Best Laid Plans, and all that stuff!

Do you see that flat of flowers down there??? Zinnias, dahlias, and gorgeous double impatiens, all waiting to be planted.

And these??? Caladiums, asparagus ferns, Snowstorm Giant Snowflake (Bacopa), ornamenal sweet potato vines, lantana, geraniums, hollyhocks and monarda.

And the hyacinth beans, moonflowers Cuban oregano, oregano, sage, marjoram, and even more ornamental sweet potato vines.

And all of these >>>

All perennials and herbs - everything from salvias, verbena, dianthus, gaura, lemon balm, creeping phlox, tomatoes, flowering quince, hostas, shasta daisies, parsley, dill, basil, and more.

Well, my primary goal and purpose for this weekend was to get all of those in the ground - holes dug, soil amended, plants planted, fertilized, watered, and hopefully, happy!

Guess I won't be doing so much planting this weekend, though, because last night we had some crazy storms, thunder that shook our house, and it's a solid house! Thunder that got both of the dogs upset, enough so that I ended up putting them in bed with us, and Bessie actually crawled under the covers and stayed there for a while. And Bessie doesn't like staying in bed with us unless it's in the camper. Bailey, however, is a different matter - she would sleep with us forever if I would let her.

Anyway, we had over 1/2 inch of rain - it's hard to tell how much more because the squirrels had knocked the gauge crooked again, but regardless, everything is pretty wet out there.

And it's going to get even wetter, because this . . . .

is headed our way for later today, and according to the knowledgeable Brad Nitz on Atlanta's own WSB-TV Channel Two, this line of storms is packing quite a wallop, with a lot of lightning, winds up to 60 mph, and maybe even some hail.

Now, I don't mind working outside in a little sprinkle, or even a pretty hard sprinkle, but storms - no! And, have you ever tried to dig a hole in heavy clay that is saturated with water? Nope, well, you haven't missed much!

The land where our home sits was, for many years, woods and pastures. It had never been cultivated, and that is normal for this part of northern Georgia. So the soil is very poor, and for each plant that I plant, I dig a hole larger than necessary, dump the clay in the back, lower part of the yard that tends to wash in heavy rains, and add a good quality top soil mixed with some of the bad soil. And you can NOT dig clay very easily when it is wet (or dry, for that matter).

So today I'll probably plant the annuals in the pots for the front porch, but beyond that, I won't be getting many of my new plants in the ground until it dries up a bit. I guess that means I do housework.

DARN! ;o)

Have a great weekend, Becky