A Winter Weekend

No big projects finished (yet), no before and after pictures to share, but we did have a productive weekend.

Saturday was cloudy but a pleasant low 70's, perfect weather for planting trees.  A co-worker of mine recently bought a new house, and the developer had planted multiple live oaks in their small yard.  Apparently the developer didn't know (or care) how big the trees will eventually get, but my friend did and wanted to get rid of one.  We were happy to give it a new home! 

Digging the tree up wasn't too hard, since the roots hadn't spread much yet, and once we got it home we rolled it out of the back of the truck and straight into the bucket of the tractor.  Craig used the auger attachment to loosen up the soil so it was easy to shovel up, then we just rolled the tree's root ball right into the hole. 

It takes longer to attach the auger than to drill the holes

That auger is a real time (and back) saver

Easy Peasy

We also planted a Japanese maple (Hefner's Red) that we bought ourselves for Christmas, and we found a little bonus tree coming up in the pot, so that is potted up in the greenhouse.  We transplanted a couple of red buds that we already had out to the island. 

We were expecting a rainy Sunday, and we did get some showers, but not enough to keep us out of the greenhouse.  Craig put in more of the window latches so we can prop the windows open, and he split off the faucet to run a hose inside for easy watering.  Meanwhile I was busy planting seeds.  I'm thrilled to able to get so many things started so early - much more than I could in a sunny window of the house. 

Hibiscus, milkweed, tomatoes, and peppers.

Plus it is really nice to enjoy all the blooms in the greenhouse right now - the plants are loving these warm days and cool nights. 

Orange kalanchoe, pink begonia and pink mandevilla shrub in the corner.  

Crown of Thorns, with a Yellow Pear cherry tomato in the back.

White begonia 

I cut all the coleus back when I moved them into the greenhouse, but they are coming back strong now.

You can see the electric radiators we've been using to keep the greenhouse warm in the picture above.  It definitely had an impact on our electric bill, but thankfully our winters are short and not too terribly cold.  We're going to make a few improvements but so far the green house has been a great success, and I'm so proud of what a great job Craig has done on it.  He's a keeper!