tulip blooms

Tulips all over! It's actually one of my least-favorite flowers, but they were already established and make the yard full of color in April.

Red and white

Yellow

Yellow with orange

and my favorite, purple

hyacinth

The pink Hyacinth (among blue grape ones) has taken on a darker hue.

ruffled

I have some very weird Daffodil blooms in my yard. The previously pictured one, that looked scruffy? Looking closer, it appeared to have two flower centers, right next to each other.

This one seems to have two flower centers, one superimposed upon the other. I don't know if this is a particular fancy variety of daffodil, or if mine are freaks. From a distance they look pretty, but up close they're kind of strange.

I prefer the more standard kind of flower, in all its varieties, but apparently the people who planted these bulbs (before we got the house) liked them fancier.

dumb cane

Divided up my Dieffenbachia plant, which was looking way too crowded, and trimmed off some injured leaves as well.

Now I have two medium-sized pots

and the largest stem cluster plus a small one went back into the original pot.

dragon plant

The large-leaved Dracaena plant (I don't know the names of the varieties yet, but used to call it "the dragon plant") is looking sickly, and the dirt smells sour. I upended it, found it rootbound, without much space left. Plus the cane was buried at least an inch below the soil (is that normal?)

And a lot of the leaves have brown spots.

I put it in a larger pot and trimmed out (or cut off with sweeps of scissors) the damaged leaves. Foliage a lot thinner now, but it looks clean and much better. All fresh soil, too.

I hope I've made it a happy plant.

celeries

Moved the little Celery seedlings from their crowded tray

into cardpots.

I can't seem to get good photos of them, but the shapes of the small scalloped leaves are very pretty.

basil seed

Seeded a new tray with Basil. My own saved seed from last summer's plants. The seeds are very small.

flower seedlings

My flowers are coming up in the trays. Only three days!

Cosmos

Marigold

and Tithonia

 Outside where the compost pile recently sat, just after turning it over last time, I planted Tithonia seed directly into the dark soil. They have such a curious shape.

pea plants!

The Peas are coming up in the garden bed, now- in timing with the blooming of tulips.


Transplanted first set of started Peas into the bed. (The white patches are crushed eggshells around the emerging Pea seedlings that were direct planted.)

And moved second set of started Peas into cardpots. They grow so quickly, next year I think I ought to start them the time the later ones were (mid March), and plant straight into cardboard tubes.

It was kind of cool to still see the pea, with stem and leaves coming out the top, roots out the bottom

grape hyacinths

Grape Hyacinths carpet the front flowerbed now. It's so pretty.

I tried to take some close-ups of the cut flowers in little jar, as they're beginning to fade.

pepper seedlings

All of my Bell Pepper seeds have sprouted! It makes me very happy to watch them grow, at a quick rate now that they're put out under sun every day.

twigs

Lilac bush outside still looks just like a mess of twigs, so I worry over it, although the others in neighborhood haven't shown signs of growth yet, either. I scraped a tiny sliver of bark with my fingernail and underneath it's green, so I still hope it's alive.

poinsettia

The two largest leaves (red) fell off my Poinsettia this morning. Now it just looks like a twig with one tiny green leaf. I'm dismayed, but it looks like a few nodes are forming new baby leaves, so still hope. (The parent plant upstairs which my neighbor owns is looking very dismal. I think he overwaters it).

The other houseplant-cuttings are not doing well, either. The Philodendron died

and the others remained static, but when I pulled them gently out of soil, found just the ends rotting, no sign of roots. Kind of like I expected.

The Aglaonema still looks kind of pretty, as a half-furled green leaf sail, so I'm leaving it on the dresser for time being.

blossoms

Trees in the front yard in full bloom now. Beautiful, like they're decorated with cut lace. Delicate, sweet smell. I think perhaps they're cherry trees.

rhubarb leaf!

My Rhubarb is growing! 

Doesn't look like much yet, but I'm just thrilled to see green poking above the ground.

seed starting

Started some flower seeds in trays today: Cosmos, Tithonia and Marigolds. I've never started flowers indoors before, but the ones I planted outside last year either didn't grow, or I mistook them for weeds.

seedlings

First Tomato seedlings are coming up! Six days.

leafy greens

Second picking of Lettuce, eaten in tacos! Most of it still from the overwintered plants.