This is how I love to see the dogwoods:  in the wild, peeking out of the woods.  OK, I like seeing the ones planted in people’s yards too, but the wild ones just seem magical to me. 

 

I hope you get to see some dogwoods blooming.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I love it when the Cinnamon ferns start to emerge.  They send up these beautiful fiddleheads, which will grow to be nearly 5 feet tall.  If you look closely, you can see two clumps of them side by side.  I also love that somebody placed these big rocks near them, so the lawn guys don’t accidentally whack them.

 

Next time you are out for a walk or a golf cart ride, go down by the creek, across from the Chestnut trees, and you will see them.  But let me tell you, they won’t stay like this for long.  It only takes about a week, maybe two, for them to open up, and then they look a little different, but still beautiful.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Fennel is coming back from its dormancy too.  All winter is rests underground, with no leaves to see.

 

And then when it comes back, it is soft and fluffy, and the leaves are full of that delicious fennel flavor.  Eventually the stems will grow to about 5 feet, and then it will bloom and set seeds.  They are mighty tasty too.

 

I brought this fennel from Virginia Beach nearly twenty years ago.  It has been growing in our garden ever since.  Why would I haul this plant all the way from Virginia, you ask?  Because the Black Swallowtail butterflies need it to lay their eggs and feed their caterpillars.  We love creating our gardens to attract pollinators, especially butterflies.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The oregano is coming back too after its winter rest.  

 

Right now it is up about 6 inches, and as it grows I will be able to harvest stems.  I cut stems when they get to be about 12 inches long, tie them into a bundle and hang them in the kitchen window.  It takes about 2 weeks for the leaves to dry.  Then I strip the stems, put the dry leaves in a jar, and use oregano in everything.  Well, maybe not everything, but I do use it a lot.  

 

Oregano is so easy to grow, and the deer pretty much leave it alone.  I have tons of it growing, so if you want a clump to plant in your garden, just let me know.  Or wait another month and you can come over and cut some to dry in your kitchen window.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

Same story as the Lovage with the Bee Balm. It grew really well last year, then a good rain storm beat it down, and it looked terrible.  So this year when it started to emerge from dormancy, we poked 5 cages in the ground around it.  I will guide the stems up through the wires as it grows, and hopefully avoid the ugliness of flopping over.

 

It’s doing great so far, up about a foot.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The lovage is starting to come back after its winter dormancy.  Last year it grew to about 6 feet and flopped over, so this year before it emerged we put this cage around it.  I will guide the leaves up inside the cage as it grows, and hopefully avoid the floppage.  

 

Oh, I saved seeds the last time it made them, and planted them into pots this year.  They are coming along nicely.  Let me know if you want some viable seeds.  I love to share.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The apple trees are blooming!!!  Yay!  

 

We’ve had a few cool nights, but they weren’t cold enough to hurt our trees.  

 

The peaches, pears, and apple trees are all fine.  Even the blueberries seem to be OK.  Yoo-hoo!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Remember that beautiful purple cabbage from last fall?  Well, it is blooming now too.

 

It survived the winter, but we had three months of dry weather, and it never made a head.  And now it’s blooming.  Here’s no surprise:  the florets taste like broccoli.  Same family as kale, broccoli, cauliflower, mustards, arugula, radish.  They all bloom like this.  And the florets are edible.  Of course, the mustard, arugula, and radish florets are a little spicy, but very tasty.  

 

And look how pretty they are.  I love them in my salads.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I showed you last year’s kale already, but it is really blooming its head off right now.  

 

These florets are just like broccoli.  We add them to our salads and soups and everything else we can think of.  A couple of my friends say they don’t grow kale because they don’t like it.  But wait!  It tastes like broccoli when it blooms.  And our broccoli still has 6-8 weeks before we get broccoli florets.  That in itself is good enough reason to grow a couple kale plants in the garden.  Or, as pretty as it is, grow it in your flower bed.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Dill from last year is coming up in this flower pot.  That tells me that it’s time to plant dill seeds in the garden.

 

We have had a few cool days and nights, but when last year’s dill starts coming up, I know that the ground is warming up and I can plant some seeds in the garden.

 

I have already planted carrot, radish, cilantro, and beet seeds in the ground, and they are all coming up.  I will show you when they are big enough to register on my camera.  Right now, they are tiny, wispy things.

 

Oh, and that heart shaped leafy thing in the picture is Morning Glory.  It is coming up EVERYWHERE!!!  I will leave it in the pot, next to the corner of the house.  I can train it up a string when it starts vining, and it will be pretty.  But the rest of it is getting weeded OUT as fast as I can.  I love morning glory, but not all over the garden where I am growing food.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!