Garden Challenges and Successes

Here are the picture updates from what was growing in my last plant post:

Row 1: left- Madder, below: Green Cotton

Row 2: left- Japanese Indigo, Right- Dark Orange marigolds

Row 3: Purple Opal Basil

Not Shown: Broom (yellow and maroon flowers)

Rhododendron, Raspberry (for leaves).

The garden is really taking off now. The wildflowers are coming in strong (about a whole 1/2 " tall!) The hollyhocks are doing well. The indoor cotton is about 8" tall and ready to be transplanted outside. The indigo is about 4-5" tall, and some of the stronger plants have started to branch. The weather is still erratic, so I transplanted them, and will keep them inside another week. Madder is ready to be potted up. Lupines are dying in their pots. Apparently the don't like to be moved once they're planted. I should have started them in larger pots and let them grow longer.

I'm also going to plant the Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, some more Japanese Indigo, and some Sulfur Cosmos this weekend. LOTS of weeding is needed too.

I did have one real disappointment. I'd purchased 2 pounds of AMAZING A/B Pygora Fleece. I washed 1 pound, and put the 2nd aside for a bit (the first was horrible to wash but SOOOO nice to play with). When I went to get the 2nd pound, it was riddled with larvae and moths. Tonight I'm tearing apart my studio, and opening every bag to check them for bugs. What's still good will be double bagged. As soon as I can find out where, I'm sending the whole lot of it off for processing! How GROSS.

We've been having moth problems in the house. I thought they were pantry moths, but I couldn't get rid of them. I think I may have found the source of my problem!

More later!

Dye Happy!

Leah