I think it is so nice of the Rhododendrons to bloom for my birthday.  

 

Of course, it IS spring, and lots of things are blooming.  I just enjoy taking it personally, and think they are blooming for ME!!!

 

I’ve done it all my life.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Yesterday in Meek’s Park we saw lots of Mayapples.  They are so pretty right now, growing in their colonies.  Some were just emerging, some were already blooming.  And they were all over.  They grow about 8-12 inches off the forest floor, so you have to get down low to see the flowers.  

 

I think it’s so interesting that only the double leaves bloom.  See the fork in the leaf stem of the one that’s blooming?  The single leaf stems don’t get flowers.  

 

I hope you get to see some Mayapples on your walks.

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

This picture is showing you 40 tomato plants.  They are in 4 inch pots, and stand about 12 inches tall.  I gotta get them in the ground soon.  They are touching the grow lights.  

 

On Wednesday, we went to Home Depot looking for thyme and lemon grass, and we saw their tomato plants.  They weren’t nearly as robust looking, and cost $4.99 EACH!!!  Ours look WAY better, and cost a lot less.  All we paid for was seeds, soil, and Osmocote.  And had lots of fun participating in the process.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Here it is:  Sweet Gum with leaves and flowers.  Interesting.  

 

I am so glad I have curious friends.  We all learned something new.  ;)

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

My friends sent me a text on Saturday, asking me to identify this thing.  

 

I am always up for a horticultural challenge, so I started looking in my tree books.  There were lots of leaf pictures, and seed pod pictures, but not that many flower pictures.  And I have never seen these flowers before.  

 

They did their own great job of detective work.  They found a tree with the same flowers AND some baby leaves.  

 

Turns out it is Sweet Gum.  You know:  the gum ball tree.  Or as we like to call it:  Liquidambar styraciflua.  Sweet Gum.  

 

Good job, guys!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Flame Azaleas are blooming!!!  This one is in Troy’s yard, and we see it every day on our walk.  

 

In order to get this beautiful picture, I had to scale the mountainside, along a deer path.  I felt like a mountain goat, but I wanted you to see it up close.  

 

They are all so pretty right now, ranging in color from yellow through orange-red.  This one is mid-range, orange.  We love seeing them all!!!

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!

 

When I left Sunnybrook Day School in Virginia Beach, one of my teacher friends gave me a Columbine from her garden.  That was 19 years ago, and it is still blooming and making seeds to reproduce itself.

 

Columbine can be quite weedy, meaning that its seeds are carried by the wind, and come up all over the place.

 

That’s OK.  When something is this pretty, we don’t mind finding it all over.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look at all these seedlings.  They got planted into the garden this week.  Red cabbage, lots off kale, pak choy, cilantro, and salad burnet.

 

My old friend, John Small, would say that I am as happy as if I had good sense.  Yep, it’s true.  I am!!!

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

 

 

As you can see, the lettuce is ready to plant.  This picture shows 4 6-packs (24) little plants ready to go into the garden.  I will probably only plant 12 of them, but I get to choose the strongest, and the prettiest plants.  Some are green and some are red.  Maybe I will plant 6 of each.  That should be enough lettuce for the spring.  The rest we will harvest and use this week in our salads…Micro greens.

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!

 

 

 

 

On our walk yesterday we saw the cinnamon fern coming up.  Yoo-hoo!!!

 

I’ve shown it to you before, but we always get excited when we see it coming up in the spring.  That means that the lawn guys haven’t mowed it, and the deer haven’t eaten it.

 

This year it looks like there are four separate sprouts.  So far they are only about 10 inches tall.  Eventually they will get to be about 4 feet tall.  I’ll show you again when they get bigger.

 

HAPPY SPRING!!!