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Diana, as you are fond of saying: “SCORE!!”

I made it to the Country Corner Market yesterday just as it was starting to sprinkle. It was obvious they had new plants .... lots of them.

First stop: veggies, looking for jalapenos. No luck, but that’s ok since I have 3 plants from the Farm Bureau.

Second stop: herbs, just to see what they had. What I found, tucked in the back of some other plants, were the cutest, sweetest, healthiest little lavender plants. They are English Lavender (lavandula angustifolia), 2” pots, $2.99 each. I grabbed 2 to replace the really expensive ($20/pot) Hidcote lavender that died last year/over the winter.

Next was looking for lantana & they had lots! Not only that, but the 4” pots were 3 for $10! I got 3 and these are the colors:

Bloomify Mango
https://www.ballfloraplant.com/Products/Details/?phid=036908083003120

Little Lucky Red
https://www.gardenia.net/plant/lantana-little-lucky-red

Little Lucky Hot Pink (might be the one I had last year)
https://www.ballfloraplant.com/Products/Details/?phid=036906551004112

When I checked out, the young guy at the cash register came around to carry my plants, which was very nice of him. As we walked to the car, he exclaimed “Wow, does this lavender smell GOOD! I may have to get some of these myself and they’re so bushy & healthy looking!” As small as they are, they really do smell great.

Last stop: Walmart to see if they had any new jalapenos & pick up some asparagus. There were only the same ‘ratty’ jalapenos; however, I noticed 3 Shishito pepper plants. After hearing all about them on the garden thread (before last year, I was clueless on shishitos, believe it or not), I decided to buy one & give it a try. I picked the best of the 3 and it looks pretty good.

Today, I need to get some big bags of potting soil. The pots where the lantanas will go are filled with regular ‘dirt’ mom scraped together years ago. I’ll probably have to chisel it out of the pots. I put some potting soil in the hole I made for my one plant last year, but I want to do it “right” this year. The hummers & butterflies should be very happy (me too!) with all of this lantana.

I still have to research the jalapenos I bought the other day & see exactly what I have.

I love lantana because it always reminds me of my childhood. I would pretend they were wedding bouquets for my little dolls. They do better in the ground for me here, or maybe I’ve never given them enough room in a planter.

I haven’t been “shopping” for flowers yet. There’s just too much going on. However…tomorrow there’s a native sale going on at our landscaper’s place. I hope to find one or two more hidden gems. Then I need to go to the garden centers, too. Maybe I’ll do the garden centers in the morning and the landscaper sale in the afternoon.

Oh, rats, I just remembered we have a meeting with a lawyer to update our wills. I’ll just have to stay on top of things, and fit in the fun stuff when I can.

Lantana is a Butterfly Magnet! Glad you could find all those colors.

I’m going to give up on growing all that Lavender - my raised bed soil is going to be too ‘rich’ for them - they won’t be happy there. If I find some in the near future, I’ll grow them in Terra Cotta pots which they will like much better.

My Broccoli is just about big enough to go in - will do that this weekend. Soil is still not warm enough to sow bean seeds, though.

Foster Son Mick comes down for the weekend next weekend, to light a fire under Beau and that porch project. Mom & friend Kathy will help me get the tomatoes and peppers in later that next week.

Since the porch planters have been knocked over twice already by Midnight, I’m going to re-use that soil elsewhere. I get the other puppy, ‘Grover,’ on Saturday morning. We’ll see how Midnight does with him - she can be a little bit of a snot (like her sister Arikara, who grew out of that!) so if she’s mean to Grover, she’s going into a kennel. Mama don’t mess around when it comes to bad manners! Of course, Beau will be gone all weekend to his County Conservation Conference in Green Bay, so I am in charge of EVERYTHING around here - why not throw in a new PUPPY as well? ;)

Beau went to the hospital this morning for Mohs surgery on his handsome nose. I hope they don’t mess him up too badly. He may end up with two black eyes, which happens sometimes when they’re working on your face. My cancer was behind my right ear; his is front and center. :(

There goes our stream of income from his modeling career, LOL! He’ll just look more ‘rugged.’ Maybe he can be the next Marlboro Man, sans the smoking? ;)

Orioles are eating me out of jelly at a fast pace. No Hummers as of yet...