Doesn't being in the garden sometimes make you feel like this, all dreamy and fuzzy and bright, wondrous things all around?
A few years ago I started an experiment: using a bottomless nursery pot as a way to give larger plants better soil without restricting their roots. If you remember, this was specifically to house a cardoon.
For the past few weeks it's pretty much been bird time in my garden. Although some of the species start nesting quite early (like the grackles and house finches), others start a bit later. Even others raise more than one brood a year, and if you add into the equation the different development times (some birds take longer to mature) you end up with a period of at least a couple of months where the sounds of begging nestlings or twittering fledgelings are almost constant.
Today's post is different because it won't contain any images. (Strike that -- it won't contain any new images. I decided that I had to have at least one, so I reused an old one.) A certain chain of events occurred this past weekend that required quick action and two free hands, neither of which are conducive to photo taking.
Running the risk of becoming too turtle-heavy of a blog, it's another post about that turtle. Or maybe it's a different turtle. Perhaps those of you with keen eyes will be able to compare these photos with those from the other day to tell me if they're the same individual or not.
The first project of the 2014 gardening season is a simple copper pipe trellis, and has been in planning since last year. Remember when I planted a few clematis, then used an underperforming buckthorn shrub as a temporary support for the one vine?
Like many gardeners, I'm so busy in the garden right now. There's so much to do -- weeding, planting, transplanting, cleaning -- it's easy to forget to stop and take a look at what's going on around you.
Time for another update on the winter-decimated bamboos, and it's good news this time!
The garden is getting to that point where most of the major work in some beds has been completed (even though there's much to do in other beds) and I can start looking at the details.
Yesterday for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day I showed you everything that was in bloom in my garden right now.
Somehow I was actually aware of the calendar this month and can actually participate in this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
So I've finally gotten around to pulling the last of the plants out of the garage, and for me that means the ones that were put into tubs. The ones that have been out of sight and out of mind for the past five months or so.
I've already looked at the bamboos and cactus to see how they fared after the tough winter, and today it's time to look at another group of plants that I have a small collection of: lavender.
It's an exciting time for me, as my garden is about to have peony blooms in it for the first time ever!
Yesterday I looked at the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia) in my cactus bed, and showed you that six of the nine species and/or varieties survived that brutal winter.
I haven't looked at the cactus bed in a post since the end of February, and it's now pretty much clear which of the plants made it and which succumbed to the winter cold, and more importantly with cactus, the moisture level when it was cold.
The bamboo seems to be putting most of its energy into replacing the leaves that were killed by this past harsh winter, so there are fewer shoots this year.
The garden is finally to the point where everything is waking up, and the ones that aren't stirring, well, they most likely are not coming back. My favorite tree (of those in my garden) is one of those that are slow to wake, but finally has started showing that yes, spring really is here.
Do you know what starts to happen after your pond has been around for a few years, goldfish multiplying, getting larger?
I'm determined not to go to crazy buying plants this year, as for the last couple of years I ended up with too many things to plant -- my driveway was a nursery for most of the year.
This is my favorite time of year in the veggie garden! Cool temperatures mixed with warm (or hot) days, plenty of rain (hold the hail please!) and not too many insects yet make the edibles such a pleasure to tend.
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