Weeks 4, 5, 6…

4/13/11

            The past few weeks have been a test in gardening patience and ‘know-how’ of which I’m not entirely sure of, or that I do, know that is…hmmm, I’m not sure I could say that any clearer even if I wanted to.

The weather has been flip-flopping between early summer heat to the cold and gloom of late winter, it’s suppose to be spring for goodness sakes!

It was so nice a few weeks ago, and I like other newbie gardeners were lulled into the false assurance that spring was here. Just because we’ve passed that day on the calendar that says ‘first day of spring’ doesn’t, in any, or all actuality mean that seasonal phenomena called ‘Spring’ is here, not in Oklahoma.  Anyway, I decided to transplant my tiny little seedlings into a large container; an under bed storage container to be exact, along with a few random terracotta pots, in various sizes that I’d purchased in previous years, these were perfect for my Dahlia’s, garlic and onion, while the storage bit was a good starting bed for my seedlings and the plants that were overrunning my kitchen window.

Once I’d spilled miracle potting soil on the floor in my laundry room and got all the plants looking good in their new pots, I took them out onto our sunny little deck to soak up the sun and grow. This was fine for the first few days, sunny, warm, and perfect. Then one night I got cold, and realized that although the days were nice the nights were beginning to get cold, gloomy and wet.

When I could remember this, I lugged the plants inside for the night, those nights I forgot, a few casualties were lost to the ever present Oklahoma wind threatening day and night to uproot my virtually unprotected seedlings…however, most of my plants have survived thus far, and so, I continue…and hope for the best.