Have you seen all the Rhodies in bloom?  The colors are so pretty!!  And I love seeing these huge bushes loaded with flowers.

 

I sent this picture to Tere;  I knew she needed to see her Rhodoodendrons in bloom.  She planted them over ten years ago, and they are gorgeous!!!

 

There are lots of pretty big Rhododendrons blooming all around town;  keep looking.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

HEHEHEE!!!  I've been thinking about this since Valentine's Day.  Finally got to do it.

 

Patty and I had fun on Thursday.  We repainted the haybale.  Had to fight off a few hornets who were thinking about setting up a nest in it.  But we won that battle.  

 

We started by painting white over the daisy, then put in the light pink heart shape.  Then I got to paint this adorable flamingo.  That was really fun!!!  I painted a small jar lid black for the eyeball and screwed it into the hay.  

 

Jon noticed that there was a bit of grass growing on top of the haybale, and thought about putting two of the little flamingos up there like they are eating the grass.  

 

We tickle ourselves.  We hope you get a tickle out of it too.  

 

HAPPY DAYS AHEAD!!!

 

I had three visitors to the garden yesterday.  I got to show off the blooming kale, leeks, mustard, and this gorgeous bed of arugula.  I love arugula.  

 

You can see the flowers, and why they are in the Crucifer family, each flower has four petals in the shape of a cross.  The leaves and flowers and baby seed pods are all edible, so we use them raw in salads, and cook them into lasagna and quiche, just like spinach.

 

This bed is under the deck and gets morning sun.  Perfect!!!  We get three crops a year, and the last one we let go to seed to save for next year.  Meanwhile, we eat LOTS of arugula.  Every day!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

OK.  This is how I celebrate Mother's Day:  by showing you all my fruits and vegetables.  These are MY babies.

 

Look how many blueberries we are going to have.  There are eight bushes, some ten feet tall, and all loaded with tiny berries.  I'll let you know when it's time to come pick them.  Last year we picked 30 gallons of blueberries.  We are still eating last year's berries.  Jon makes blueberry muffins, and blueberry pies, and we have blueberries on our salad every day.  

 

PLEASE come help us pick them this year!!!  It is so fun, and we love to share.

 

HAPPY  GARDENING!!!  

 

Look at our baby apples.  There are about seven trees in the orchard, and three of them have baby apples on them.

 

I think that last frost came at the time that they would have set fruit, so not all of them did.  But I think we still have enough to make apple pie, apple cake, and applesauce.  That's all I want anyway, enough for us, and a little more to share.  

 

Just a reminder, the apple cake recipe is in the recipe section of the website.  It's my favorite.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look at all these seedlings that need to go into the garden.  We grew ALL these from SEEDS!!!  Starting on the left, you can see peppers and tomatoes, in the middle, kale, spinach, cabbage, and all the way to the back is Giant red mustard.  

 

I planted seeds early in March, and we kept them alive in the basement.  Jon puts them outside every day that the temperature is above 45 degrees.  And now that it's May, they need to go into the garden.  That's my job for today:  planting kale, spinach, cabbage, and red mustard.  

 

Not planting the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants yet; they want warmer temps.  But maybe by the end of next week we can get them out there.  

 

It is so exciting to grow plants from seeds.  It feels like magic!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

As we were walking by Patty's garden the other day, I happened to notice she has two Bleeding Heart plants, growing right up next to the house.  

 

They like filtered shade, and she has them nestled in behind the Hellebores.  Perfect!!!  

 

So glad I saw them; they always remind me of the back porch on Bolling Ave.  Little pink and white hearts hiding in the shade.  They are so sweet.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

Flowers for YOU!!!!

 

Have you noticed that glorious aroma in the air when you're walking up Five Forks Drive?  

 

Just across from Cheryl and Bob's house, there is a huge wild rose in bloom.  When the wind is right, we can smell it long before we can see it.  Don't you just love this time of year?  Me too!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I noticed that the Tulip trees have started blooming.  There are lots in our neighborhood; just look up.  You can see the large orange and green flowers covering the branches.  They look just like tulips.  BTW:  the leaves even look like tulips:  with four lobes.

 

Even though it is called Tulip Poplar, it isn't related to tulips or Poplars at all.  It is a relative of the Magnolia.  Remember the Saucer Magnolia?  Look how similar the flowers are.  Same family, different genera.

 

Here's another botanical name I remember from Horticulture School (1973):  Liriodendron tulipifera.  Love saying that!!  I also love seeing these trees in bloom.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

While I was looking at the Sweet Shrub flowers, Jon noticed this Cicada.  Look at the red eyes!!!!

 

I put the Seek app on it and it said Pharaoh Cicada, Magicicada septendecim.  It is sometimes called the 17 year locust.  It is native to Canada and the United States, and is a periodical cicada with a 17-year life cycle.  We've heard that this is their year for emerging.  

 

I guess we'll know soon enough.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!