First Day of Spring

And what a wet, dreary chilly day it has been. The best thing I can say about it is that it stopped snowing.

Meanwhile, as my heat blasts away merrily, I put a grow light on the succulents. Just for a few hours, but each gets the light that is missing today. I am planning some table top succulent gardens this year, and I want as many plants as possible available. I have a very good selection in the garden, but of course I don't want to take all of any planting. But they seem to have come through the winter well, I've been harvesting new growth as the snow melts and replanting them inside. They're taking off, with all the careful attention. Wouldn't we all!

One project I'm planning is to plant some hen n' chicks in a straw bale. I purchased a very small straw bale, roughly a foot long in A.C. Moore, and spent the required ten days "curing" it. This is just keeping it wet, so the straw starts composting and will support growth. The straw bale gardens I've seen on the internet are all normal size bales, and I do want to try them, too. They'll be perfect in a new garden space I'm starting. The bales can go right over the rough ground, keeping down weeds while the plants grow from the bale.  Then by next year they'll be rotting away, right where I'd want them. Should be interesting, we'll see. But the succulent bale will be part one. Stay tuned!