spring flowers

The Daffodils are almost done blooming. Most are faded now. This was my favorite clump; it grew along in the back of the yard. I marked it with sticks hoping to remember to dig it up and move in the fall.

Now the Tulips are brightening the yard! My favorite is still this solo pink one with wavy leaves.

I also like the purples.

Some are opened so wide they look flat like saucers.

The yellow ones with flame centers are striking.

The reds are so bold they remind me of poppies. Their color steals the eye from the rest.

emerging echinacea

I do believe this is my one surviving Echinacea, or purple coneflower, coming back up! I hope I get flowers this year.

wonder

A small but amazing event happened in a little pot on my patio shelf. I have a pear seedling!

I didn't really expect these to sprout, but months ago put them in a little pot out in the elements, as advised. And it's growing! There's two more seeds in the pot, but I'm happy enough to have one. Now let's hope it can grow up big and beautiful as the Apple tree (now beginning its third year).

green stems

Planted my Green Onions out into the herb bed yesterday.

They look like such tiny stems, nearly identical to the wild onions that grow everywhere in the lawn and yard.

In front of the little row I've planted more seed of the same kind.

carnivores

My Venus Flytrap has a new trap forming- you can see it here on the top right; it doesn't have "teeth" yet.

It's also been shooting up this tall flower stalk. I saw these plants blooming in a conservatory once and asked a few questions; the plant puts up such a tall flower so that insects that come to pollinate it don't get caught by the traps! My flytrap doesn't seem to have caught anything yet.

The Sundew is also blooming, one on each corner of the square pot.

The Sundew has been catching plenty of bugs; I see at least half a dozen gnats stuck in its sticky fringes. The plant never seems to curl over the bugs to absorb them, though. So I'm not sure if it's actually feeding? but it is keeping the gnats from flying around my living room, for which I'm grateful!

How many stuck bugs can you see in the above picture? I spot three (I think one is an ant).

identity?

Can anyone identify this white flower for me?

It sprang up suddenly next to my driveway, among the grape hyacinths. I've never seen it before. It has three sharp triangular petals, with three smaller round petals inside. The petals are all white but the outer petals are pink on the outside.

It's very pretty. What is it?

red on black

Fed my young Rhubarb some compost with a sprinkling of coffee grounds on top (to deter slugs). They're growing fast. The red looks even more brilliant against the black stuff.

I realize now that my rhubarb has overcome whatever was causing the yellowing leaves the first year I grew it. I looked back through all the photos and only saw the yellowing in the first year. It was on my mind every other year but the photos prove there were just bug-chewed holes and then the usual autumn demise- no yellowing disease. Whether its because I remembered to feed it compost regularly, or cleared out all the weeds, or the plant just got stronger I don't know. But I'm glad it doesn't seem to be sick anymore!

c. myrtle circle

I planted some flowers today. A pink and purple mix of anemones, or windflowers. Bought the bulbs from a fundraiser at my kid's school months ago.

Yesterday I prepared the spot, digging weeds and grass out of a wider circle around each crepe myrtle that flanks the steps from my driveway to patio. Wedged in some pieces of roofing tile to block the grass from growing back in (probably not the best material, but I had some so I used it).

The younger myrtle I found its soil was really heavy clay still, so I mixed more compost in. Pushed about twenty-three of the small black bulbs into the circle around each crepe myrtle. I'm crossing my fingers they grow.

Found when I was working so close to the shrubs that a few opened seedpods clung to the tips of branches. They have a beautiful wedged star shape. I never thought of saving the seed to grow more crepe myrtles, though I suppose it's possible...

green and pink

I kind of like looking up into my Cyclamen on the bathroom windowsill; it's like looking into the secret life of the plant. Although a few more leaves have yellowed and wilted, nothing I've yanked out has had grey fuzzies on the end of the stem. So I think there's no more fungus!

And there's a new baby leaf.

When the flowers first open, they look like stars.

seedlings!

My Turnips are up! I thought I had scattered the seeds evenly along the rows, but apparently not as they're growing in crowded clumps and will need to be thinning promptly.

Also emerging are the Swiss Chard

This pic a bit blurry but I like it with the snail shell in there. I didn't even see the shell until I uploaded the photo, it's so tiny- smaller than my pinkie fingernail.

And I had to look close, but there are a few Beet seedlings growing, too.

lettuces in

It's an overcast day but warm and mild. Rain supposedly later (it was predicted to thunderstorm starting at nine am and I've only seen a bit of sprinkle now at two o'clock). Just the right kind of day for transplanting. And the forsythia are blooming all over the neighborhood, so I know it's time for lettuce. I gathered up all my trays of them. Some not very big yet, but they're going into the ground regardless.

They look so teensy in the bed. I put Black-seeded Simpson in the back,

then in the front one half is Romaine

the other side Bibb lettuce.

oreganos

The teensy baby Oregano plants are just a bit bigger now- enough that you can actually see them.

I don't really need more, as it turns out, the one that overwintered outside in the garden is getting some nice growth now that it's warm.

But oregano is one plant I want to dry lots of- I use it often in cooking- so I'll probably put at least one more plant in the garden.

mints relocated

All my Mints are growing back, now. The Lemon Balm lush and pretty

and the others just starting their growth. This one has stayed inside its pot

but the other two are already sprawling out of their boundaries!

I'm afraid it won't work, sinking pots. But I still want to have them in the ground, as summers get so hot here anything in pots dies if I miss a day of watering. I've made the discovery (from this wonderful article on Daily Kos) that Mint likes wet ground. There's a spot in my yard that's usually damp- it grows moss- and also happens to be bounded by a concrete patio on one side, a heavy wooden barrier on the other. I moved the three Mints over there, adding another barrier of old roofing tiles and bricks sunk into the ground. Directly on the other side of it I planted a bunch of Daylilies dug up from the back corner, as they spread I hoped it might keep any mints that escape in check? For now it looks pretty, anyways.

The mints don't seem to mind being moved.

And I love the scent they leave on my fingers.

growing!

My few but vigorous Nasturtiums are getting so big in the window! I've been thinking about finding a pot to put them outside on the patio soon... I've moved them to the patio shelf during the day now, to start acclimatizing them to living outside.

peppers!

I love looking at my Peppers growing. I want all my plants to look so beautiful. Must get grow lights next year...

I was curious if these in subirrigated pots and under lamps had grown any better than those in regular old plastic pots on the windowsill. So I held one next to the other. They look about the same- the subirrigated plant perhaps a bit bigger.

I'm watering them all from below, now. And this one the roots have already found their way out of the wicking hole! Do you see that little root, down at the bottom?

ruby!

With a thrill today I pulled back the leaf mulch from the Rhubarb bed and found three growing. I expected the fourth, the one with the rotted crown, to be dead. So I got as many as I paid for! The little red nubbins thrusting up out of the soil gleam like red jewels. Mmm, rhubarb pies are coming!

some of them don't look like much yet, that's for sure, but I'm so excited to see them coming I've got a grin on my face