A Western Kansas Rarity

Boy, it is WINDY out there today! No, that is definitely NOT the rarity in our neck of the woods. What is rare is the fact that our soil is so nice and wet! We still had some plants that needed to be transplanted. Earlier this spring, it looked like some of our gardens would be fine. Instead, the plants really took off and started crowding each other out. Leighlyn and I decided that since we had such an outstanding rain yesterday, this would be the time to move them. It seemed like we could dig for 10 feet before we found any dry ground. It was GREAT! What seemed stupid was the fact that we actually had to water them down after they were planted. Without the extra water, a lot of them would have surely gone into shock. We definitely would not have wanted that to happen.

I actually dug up a TREE and moved it with practically no tremendous effort. Several years ago, we had planted 2 Smoke Bushes. We planted them about 10 feet away from each other. Both survived but only one of them has grown. It is probably about 8 or 9 feet tall and is so healthy that its "smoke" blooms very well. The other one never gets any taller than 4 feet and never has any smoke. The only thing that I can figure out is that she short one does not receive as much sunlight as the other one. Today, I dug it up and moved it to a much sunnier location. Even though its roots were close to 2 feet long, digging that deeply was no big problem.

Early in the spring, Abigayle and I transplanted several currant bushes from our backyard. Their recovery has been slow-going. For awhile, I thought that we had killed them. Just when I decided to dig them up and trash them, leaves began to appear on all of them. We were SOOOOOOOO excited! (It doesn't take too much to get us that way. LOL!!!) Though they are starting to leaf out pretty well, they still have a long way to go to be as full as they usually are this time of the year. It is past time for them to bloom. Hopefully they will be in full bloom next year. They have the sweetest blossoms that attract beautiful birds and butterflies to our yard.

Well, gotta go. Still have some Vinca to get moved. Leighlyn and Abigayle can hardly wait! Ha! Ha!

VLE-B