More planting

My Stark Bros order arrived  Wednesday.  As usual, things looked great.  The Stanley plum tree is better than elbow-high even after planting (i paid the extra couple dollars for the supreme since it was on sale and i got $5 off for visiting their FB page and my dollar amount got me free shipping).  The lingonberry plants are nice and vibrant looking and the Nova and York elderberries had gigantic roots.

From what i had been reading, the Stanley is prone to some rust and fungal issues so i'll have to get it some things like Bordeaux mix and maybe Captan.  I think something like that is needed for the tomatoes to protect them from late and early blights... so i may have the right stuff in the shed already. I'll have to get it and check the label

I managed to get the plum and the two elderberries planted yesterday, the lingonberries will have to wait a bit.  It has been rainy the last few days so it was a good time to plant but i got myself too achy and worn out to do as much as i want.  But the three biggest plants are settling in.

Because of the rain i did not take any photos but today is sunny so i might.  They won't be exciting since most of the plants are dormant and simply look like sticks of various shades of brown.


A reminder to myself about the "chilly Saints Days"  I don't normally go for folklore, as i consider these things as little more than superstition... but last year i was busted by this one:

Three Chilly Saints

The article came to me in the Old Farmer's Almanac e-newsletter last  year, but i didn't read it until after my post entitled "Ouch". That was the morning of the night we had a hard frost that took out many of my wintersown seedlings.  This year i have no seedlings outdoors  and i won't begin trying to garden until after those days.

The main reason i was caught by that last round of frosts was because last year was so warm, many things were early- if i remember correctly, the apple tree was in bloom already (its just barely budding right now). My double pink rose of sharon got nipped pretty bad and only had three blooms on it late summer.

Anyhow, i'll consider the days after the 11-13th as potential 'last frost dates'.