimson Giant radishes. If they won’t grow in the great soil in these planters, I give up.

I turned on the front spigot and tested the new watering system in the front. My life is simpler. There is a cloud of paper wasps surveying the front porch already. Time to break out the WD-40.

Since I was trying to get at least one project completely finished, I decided to go to the Jewel on Palatine Rd. and see if they had seed geraniums. They did and I was ecstatic, and I bought 40 at $1.98 each, which is the same price that they have been for the past couple of years. I managed to get all of the containers in the front yard planted and the porch cleaned. It is now ready for summer nights. Geraniums didn’t go in until mid-May last year and May 7, in 2023.

He even brought his own ladder!

One of my noted problems with the garden the past few years is that I am not very good at watering when needed. This is a problem with my front yard planters, also. The root of the problem is that it is a royal pain. To turn the water on in the front yard, I have to crawl between the porch post and wall and then step down to reach the spigot. The hose is a pain to unreel. For the back garden, I had to drag out the heavy rubber hose into the garden, do my watering and then drag it back to the house. Not a quick process. And my hands would be black from the oxidized rubber coming off the hose.

This year I bought three hose racks with spigots. In the front I’ll install the rack directly opposite the front door at the end of the lilacs. I’ll run a heavy rubber hose to the front spigot. I have a 25-foot light flexible hose on the rack, and I’ll leave the spigot on the house on and turn the water on and off at the rack.

In the back, I’ll have one rack in the garden, and the otherwhere the existing hose rack is. I have a splitter at the outside spigot and have rubber hoses going to each rack. There will be a 50-foot light flexible hose on each rack. Again, as in the front, I’ll leave the house spigot on and control the water at the new racks.

Thanks to my new planters I am on schedule with my spring planting. The raised planters took a lot of work out of planting and it will make weeding much easier and protect the plants from the rabbits. We’ll see if my blaming the rabbits last year was correct, or if the squirrels were helping them out.

I planted Red Romaine Lettuce, Pak Choi, Beets, and Red Onions (The sign said Candy Onions which are Yellow and I didn’t check the sticks in the trays. I should know better.) I don’t know when these turn red, but I planted them for green onions. I’ll find out in a month or so.