Friend-LINK: <%=INSERTTEXT%>

Subscribe to AGN Powered by www.ONElist.com

A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

I am sure you all remember when I was begging for rain a few weeks ago. Well, after 3 storms in 4 days, with more on the way, I am ready for a break. Granted, we had a beautiful day yesterday with temperatures in the 70's, but a quick check of the weather radar shows it is already coming down in Santa Barbara, our bellwether city to the northwest. If only this rain could be spread out over the month. As it is, though, we are still behind our normal rainfall and a steady soaking is always good for the garden.

All the weeds rejoice

There is a dark side to everything, though, and the garden was quick to show them. This amount of winter moisture causes the immediate sprouting of every weed seed that has lain dormant for the past few, dry months. Usually I only have to deal with weeds in the irrigated beds as there isn't enough water in the pathways to allow for germination, but now I have weeds EVERYWHERE! Every dandelion, every grass rhizome every squirrel planted seed has come up almost overnight. It has been too damp to get out and pull them even though weeds come up more easily when the ground is wet and soft. I don't want to risk compacting the soil too much. That is always a quandary. You want to get the weeds out before the ground gets too dry and they get a good foothold, but you don't want to cause problems with the plants you are trying to protect.

Wisteria Hysteria

I was out today placing some new decorative stepping stones off the rear patio when I had a happy surprise. A quick glance at the wisteria trellis showed that not only was it beginning to leaf out, it was also sporting a hoard of flower buds and some had already opened. This will be the first year in 4 that I have gotten anything but the most meager blooms from this set of fairly large vines. It is possible that the tree removal I performed earlier this year allowed some more sun and sparked the new growth. Whatever the reason I am so happy that we will finally get a decent bloom. I will try and get some pictures when the blooms are at their height.

Helping hands

The coming week brings some helping hands to the garden in the form of my parents Harold and Joanne. My father is a semi-retired farmer and always enjoys puttering in the garden, even doing what I consider the most mundane tasks. They are coming to escape the cold and damp Ohio winter for a few weeks and to celebrate the 2^nd birthday of their grandson, Joseph. Working in the garden is always more fun with a 2 year old. He tries to help as much as possible, raking leaves, moving pebbles and helping his mother hammer in the stakes for the new tree limb edging around the rose beds.

While we always take in a few of the usual "Hollywood" excursions, my parent's often enjoy spending every other day relaxing around the house. Of course, there is nothing like a few extra hands to give me the impetus to attack some of the larger tasks I have been planning.

Keep digging! -- Douglas