Late Spring Update

Unexpectedly, I wound up with five days off in a row from work, and even tomorrow I could saunter out early to get a jump on the Memorial Day weekend. So, since I got to stay at home and blog for money as best I can, I managed to exercise fairly regularly on the elliptical machine I bought back in 2007. Despite the light duty I normally subject it to (ignoring it altogether is light, right?) it's started to get a weird little bump as I run on it. This makes working out a little louder, but that's why the volume on the radio goes up. And, in addition to a slowly improving waistband situation, this has given me the opportunity to listen to the radio again I've enjoyed listening to 104.5. They play the latest Cake songs, so that's at a minimum a good reason to tune in.

But the other thing I worked on was the garden. So far, the Sweet Peas have grown quite nicely, but nary a flower. The Sweet Alyssum is blooming well with both white and purple flowers.

I did have a surprising failure: no action from my nasturtium seeds. But I suppose it's not really fair to call it a failure. They were two season old seeds. Just not viable anymore. For that pot I've planted marigold seeds instead, and hopefully they'll come up. Unfortunately, since we're already in late May it could be a while before the flowers pop up. If a few weeks go by and there's no action, I'll probably go ahead and just buy some ready grown ones. More expensive, but that's what I get for waiting.

That's also what I had to do for the lavender plant. About $4 for two plants. Unfortunately last years lavender did not come back on its own, and the seeds would have been too slow to start. So, again, I opted for the shortcut. Hopefully they'll fill in the window-box.

Also planted were zinnias and sunflowers. Both are big favorites, and should come up reliably now that we have warmer weather. And later in the season I'll put the Kauai Honeymoon Plumeria back outside.

As for the reliable standards: beautiful dwarf snapdragons and the big Sedum Matrona are still going strong. I also noticed while futzing with the pots that cute little mantises were guarding against invading insects, so the egg cases left last year must have made it safely through the winter.