Our spring rains have made for happy plants in our yard. We have two crossvine areas that have hundreds of buds and are now bursting into bloom.

Covering my container garden with a sheet of plastic (ok, it is a clear shower curtain) helped keep the basil alive during our cold snap. The plants didn’t go unscathed; there are some brown spots and browning at the tips of some of the leaves. They look hale enough to grow, though.

Another sign of spring, our volunteer grape hyacinth have bloomed! These have established themselves at the base of a cedar elm near the driveway. There was one plant five years ago, now there are several clumps in the area.

I picked up basil, pepper, and oregano plants at a local nursery for my container garden this year. I usually start with seed, but didn’t get the seeds in this year, so went with a short cut. I amended the soil with chicken compost from the bottom of my compost bins, which was nice and dark and crumbly, and used the wheel barrow to mix an equal amount of dirt from the container with the compost. I’ve set up the frog habitat again too.

I’m hoping that I didn’t plant too soon. It has been cold this week, and basil doesn’t care for temps under 40. Hm.