Garden Visitor

The summer flowers are in full bloom. Most of the flowers in my garden are the same as in this post from 2013. I'm enjoying their scent as well as the color. There are a few new additions, and I will try to get some photos of those as well. Until then, enjoy this photo of a recent visitor to my phlox.

I'm sure you know that butterflies, for the most part, do not sit still. And I just have a little point and shoot camera that I barely know how to use. So I was very pleased to see how well this photo turned out. I was really trying to get a shot with the wings fully open, because this female Tiger Swallowtail had amazing iridescent blue on her hindwings. It was dazzling. And I was excited to see that she still had both of her little tails intact. Very beautiful.

Out the Back Door

This lovely lusciousness greeted me this morning as I left to go to work. Right next to the back door - the ferns are almost as tall as I am! And trying to peek out - one of the Jack in the Pulpits. I love spring!

It's Working!

This year, I got an early jump on the Easter decorating. Well, one spot, anyway. On a mild day soon after Ash Wednesday, I went looking for a branch to use for an Easter Egg tree. 

In the past I think we always used dead branches. But something about that didn't seem quite right. I wondered if maybe the idea was supposed to be cut a living branch, and get it to bud out by Easter. 

Ideally a willow or forsythia would have been the perfect choice. Easy to green up, I'm sure. I thought about lilac, with its pretty heart shaped leaves, but I couldn't bring myself to cut any of my own lilacs. So I snipped the end of a rogue mulberry, that needs to be removed anyway, and brought it in. I added water to the stones in the crock, and hung the ornaments. I wasn't sure if a mulberry would do anything. They are one of the last trees to open their leaves here, and being more of a hard wood, I didn't know if my branch would even take in enough water. The buds were so teeny tiny.

I guess the conditions were right, because this morning I noticed bright green leaves starting to unfurl themselves. 

Such fun!

Hope Springs Eternal

Last year, I bought a share in a CSA, and enjoyed a variety of fresh veggies, eggs, and mushrooms all summer long. Actually though, it was a little overwhelming toward the end. Part of it was not having the free time when the box arrived to plan out what to make. Some veggies were easy, others took more planning. I did get quite a bit frozen, and that’s been nice this winter. But I ended up wasting some, and that was disappointing.

This year, instead of the CSA, I’m going to try gardening again. Until recently I’ve always had a big garden. Over the years though, I’ve managed to create too much shade in my back yard for a large plot, and had a few bad years, so I cut back to just containers for a while, and last year not even those. But now, I think I’ll make a new garden bed and see what happens.

To that end, yesterday I started the first flat of seeds in the house. Now, most of these are pretty old, so if they don’t germinate I’ve got plenty of time for a plan B. First I sorted all the packets by start dates, and filled a flat with those that take the longest. I planted tomatoes, green peppers, and herbs, including parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives, marjoram, and more. In another two weeks I’ll plant the faster seeds, and in the meantime I’ll sort the flower packets by the same rule, and get some of them going.

 

If all goes well, I should have nice fresh vegetables to enjoy, and maybe even enough to put some by for winter. If not, well, there’s always the farmer’s market to fall back on!

Rollie contemplating his favorite herbs

In the Yard

 

 I don't have one of those neatly landscaped yards, with tidy edges and well thought out beds of perennials and annuals. Instead I have a mish-mash of plants, some doing well, others being crowded out by weeds and volunteer saplings. But when mid-summer arrives, and full-bloom settles in, it's lovely to behold. And a constant work in progress.

 

The better part of today was spent pulling trees and cutting out wild raspberry canes, and liberating a giant hosta. The temperature dropped to an almost chilly mid-60's which was perfect for doing hard labor requiring long sleeves and leather gloves. Now that the area is clear, it holds all kinds of potential. I have a long way to go, and many more trees and canes to remove, but it's so exciting to have some fresh dirt to dig in!