March 8

Stealing a dry day between weeks of rain, I snuck in time to clean up my bed of cardoons. This is the first year I've had so many overwinter, so I am crossing my fingers to hope to haves buckets of spiny blooms to bring into the shop this summer. The first time I saw them for sale was at a flower shop in Lucca, Italy, about 5 years ago, where the florist took time to talk with me about them, and the generations of florists in his family.

I also got blood meal down on the bulbs, and alfalfa on my roses. My roses look HORRIBLE. I need to give them a lot more attention this year, and/or move them to drier ground. I recently ordered another 75 bushes so I've got to get my arms around taking care of these. For starters, I know they need more consistent water in the summer and more than the neglect-breeds-strength approach that works surprisingly well with a lot of my flowers.

Last of all I repaired some drip tape, pruned some herbs and perennials, and got compost tea down on my anemones and ranunculus. And here's the first harvest of a bunch on anemones. I am so happy to see their pretty faces!