I have shown you Bloodroot when it is blooming, with sweet white flowers, and little upright leaves.  Well that only lasts a couple weeks in the spring.  The leaves continue to grow all summer, and they get quite large.  

 

This is a colony in Meeks Park, down near the river, and some of the leaves are 5 and 6 inches across.  It always surprises me to see them get that large.  But I love seeing them.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Sanseviera is getting ready to bloom.  

 

It is not a yearly occurrence, nor is it a showy flower,  but I get excited whenever it happens.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Here is a picture of my Four O'clocks.  I've shown it to you before, but today I want you to notice the seed.  It is that black thing inside the little green cap.  The seeds are a little bit bigger than a peppercorn, but look very similar.  I have collected about twenty seeds, ensuring that we will have Four O'clocks again next year.  

 

I also planted a few Four O'clocks that I grew from seed up in the wildflower bed.  They really suffered during our drought, but  I noticed that since the rain they have come back.  In fact, I saw a hummingbird fluffing around the flowers this morning.

 

You won't hear me complain about too much rain.  I'm happy.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I showed you Mullein last year when I dug a plant out of my friends' garden.  I put it in a pot, and it proceeded to bloom and make seeds.  Mullein is biennial, meaning that it blooms and goes to seed in its second year.  

 

Well, you know me.  I sprinkled seeds that I collected from that plant all over the place.  And some plants have come up;  this is one growing in the driveway.  I gotta pay attention to WHERE I sow seeds.  Oh, well.

 

You can see here that the first year plant is a rosette, and the leaves are very fuzzy.  

 

We will have to wait until next year for the blooms.  But you can see them all along the highway right now, blooming.  The bloom spikes are about 6 feet tall, and have small yellow flowers at the top.  Look for them in your travels.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I found this growing in my garden (amid the oxalis.)  It has been there for years, coming back every summer.  It is purslane.  

It typically grows in waste places and tolerates poor soil.  That doesn't please me too much, but it is interesting to read about.  I read that it is a good companion plant for tomatoes, removing salt from the soil.  

 

The leaves are fleshy, and it has an acid, lemony taste.  In many places in the world it is eaten raw in salads, cooked as spinach, and the seeds can be ground into flour.  

 

I tasted a little, just because, but we have so much other good food in the garden, we are not yet reduced to eating the weeds.  But I know that I can if I want to.

 

Please remember to POSITIVELY IDENTIFY any wild food before you TOUCH or TASTE.  Don't trust me for positive identification;  use field guides, and any other resources before you take a chance.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

You know all those catkins from the oak and hickory trees?  Those things that stuff up your gutters, and hang all over everything in the spring?  In actuality, they are the male flowers carrying pollen to make future acorns.  Ok, we get that.

 

Well, I heard a great name for them the other day:  are you ready?  Oak Worms.  Hahaha!!!

 

My friend called them that in passing, and I fell out laughing.  I guess it is a throwback from her childhood.  Funny!!!  Anyway, now you know what to call them...next spring, when you see them again.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is Carraway grown from seeds planted this February.  You know that Carraway seeds are the seeds in rye bread.  We grew some a couple years ago, and got some seeds, but not enough to make even one batch of rye bread.  So I thought I would try it again.

 

Carraway is biennial, so we have to keep it alive until next year to get the seeds.  I am hoping for a mild winter, because it is out in the garden.  I may have to employ some season extension methods, like a cloche, or some other kind of cover if it gets too cold.  But I'm thinking that since it is in the same family as parsley, it may hold up to a certain amount of cold.

 

Wish me luck.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Woohoo!!!  We get to pick tomatoes every day.  And eat tomatoes every day.  

 

A couple more days and we will be canning, tomatoes and tomato juice.  Love it!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Remember that tidy little mound of parsley I showed you earlier?  Well, it has shot up to 5 feet, and has put out lots of flower heads.  Each flower has about 100 seeds, and I bet there are at least 100 flower heads.

 

That is a lot of parsley.  Not all the seeds will be viable, but I will still save them, and plant them in the spring.

 

Not ALL of them. ;)   But definitely some.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I know that you can buy zinnia seeds just about anywhere, but I thought you might like to see where we get them.

 

At the base of each zinnia flower petal is the seed.  When the flowers are mature, you can pluck out the seeds.  Just save them until spring and plant them.  I've had pretty good luck doing it this way.

 

And sometimes I just drop those seeds on the ground and they come up in the spring.  Not quite as sure a thing, but sometimes it works.  We call it lazy gardening...

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!