Potatoes; cleanup; births; deaths

A busy day in the garden:  

Sage and I planted eight Yukon Gold seed potatoes (cut up into sections containing two eyes each, and "hardened" for two days) in a new bed she helped me dig a few days ago.

Cut more runners from my two lilac bushes and spread them along the picket fence.  (I plan on keeping them shoulder height).  I then spread some wood ash (collected this winter from the fireplace) around their bases, and watered it in.

My California poppies have emerged from the soil.  18 days ago I sewed a large packet of seeds in a few spots around the garden.  As a former Californian, I love to see them flowering en masse.

Put some seaweed-based compost/mulch around the roses and peach tree.

My muscari are up and about ready to turn their grape color.

I have so many new and unknown shoots coming up after fall seeding.  Hopefully I'll be able to identify them once they leaf out and bloom.

Indoor gardening:  potted up my zinnias and hollyhocks, since they've outgrown their little seed-starting cells.

Plant obituaries:  it's time to give up on my lamb's ear and two lavender plants, all of which I had growing in pots last year and should have protected from the cold over the winter, but left them on my front porch.  I also salvaged a mildewy hydrangea last summer from a nursery (for a buck), cut it back hard, and hoped it survived.  It didn't.   My ten mums are also struggling to come back:  about half of them look healthy.