This is a carrot grown by Sandy and Mickey Bradley.  Florida garden, raised bed, very fluffy soil.  Not everybody can grow carrots like THIS....but....I thought you'd like to see it.

 

OK....back to NC.... If you love carrots, radishes, turnips, beets...it's time to plant seeds in the garden.  It's a little early for potatoes, but while you're out there and enjoying the beautiful weather, just do it!!!   My calendar shows April 1, 2, and 3 as good planting days for root crops and perennials. 

 

What perennials don't mind the cold....oh, wait!!  Perennials live year after year; they have their own ways of dealing with the seasons.  So now might be a good time to plant Hostas, azaleas, rhodies, ferns, clematis, echinacea, Shasta daisy, peony, phlox.  Check out the garden center in your area.  If they are selling them now, it's time to plant.  

 

Not annuals, though, not yet.  The garden center probably has some for sale, but we still have cold nights ahead.  You CAN plant geraniums and marigolds now, but you will most likely have to REPLANT after they freeze to death.  So let's wait on the annuals.  And start with root crops and perennials.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

 

I've never tried to grow Easter lilies in my garden, but I found a good site to tell you how to do it.

 

Go to   How to replant Easter lilies   for all the scoop on growing them in your garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

This picture is the real thing in Yorktown.  Linda sent it to me today with an update:

 

There are 5 eggs, the last one laid on Thursday.  That means they should start hatching around April 11.                  Keep watching!!!

 

Thanks, Linda, from ALL OF US.

 

Here's a FUN thing!!!  My sister in Yorktown VA sent me this link to Wild Birds Unlimited in Yorktown.  They have an angelcam inside one of their bluebird nest boxes.  It's a live video allowing us see into their world.   We watched last year as the eggs hatched and the babies grew and fledged.  FASCINATING TO WATCH.  Right now, either mom or dad is sitting on the nest.  

 

Just click on the link to the     Bluebird camera   and be amazed!!!

 

I bookmarked it, and check several times a day.  Try it!!!

 

Thanks, Linda!!!!

 

How beautiful is this!!!!  My friend Betty Bridges sent us this Amaryllis bulb 4 years ago, and it blooms every year.  It lives outside all summer, and rests in the basement for a couple months.  Then, about Thanksgiving I bring it up, water it good, and wait for this!!!!  This blossom is 8 inches across, and there are two more buds ready to open.

 

The first two years she sent them, I tried planting the bulbs outside in our perennial garden.  It didn't work:  too cold.  So now i put them out in summer, and keep them protected in cold weather.  We still have bulbs from the last 4 years, and they always make me happy.  

 

Thanks Betty for the joy you bring into my life!!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This may not look like much to you....but to me, it is PURE JOY!!!!  Arugula seedlings!!!!

 

I planted arugula seeds on March 5th, and have been checking them almost daily since!!  When the ground is warm they germinate in about three days.  But with all this cold, it's taken nearly three weeks!!!!  That's OK, they're up, and will be fine.  We love this patch of arugula.  It feeds us in spring, summer, and fall.

 

Next I better check on my radish sprouts out in the garden.  They've been subjected to the cold too.  Same family:  radish, mustard, arugula, cabbage, broccoli, kale.  They all like the cooler weather, just not below freezing!!   Right now, they are tiny, but when I thin the seedlings, we'll have sprouts in our salads.  So tasty!!

 

I hope you are surviving the extended cold weather.   Done any good projects??  Got any tips for managing "cabin fever?"  We'd love to hear about them;  pictures are good too.  Email me, and I will share them here on the website.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Planting today!!  Even in the rain.  I don't care.  I just want to get them in the ground. 

 

And today's the day!!!!!!  Winter:  BE GONE!!!!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

How sweet are these? They are grape hyacinth, or Muscari spp.  They come in purple and white, and all shades in between. They are planted in the fall, and emerge in early spring. Very easy to grow!!  AND!!!!  They are critter resistant!!  Ya gotta love that!!

 

I have a catalog offering 15 varieties:   Brent and Becky's Bulbs  from Gloucester, VA.  They are in the Fall Planting catalog.  

 

Check out Roxanne and Jim's flower beds.  They have lots of them growing among the garden gnomes.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I wanted to plant some garden peas, but......I didn't even venture outside yesterday!!

 

I guess we have to wait a little longer.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Did you see that beautiful Forsythia picture today?  Yeah, well, I took it yesterday.

 

This is today's update.  It's SNOWING!!!  Also beautiful, but.......

 

We are not packing away the hats and gloves just yet.

 

 

HAPPY, UMMM, SPRING!!!!