Daffy & Tulip Update

Spring is here!

Last fall I did a little yard clean up and planted some daffodils, tulips and pansies, which you can see in this post

Now the bulbs are blooming brightly and the pansies of course have bloomed most of the winter. As the weather gets too warm they will fade out. I will probably replace them with small marigolds along the edge of the bed. In this photo to the far left you can see the artichoke plants I put in last fall have survived the winter quite well. Hopefully they will make some artys for me pretty soon.

In the fore ground, this clump of bearded iris is a lavender and purple tall bloomer. I got starts from a house down the road, I have no idea the variety but it is probably one that is at least 50 years old as my mother remembers them being there when she was younger. They will bloom later in spring.

Tulips

baby plum; it's really only the size of a pea

In another area of the yard it looks like the plum trees escaped any damage from the snow as there are little plums on them. This picture is magnified a good bit, the plums are really only the size of a little green pea.

Arugula blossoms

And all over the garden the arugula is bolting with the warm weather. Some I just cut down a few times to feed to the chickens and rabbits and others I let go for volunteer seed and to provide blooms for bees and butterflies.

I’m Baaack! May 12, 2010

I’m Baaack!

May 12, 2010 at 3:45 pm

Boy it’s been a long time since I posted here. The dog attacks last fall really took the wind out of my sails. But spring has come and the flowers are blooming. I haven’t done a lot in the garden, but here are some catch up pictures for you.
Spring comes early, like January and February, starting with the Paperwhites.
Then the short bearded iris come on. I have solid white and a purple kind. I think of these as being the old-fashioned ones because they were here when I moved in. I see them all over town. They do so well that when they get over crowded and I have to divide them I have even put them up on the side of the hill and along the creek bank. They are good to help control erosion. As long as they are not in a real hot spot they can get along without extra water, though they will bloom more prolifically if they have some.

A painting I did from the above photo.

There are a few tulips around the yard. [Did you know you can eat tulip flowers?]
Some California poppies. These bloom all along the highways and on the hills around here.
Later come the tall bearded iris. I don’t know the name of this variety either. This one grows about 3 1/2 feet tall with as many as 6 blooms to a stalk.
About the same time these tall yellow ones come along, tho they are not quite as tall as the ones above.
Over on the hillsides the cactus are blooming; this one is called a hedgehog. The photo does not really give you the true color; it is much more intense, nearly fluorescent.
Here is a yucca blooming. They are related to our garden lilies. The Native Americans used this plant for making baskets and shoes. The would strip the fibers  off the leaves and the sharp points provided a ready-made needle. Also, they would watch the plants in early spring and when the bloom stalk started to swell up out of the plant they would cut the plant down and roast the middle of it in the embers of their fire. The plant stores up a lot of carbohydrate in preparation for blooming and setting seeds. When roasted those carbs turn to sugars and made a sweet treat.
Well that’s all for now. I’ll try to post some more later today or tomorrow.