Monday, April 22, 2013

Sunroom sprouts


After all that warm weather last week, Thursday night blew in with really cold temps.  After the snow Friday morning, temps never got out of the 30s with the past 3 nights dipping into the 20s.

Brrrr.

This is the time of year I really appreciate the sunroom.  It's bright (I remove the skylight covers April & May), usually over 50 degrees at night and a fine place to view the annual potential of the back garden beds.

I took the time this Sunday to tidy up the geraniums cuttings.  I give props to the little violet plant that despite and care, heat or water over the winter, it never stopped blooming.  What a trooper!  I'm hoping that overwintering the geraniums in the sunroom and then rooting new ones in situ in the Spring will make it so I won't ever have to schlep heavy pots of these up and down the basement stairs when the seasons change.  What a back saver!

Some of these plants are well rooted (half) and the others are fresh cuttings today.  Keeping my fingers crossed they will all root and give me colorful plants for the deck.  I love a deck bright with geraniums.  They practically glow.


Meanwhile, I've brought in the onion and lettuce containers these past couple days.  It's just too darn cold outside (especially with the high winds - that does more damage to tender plants than cold).  This week promises daytime temps over 50s so out they go.  Nighttime temps, however, are due to drop though so will tuck them back inside with the geraniums at night.

I want to thank everyone who commented on yesterday's post.  I can't tell you how it lifted my spirits to hear from all of you and appreciate your concern, suggestions and encouragement.  Though I'd originally discounted the possibility, my friend has encouraged me to seek out an 'infectious disease' specialist and actually get tested for Lyme disease (d^mn deer!) and parasites.  I will follow up on that this week.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining and my friend Craig is going to come over this afternoon and till up that new crescent inside  the ring bed - increasing my veg garden by half.  How's THAT for a positive outlook. *heh*

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10 comments:

  1. Lyme disease - that sounds interesting. And carried by a tick! And here I thought only tick bite fever was the worst a tick could do. Did you notice a rash anywhere? I agree with you, it's certainly something worth getting tested for.

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    1. No, when this started 18+ mos ago, I never had a rash or bites other than mosquitoes. Still, these 'MS' type symptoms I have are rather Lyme-ish. Oboy, something new to pile on the list. *groan* Thanks for looking in on me. :-D

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  2. My poorly mum was suspected with lyme decease last winter, and later it turned out to be a nasty bout of shingles that attact her nervous system. She lost some use of her left leg through some doctor mis-diagnosing for a while and had to go through lots of physiotherapy. Thankfully she re-covered from it, but it took her good 5 month until all feeling in the leg returned.

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    1. Shingles? I shall put it on my list. Thanks for the tip, Sarina. I never gave that a thought. Glad your mum recovered. I'll have to make sure any final 'diagnosis' gets a 2nd opinion before I take it as gospel.

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  3. Kris, my son had shingles and he said it was the most painful thing he had ever had! Lyme disease could be a real possibility. Lets just hope they get to the bottom of the cause quickly.

    The weather is just crazy here. The next two nights it is supposed to get below freezing......fruit is ok so far but how many of these nights can they endure? They still have the husk around the tiny fruits which will help.

    I envy you that sunroom! My sis has one and they practically live in it. I warned the helpmeet today that I may change my mind about a small greenhouse......he gave me that 'look'.

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    1. I know what you mean. My magnolia was gorgeous for 2 days, then the high winds tore at the petals and those 3 freezing nights have turned a lot of that pretty pink to soggy brown.

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  4. I forgot a tip on planting the onions or before even. Give them a haircut of a few inches. I will make it easier to separate them out to plant and give you nice stout upright plants

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    1. Oh, what a good idea giving the onions a haircut! Thanks for the tip, Glenda.

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  5. Hubby contracted Lyme--not fun. But at least KNOWING what the problem is sometimes is a help in itself. Best of luck to you.
    And you can never have too many geranium cuttings. I've got almost 3 dozen--many of them starting to put on blooms. The house is so bright with them.......though I'm wondering if I'll EVER be able to put them outside --har har.

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    1. Hi Sue. I'm soo with you there on never having enough geraniums! They are my go-to flowering plant for summer. So many colors to chose from, so little time. *heh* Sorry your winter is holding on so long this year. At least you can warm yourself on the glow from your gerries. Keep the faith - spring must come!

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