GROUNDHOG DAY 2011

So today is Groundhog day! I've been looking forward to today because I am dying for spring to get here! I just want to get outside and start working on curb appeal for our home. This morning was not a good start. My son Kane is starting to catch the flue that all the kids have at daycare (grandmas). So last night we were constantly up. He was soo fevered and you could tell he just wasn't himself. So when I got up this morning we are also being hit with a huge snow storm all buses in the area are cancelled. I'm pretty sure I have about a foot of snow to shovel off the driveway. I called into work today and took a sick day to be with my son and I wasn't going to risk driving up the highway in this weather, even though I do have 4 wheel drive. Anyways, so I was cleaning the house and remembered that today is in fact groundhog day. I didn't listen on the radio this morning to hear if he'd seen his shadow, so I googled it and this is what I found and read http://www.examiner.com/holidays-in-providence/groundhog-day-2011-results-did-punxsutawney-phil-see-his-shadow-on-feb-2nd  and Noooo he did not see his shadow soo its an EARLY SPRING. YAY.......so excited and being soo excited I had to start some planting.

Last week I went to Canadian tire and they had bulbs on sale. So I bought 3 packages of tulips and 3 packages of dahlias for get this.....$1 a pack. Technically tulips need to go in the ground in the fall so they germinate over the winter and bloom in the spring. But I chose to buy them anyways and plant them inside.  I got these great jiffy pots at the dollarama in Gravenhurst. You get 26 mini pots in one pack and I am sure they have other sizes as well, I chose the small so I could plant seeds too. The pots are completely compostable and are made of peat moss so you can plant these pots right into the ground.

 I chose the miracle gro indoor/ outdoor potting mix as there wasn't much of a selection out this time of year at Home Depot. This miracle 'gro is enriched with 0.14-0.14-0.14 fertilizer and feeds up the 3 months.

 I started out by labelling the pots with the colour of tulip I was planting in it, then I filled the jiffy pots half full with the potting mix. I then inserted the bulb and covered them with more potting mix until they were full. Note some of the bulbs are already sprouting so some of them didn't cover as well as others.

 I also purchased this great plant tray, it comes with 2 trays and 1 clear plastic cover to incubate your seedlings.

This is my finished product after I watered them, now all we have to do is wait.

These bulbs would also make a great gift. I know I'm giving my parents some. You could even plant them in fancy pot or even dress up your pot with some great ribbon. Also great for Easter. Cant wait until these babies bloom.