This is the third spring for this rose. I believe I am going to try my hand at propagation this year. I’m leaning towards bending one of the branches over and burying it after a light scraping of the bark and a touch of rooting powder. Perhaps by next spring I will have a second plant.

This weekend saw the transplanting of the basement tomatoes into their individual cups. I’m a little late with the tomatoes this year. I started them in the basement as usual but didn’t realize that the light in the prop bench had gone out not long after they all came up. The cooler soil temps delayed their growth and I was too busy to notice. So… I am probably a couple of weeks behind where I would be. It is probably for the best though as it has been so wet here, I still have yet to get into the garden to get it tilled. The weeds are loving it. I am going to have to mow the weeds prior to tilling and before they bloom if I have any hope of getting anything to grow out there.

It is going to be another AWESOME year for gooseberries. They are some of the most rugged little plants I’ve ever seen. Very thorny but well worth the work of picking. The fruit ripens over time so there is a longer harvest than many of the small fruits. When I planted these several years ago, I had never tasted a gooseberry. I had good reports and, as they could grow in partial shade, I decided to give them a try. They are getting full sun in the spring till the leaves of the locust tree fill in. For the rest of the summer they only get about 2 tor 4 hours of sun in the morning and perhaps a little filtered sun late in the evening. They are loaded with fruit again this year. There are the original two bushes that are about 4′ tall and a third I planted last spring or the year before. One is a Poorman (my favorite for flavor) and two are Pixwell. One was purchased locally (Highlands Garden Center) and the others may have come from Indiana Berry though I am not sure. The latter has fewer thorns but the former has larger sweeter berries. If you are feeling adventuresome and have a 5′ square semi-shady area you can part with they are well worth the little work they require.