Gardening

by

Garden Bulbs: Putting on a Show

Today, I was ready! I’ve been enjoying these beautiful tulips putting on a show and wanted to share them with you. I kept missing the chance to grab a picture of their buttery centers. The tulips start to ‘disrobe’ around mid-day, usually when I’m gone. They’re wrapped up snugly first thing in the morning and again by dusk. Aren’t they something?

Tulip opens up

Tulip opens up

three tulips

Trio of Beauties

Petite and purple crocus broke ground this week, blooming with sporty stripes and tailored leaves to match They’re small put powerful, and once established, appear year after year. I planted crocus in several pots and as a border under the Acer and around the steps. Next year I’ll be far more adventurous, planting in greater volume. They’re magnificent!

Purple crocus

Purple Crocus with Lemony Centers

This lovely should burst on the scene tomorrow, just in time for Blooming Thursday. (No pressure, little flower.)

Tomorrow's promise

Tomorrow’s promise

I’ll close with this luscious number. I don’t remember planting it and don’t know what it is. Suggestions welcome.

DSC_0006

by

A Day in the Garden: Made to Order

If you like to garden, today was made to order. The temps climbed into the 70’s F (24C) with just the stirring of a breeze. Can you believe it? After a day in the garden, I have a sore back but a happy spirit. My perfect husband had plans for the afternoon, but still took time to dig a few holes before he left, voluntarily and with no complaining. Coincidentally, we met 19 years ago today.  I’m so glad I had the good sense to make sure he danced with me first that night.  :-)

Digging Holes

The Man of My Dreams

Where was I…

Oh yeah…digging holes. A few months back, I decided to thin the overgrown shrubs around the fruit cocktail tree, originally thinking I would re-plant with a few annuals.  Today we removed the last three overgrown shrubs, making enough room for the two new raspberries. There was also enough room to transplant the blueberry plant, which after three or four years is just limping along. Hopefully the blueberry likes its new home. I’ll be filling in with annuals if not.

Raspberry Cane

Raspberry Cane

Blueberry Shrub

Promising new growth on the blueberry shrub

I tamped the dirt into place and stepped back realizing we’d created a micro fruit orchard.  I’m using the word “orchard” liberally; with our tiny suburban lot, it all needed to fit into about 6 x 8 feet (1.8 x 2.4 meters) of space.  Our micro-orchard has blueberries, raspberries, plums, nectarines, peaches and apricots. When you garden in a tiny plot, every bit of dirt counts.

Since rain is forecast (oh how they tease) I figured I would make good use of the day.  I pulled out the last of the broccoli plants, now covered in green pests, before they could multiply further.  We dug out some old raspberry canes, and moved them away from the raised beds.  Moving them gives me more space to plant vegetables and herbs.

I finished the day raking, pulling out dead twigs, watering the pots (yes…the hose in early March…sigh) and sweeping the walkway.

“An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.”- Cora Lee Bell

Micro Orchard

Micro Orchard

The Long View

The Long View

by

Rolling Out the (Soda Pop) Carpet

As the weather warms up and the days grow longer, I look forward to setting up the outdoor furniture. We bought a cute little set from an import store a few years ago when we added a front deck. The furniture is comfy, cozy and easy to keep clean. Setting it up feels like playing house. I’m not sure I ever really grew up. ;-)

At the time we bought the set, we also picked up a grass-styled mat to unify the pieces. After three summers of outdoor-living, the mat is looking tired. We could certainly make do for one more year, but while shopping for summer dresses I found this:

striped garden mat

Outdoor Rug by Gaiam

The mats are hand-woven from strands made with recycled plastic. They’re reversible, too! The materials mean they are rot and mildew-resistant. Simply clean them with a hose.

The all-weather ‘rugs’  come in five different styles and two sizes. I hemmed and hawed over two of them, but finally settled on Tropical Stripe. Woodland Forest was the first-runner up.

Unexpectedly, the mat arrived with a burlap storage bag. I have a thing about bags, so it tickled my knees when it slid out of the box. It really is the little things that make our day, don’t you think?

I can’t wait to roll out the soda-pop mat, then gather our furniture around it. All summer long friends and neighbors stop by. I linger on the deck to open the mail or to read my book. We sit out there in the evening with a glass of wine or tea.

Counting the days…

What symbolizes the changing season for you?

by

A Compost We Will Grow

Pumpkin Seedlling with seed attached

What the well dressed pumpkin seedlings are wearing this season.

I popped the lid off the green compost bin and oh, what a surprise.

Along side the rotting leaves and decaying kitchen scraps, there is a lot of growing going on. The first thing I noticed: the pumpkins! They’re enjoying the warmth and shelter inside the bin. I’m surprised though that they’ve found enough light. Will you look at them growing so tall and straight?

Lanky blades of grass are also taking root, along with sprouts of a to-be-determined nature.  I’m using an old Rubbermaid bin for additional composting, since I quickly filled my tumbling composter.  It’s hard to get leverage with the shovel, however, so I’m not turning it as often as I should. Now I don’t have the heart.

Pumpkin Sprout

Happy Sprout

Mushrooms in compost

Finding Nemo?

Sprouting mushrooms are right at home, the more predictable compost heap resident. The silver cap would look great in the fairy garden, but I’m resisting temptation. Its questionable origin makes it an unsafe bet for a tiny garden with small visitors. It’s cute though…if you’re into grey flowers.

Mushrooms in compost

Grey Blooms: Tim Burton Inspiration

by

Flowering The Red Carpet

Are you watching the Academy Awards?  I love theater, film and most of all costumes so I tune in for the sound bites and frills. We record the show ahead of time, because, let’s face it, it’s an *awards* show.

While it’s fun to watch the Hollywood A-List stars on the red carpet, double-Spanxed and elegantly dressed, I’ve noticed a distinct lack of floral dresses on display.

Here’s what I was hoping to see instead:

flower dress

Who needs a pair of Spanx when you have a gorgeous bouquet around your midsection?
Photo Credit: Linda Miller, Pinterest

New York couture

Laura Clare: New York Flower Show

trailing flower dress

Floral Dress: Credited to Khun K via Pinterest

They aren’t giving out any awards for “Best Gardening Halloween Costume in a Small Blogging Community” but if they were, I was ready.

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2010

by

Friends, if you aren’t already following Boomdeeada, you are definitely missing out. Check out her latest “Gnome Sweet Home.” She’s created a charming ‘garden within a garden’ and recently received the kitty-cat stamp of approval. Enjoy!

Kelly Made It's avatarBoomdeeadda

I live in a little forest

with moss to tickle my feet

I’m the happiest little Gnome

that you will ever meet

Garden Gnome

My home is very tiny

just big enough for me

from my view up on the hill

the valley below I see

Gnome Home

Oh look, there’s Romeo waiting

halfway down the walk

A sweet little friend of mine

we laugh and play or talk.

 My friend Romeo

I also made a garden

for fairy’s one and all

you’ll have to look so very close

as it is really small

 My Fairy Garden

As I look out over my Kingdom

all the glory that I see

I can’t help get that feeling

that someones watching me

 Someone's watching me

Well, off I go to wander

there’s so much I want to see

I’m sure I heard a fairy singing

just beyond that tree.

My Little Kingdome

 Drop in on Sunday for the genesis of

Gnome Sweet Home. See you…

View original post 19 more words

by

Watercolor Tulips

Watercolor TulipThe first of the tulips are up, unfurling petals like the strokes of a water-colored canvas. I love the way they look just before they open. Wouldn’t it be fun to peak inside the tightly coiled flower? Do you think they have a secret to tell?

In a few more days they’ll open revealing a colorful, reproductive center. Then quietly, one by one, the petals drop and the tulip is done for the season. If you went on an ill-timed vacation you could miss the whole thing.

I have a dear friend who attends the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival most years. She has several pictures showing rows and rows of growing tulips and a few with her posing among the rows. I have to giggle at my excitement over a pair of tulips, when I think of that sea of flowers. Perhaps I’ll get to go one day, too. For now, I’m enjoying the pair of tulips in the planter on my back steps, marveling at nature’s perpetual beauty.

Potted tulips

Potted tulips

Ready to spring forth

Ready to spring forth

For Kecker

 

by

From There to Here, From Here to There, This Blogging Thing is Everywhere*

Shooting Star Hydrangea CloseupToday I surpassed a personal milestone. A year ago February, I set out to write every day for a year.  During that time, the earth made a complete revolution around the sun. Four seasons came and went. Garden squirrels came and went too, along with aphids, scale and thrips. Raccoons dropped by, leaving tell-tale paw prints next to the overturned sod before washing there ‘hands’ in the fountain.  It’s every critter for themselves in the world of gardeningnirvana.

Writing daily was sometimes challenging, but it was always worthwhile.  I gained confidence along the way. Dr. Seuss said it best:

“Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ‘blog’ will make you the winning-est winner of all.”

The good doctor was right. Here’s what I won:

  • The ability to persevere through illness, fatigue and, yes, procrastination.
  • Discipline, in both writing and gardening.
  • Goal-setting.  It had been awhile since I set such a lofty goal.  It was important to me to see it through.
  • The most generous, thoughtful, gracious, intelligent and engaged readers a person could hope for. (You know who you are)

*With apologies to Dr. Seuss

Dedicated to my fellow bloggers who inspire me daily. ♥

by

Foreshadowing the Scented Garden

Flowering Daphne

Flowering Daphne

The lovely Daphne is in full bloom, her scent powerful enough to knock you sideways. No wonder the neighborhood squirrels like to hide their nuts nearby. Her waxy green leaves, edged in buttercup yellow, frame the bouquet of blooms. It would be easy to envy that effortless beauty, but I know she’s been working hard since the fall, storing energy for this fabulous display. Deep pink shadows give way to a blush of pinks and creams. Effervescence, defined.

Daphne Banner

by

Waiting for ‘DaGourds

a pair of birdhouse gourds

Keeping cozy

Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot was required reading during my college days.  It’s summarized as an absurdest play, with two men waiting in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot.  Interpretations of the play vary widely.

I’m waiting for the gourds to turn brown. How’s that for absurd?  I waited months for the birdhouse gourds to turn green.  Now I’ll wait even longer for them to turn brown.

My wait isn’t political, psychological, Freudian or existential. It’s craft-based. I’m waiting for the gourds to turn brown so I can carve them into birdhouses.

I’ve bundled them up to keep them warm and dry.  I give them a spin now and again to be sure they’re drying evenly. Today I wrapped them in scarves and set them on a chair where they sit mocking me. They seem determined to remain ever-green.

Waiting for Godot is “a tragicomedy in two acts.”  Waiting for the gourds is just silly.

Birdhouse Gourds in Scarves

Birdhouse Gourds Staying Dry and Warm