Early Bloomers and the Return of the Bumblebee

Who would not be happy to see these beautiful dark purple crocuses growing in their own backyard? All I can say is, "I want more!" The good news is, in my garden research, I have read that crocuses usually naturalize quickly, which means I will most likely have more...someday. These are the crocuses I was worried that I buried too deep, so it's extra wonderful to have them now.

More and more daffodils in the front border. The little ones have been naturalizing quickly. When my Grandma came up to visit one spring about six years ago, she gave me a little pot with daffodils and tulips to put by the front door. When they were done flowering that year, I moved the bulbs to the garden and hoped some would come back. I think most of them did and it's always nice to remember Grandma's visit when these flowers come back each year.

Bumblebees are very loud. By the sound of this one's "buzz", you'd think he was unfriendly, but he was kind enough to stop for a photo-op on the rosemary bush.

Other Work in the Garden:

I set the sweet pea starts out along the side fence in the backyard. Husband stapled twine to the fence for me so the sweet peas will have something to grow on. We had a minor catastrophe when I used my organic fertilizer to amend the soil along the fence-line. Apparently, the bone meal in my Whitney Farm's All-Purpose Plant Food was too much of a temptation for the neighbor's dog, who tried to dig under the fence to get at it. Our other neighbors saw the dog poking through the fence and gave us a call, but by then husband was already on his way to plug the hole with concrete and put up a few new fence boards. You never saw such and instantaneous fence repair! A few of the sweet peas were a bit trampled, but they seem pretty tough and I think they will all survive. I am waiting a bit nervously for them to grow. I just don't know what to expect as I've never grown them or even remember seeing them firsthand. Will definitely post pictures as they grow.

Crocus

First crocus of 2010!

Alpine strawberry has its first blossom. Preschooler will be so excited!

These green onions over-wintered in the garden. Late last summer, I realized that I can just cut the greens off the tops and let the plants grow some more. I used to just pull the whole plant out because that is how they are sold in the market. So now I can just plant once for the year and keep harvesting from the same plants, which means I don't need a lot of successive plantings and the space that takes up. I did pull these plants out though because I needed to clear the garden of weeds and it was easier to do without trying to get around these plants. I'll try to transplant some back and see how they do. In any case, it was very nice to have some of my own fresh green onions from the garden in February.

Ahh here is that same crocus from above, this time wide awake with the sunshine.

Waiting Not Quite Patiently

I'm so happy to see these crocuses and daffodils emerging in the backyard. I thought I might have dug them in too deep, but they are making their way up just fine. I saw one being gnawed on by a slug so I spread Worry Free Slug and Snail bait around. Still waiting to see a flower from any of the bulbs, but it's great to see their leaves at least.

Here is our Rosemary bush in the back. Always has lovely blue flowers in early spring. It really likes this dry southern exposure spot under the eaves.

Camellia is getting ready to bloom!

Our Bergenia are reliable perennials. They are getting pretty crowded so it's time soon to attempt to thin them out. Suffered a bit of frost bite but giving us some nice early flowers. I had to laugh when I read this description from our Sunset Western Garden Book: "Will endure neglect, poor soil, and some drought..." Yep sounds like a plant for me!

The Magnolia is tucked back in a shady corner.

I went seed shopping and came back with spinach, carrot, round green zucchini, and shelling pea seeds. Also spent some time thinking of plans for an additional vegetable garden plot in the back. It's still a bit too early to plant outside but I might try a few seeds in mid-March just to see what happens.

Toddler and I planted some sweet pea seeds in peat pots last weekend and have them in my mini greenhouse trays inside near a sunny window. I cracked a corner off each seed coat with nail clippers to aid in germination, as the seed pack suggested.

Signs of Spring

Evergreen pansies are the first to flower in my 2010 garden. What welcome faces! They are surrounded by lots of babies so it will be fun to watch them spread. I have a bunch of weeding to do around them as well. I need to figure out the best way to mulch while still allowing my self-sowers to grow. I've been thinking about putting in more ground covers, especially creeping thyme, to help control weeds and make the area prettier.

This little crocus is smaller than appears on-screen. I didn't even see it from the kitchen window but discovered it when I went outside to take pictures of daffodil shoots. I'm very happy to see something emerging after digging it in this fall. Directly behind the crocus you can see one of my perennial carnations, looking very woody but with a tiny bit of new green growth starting near the base. I need to research how to trim it up for spring.

On the left you can see what is most likely a pair of daffodils emerging from the soil. You can see them just barely pushing up. On the right may be a crocus or a thinner-leaved daffodil. I'll know within weeks. There are lots of tiny alyssum seedlings scattered all around the flower bed. It's nice to have been gardening for at least a few years now so I'm getting to know my flowers from the weeds.

First in 2010

Well, it looks like the Irises are up a little early this year. They are in the back near the south wall of the house. Maybe their location makes the conditions a bit warmer and now they think spring is upon us already. Or maybe I got them in the ground too late and they are just plain confused. Just hoping they make it. I think if there is a freezing snap, I will get out there and cover them with some bark mulch. Is that a good idea? If they freeze this year, will they have a chance next, or will they need replaced? Right now we are in the upper 40's, so no worries for the moment.

I've been devouring the Territorial catalog. I lost the first one they sent me, and then last week another just showed up in the mail. I asked husband if he ordered me a new one and he said no. So it's a catalog miracle and I'm very happy to read and re-read it. I've to it with a highlighter a few times, marking which tomatoes and other plants I'd like to try. (Then I left said highlighter out in the living room and toddler promptly found it.....) Then those irises decided to pop up and now I really can't wait to get started. I'm planning a field trip to the Territorial nursery this spring. It might be a good idea to organize a seed share with my fellow gardeners.

The new flower I plan to grow this year are Hollyhocks. They can grow up to 6 feet tall. How fun! Almost time to convert the basement back into a working greenhouse.

Thoughts in Winter

It's so dreary in my garden that I don't feel like posting any pictures. I should document winter though so maybe one of these days I'll get to it. Well, it is hard because it's dark most of the day.


I did get all the bulbs dug in before Thanksgiving. So glad I did because we had a very long cold snap of below freezing temperatures, and the ground is much easier to dig in when it's not frozen. It's good to know that the work is done, but I am worried that some of them are in too deep. I bought a mixed bag that is supposed to give you a varied garden, and it said to put them in 6 inches. But some of the flowers in there were crocuses and I realized a bit too late that crocuses really shouldn't be in deeper than 2 inches. So I'm a little worried but I'll try not to let it bother me. If they don't come up, there's always next year for another try. And if you're wondering, no, I am not about to dig in the ground searching for crocus bulbs. I am not the kind of gardener who digs up tulip bulbs to store in the garage for the next year, so you can be sure I won't rummage the ground for crocuses either. Not at this point in my life anyway. I am looking so much forward to spring when I know that some of those bulbs I planted will pop up and flower!


I have been pondering my vegetable garden and would like to share what I would not grow again, what I would grow again, and what I'd like to try.


Would not grow again (not guarantees though, I am free to change my mind):


Broccoli. I tried to grow broccoli this year and it just didn't work out. The plants look amazingly healthy and are still out there, green in the garden with pretty yellow flowers atop. But I got nothing I considered to be usable heads of broccoli. What I did find was covered in tiny gray aphid like creatures, and they could hide so well I'd never be sure I cleaned them all away. I didn't use any pesticides in my vegetable garden this year and would like to keep it that way. Anyway, broccoli not worth my while this year and I plan to save it's space for something else next.


Cucumber SMR 58. What a strangely shaped cucumber. The package said good for pickling and slicing. To me, the flavor was bitter as if for pickling, but the strange shape was good for nothing. Toddler did eat them up, but I'll try a less-bitter slicing cucumber next year. "Fountain", "Babylon" and "Green Slam" from the Territorial catalog sound promising, and I can't help but consider growing "Rocky," listed as growing miniature, bit-size 2-3" long cucumbers. Oh, the choices and yet the lack of land to grow them all.


Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes. They did give me lots of tomatoes, but they are such big monstrous plants that they needed constant attention to keep them staked up.


What I would grow again: (in the order of which they come to mind)


Chives More!
Parsley More!
Strawberries
Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini. I'd like to try growing "Eight Ball" and a yellow just for fun.
Carrots. Maybe I'll try a full size this year and see how they do.
Green Pole Beans So tasty. I grew Kentucky Blue Pole beans and will again.
Dill. More, and planted closer together, and successive plantings.
Cilantro. Much more this time, and remember successive plantings so I don't run out when they bolt.
Lettuce. Never expected it to do so well and feed us for so long as we waited for other veggies to catch up. I loved having the mixed pack of seeds.
Radishes. Not too many, but fun to have around. Maybe grow in containers.
Roma VF Tomato. Compact, healthy plants throughout the season with lots of fruit.
Miniature Bell Peppers. The pride of my garden, but I might try growing "Yum Yum Gold" next time around. The description says they have few seeds, which would be nice. The mini bells I grew this year from Territorial were just full of seeds. It's OK, just a bit of a pain to prep. They grew so well that I still have a few bags of them in the freezer.
Basil. My plants (grown from seed by me) never look as good as the ones they sell outside of Trader Joe's, but I'll work on improving them. We had a few pesto dishes and that was fun.
Sugar Snap Peas. I've always grown peas, even once in a pot on an apartment balcony.



Alright, that's all I can think of for now. And that's just the edibles. Not including the blueberries, which are technically husband's.


What I want to grow:


Leeks I've never even bought them at the store or cooked with them, but they sound neat on all those cooking shows on TV.
Yellow Doll Watermelon. OK just kidding, but I should give my dad some seeds and see how he does. It says they mature in 76 days and are 5-8 pounds. I think it's possible!
Spinach. I read somewhere that Western Washington is the spinach capital of the US. So why haven't I grown any yet?
Determinate Cherry Tomato. Looking for a small plant with tasty fruit.
Snow Peas. For stir-frying.
Shelling Peas. To shell and save in the freezer. I'll plan to have one cage dedicated to each type of pea.


I might add to the list later, but that is all for now. What is it about seed catalogs?

Another View

I took this photo about 30 minutes ago from the veranda. We hadn't seen Mt. Rainier in several days due to poor weather, but got lucky with a view today. OK this is not really IN my garden, but let's say it inspires the gardener.

I haven't been doing much outside lately. I've moved on to my indoor hobbies for the most part. A few weeks ago I dug in a lot of bulbs around the back yard. I still have a lot more to put in the front flower bed, but I am putting it off because I would have to dig into the alyssum. The alyssum is still flowering a little so I hate to get rid of them. Maybe I should just get it over with but it's so hard to toss out a plant if it still has even one flower left. I also like to leave them to set seed. Better an alyssum than a weed, and better a plant than me out there weeding. I think the crocuses are starting to sprout while they wait in the garage to be put in the ground. I should get to it soon. I did clean out the petunias and prune back some scraggly plants. It is very fun to think of the surprises that will pop up out of the ground in spring. I hope I planted the bulbs in right.