It's a beautiful Saturday evening in central Indiana, and I just finished moving in lots of plants.  Although April has been unusually warm, there is a "freeze warning" for our area tonight, so I'm being cautious.  Having babied these plants for months and months (or sometimes years!) I'm not taking any chances!

     The redbuds and cherries are in full bloom.  The lilacs are just barely showing color and the spring bulbs have been fabulous this year.  No hard freezes, big storms, or marauding deer have taken a toll.  It has been one of the best Aprils I can recall, ever, plant-wise.  Each day as I look at my deck garden, I feel it is just magical.  The Moonlight Garden has been especially pretty this year.  I really don't recall planting that many white bulbs, but either I did, or the fairies have been doing their thing!  Most likely, the latter!

     We're a little behind on the transplanting, but we're still adding dozens of varieties every week...sometimes in one day!  The "Tomato Soup," "Hot Papaya," and "Pink Poodle" coneflowers are on the benches now, along with several annual vines, heirloom tomatoes, and new perennials like "Autumn Lollypop" Helenium.  I just potted the "White Betony" and the "Snowpuff" Cosmos yesterday so they'll be hitting the sales benches soon.  I also planted comfrey, finally.  This time of year, there are just not enough hours in a day, or days in a week, but when I read prior years' journals, I realize that we're really in good shape for mid-April.  It is just the weather that is deceiving us into feeling behind.  We actually have more gardens cleaned and tidied than usual, and more plants ready for sale.

     So, after having risen at 4:30 to load and prep for the HSCI symposium, which was a lovely, lovely herbal event, but included unloading the truck, setting up a booth, manning the booth, taking down the booth, re-loading the truck, driving home from Indy, and unloading the truck again, I'm declaring the remainder of this day a holiday.....except I really need to work on the text for the book cover.  Maybe tomorrow....no, I have a workshop....maybe Monday?  No, I have a speech in Bluffton.....No rest for the herb farmer!