Transplanting and the outdoor nursery

I know by now you're all sick of hearing about my baby plants, but here's another entry. Hooray! Some of my native flowers-to-be have grown big enough to be transplanted into larger pots and sit outside during warm sunny days. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny, albeit windy, day. My plan for the day was to transplant the biggest plants and build a squirrel-resistant enclosure to protect my plants while they make the transition from indoor to outdoor life.

Turns out some of my plants were way overdue for a new container. Yikes!



After a trip to the hardware store, I gathered the plants to be transplanted and went outside. I took almost all of the Bee Balm and Black-Eyed Susans as well as a few of the Purple Coneflowers. Did I mention it was windy outside? Taking the Bee Balm outside was a mistake. The wind had those plants nearly touching the ground. I quickly transplanted the Bee Balm and set them inside the garage before moving on the shorter plants.

Before I started hobbling my enclosure together, I noticed I already had one premade squirrel container. Several years ago, Danno bought a small fire pit to burn leaves and branches. He used it once and was not comfortable with the strength of the fire so we stopped using it. The pit has sat unused, collecting moss and growing weeds, until today.

It's a tight fit, but my Rudbeckia and Echinacea plants have a new daytime nursery, at least for a while.

The enclosure took a bit of work, but after many scratches and swear words, I finished before the end of the afternoon.

I hope it holds up OK. I know it will be able to withstand a windy day, but I'm hoping it can hold its own against hungry squirrels.  Several years ago, my father-in-law made several smaller  squirrel-proof enclosures that could protect one plant, and he offered to lend them to me. I'm going to take him up on his offer.

You know you're going to get another plant entry sometime in the foreseeable future, right?