Squid, swimming in the dirt

Does it look like a squid to you?  It does to me.  Okay, so it's in the dirt, not in the water, but  -- ?

I had a school of them in my backyard last night -- here is a photo of part of the school, doing some synchronized swimming:

What, you don't believe me?  Hmmph.  Well, okay, so these are my asparagus crowns!  I have 10 of them.  I had no idea what to expect -- I didn't know what they would look like.  And when they arrived and I couldn't plant them immediately, I followed the instructions to dampen the sawdust they were packed in and refrigerate.  I didn't really open it up to look at them. 

Last night I was finally able to plant them -- I had built the raised bed* for them on Saturday.  Loosened the dirt, added a couple of bags of compost, and let the soil rest for a few days.  (Okay, I let myself rest for a few days.)  Then I had to look up the planting method again -- I had forgotten, and got those babies into the soil.  Lots of water now, and you know I'll be checking every day for the little green fern like plants to sprout!

*  The bed will be replaced -- I just used some 2"x4"s that I had on hand.  I have the permanent metal corners that I was saving for this bed, but I didn't have the requisite cedar planks, and I really needed to get these planted, so I just made do with what I had for now.  It works.  It isn't beautiful, but it works.

Happy Hydrangea

My hydrangea is super happy it's Spring.  Nearby I noticed my American Beauty Berry and my Natchez Mock Orange have tiny green buds as well; too tiny to be worth photographing, but I am encouraged.  No sign of life on my Night Blooming Jasmine yet.

Today I ordered 10 Jersey Giant Asparagus crowns... excited about that.  I need to plot out the best place to plant those, because they live 10-25 years.  Years!  I remember the family story that mom asked dad for some asparagus plants at the house I grew up in (where they still live) and he planted a quarter of an acre of it.  Um, yeah.  That's a whole lot of asparagus.  So yummy though.

I am miffed with myself that two days in a row I've forgotten my garden wish list at home.  I'm trying to remember all the great garden brainstorming I did and all of the (surely fabulous) ideas my neighbors and I came up with, but I'm not having a lot of success.  Difficult to order seeds when you can't recall what you wanted!  Ay yi yi.  I think there were moonflowers involved...