One year for my birthday Momma sent me money to buy a new tree for the orchard.  We got a cherry tree.

 

It has been growing in the orchard for about 10 years, and has only given us about 6 cherries.  I’m not sure if it was the cold winters or the birds that got them, but I know it wasn’t the deer.  See the cage?

 

Well, this year the winter was mild, and we are going to have cherries.  I guesstimated about 100.  Better get some bird netting.   Thanks, Momma.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

I knew you would love to see that our Wisteria is blooming this year.  It has been a couple years since it bloomed.  Too much cold weather for its liking.

 

We planted it 15 years ago.  A gift from a friend.  The Wisteria was taking over his yard, so he dug them up and put them in pots.  He brought us three of those pots and we planted them in an out of the way place in our yard.  It has grown up these trees at least 40 feet, and has jumped to several others.  But the good news is that the Wisteria is contained in this copse of trees.  The other trees are too far away for them to jump.  

 

Right now, the very air we breathe is perfumed with Wisteria.  Wouldn’t want to sit next to it in church, but in the open air, it is delightful.  

 

Look up in your travels, you may see Wisteria blooming now.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Witch Alder in the park is blooming.  Its botanical name is Fothergilla, but it’s ok to call it witch alder, or Broom Hilda, if you like.  That’s how I remember its name.   

 

It blooms this time every year, but it always surprises me.  This bush is right near the parking lot, where we enter the walking path.  And the fragrance is soft and delightful.  It doesn’t attack you;  you have to bend toward it to catch the scent.

 

I hope you walk in Meeks Park as part of your exercise plan.  It is close, and there is always something interesting to see.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

This Columbine also came with us from Virginia Beach.  A teacher friend gave it to me as a gift when I left Sunnybrook to move here.  I planted it in this spot and it has flourished.  It reseeds like a weed, sending seeds on the wind to land in new spots and grow.  So we have Columbine all over the place near this one plant.  It is mixed in with the arugula, the catnip, and up the stairs to the driveway.  

 

That’s ok, I like it, and think of my friend when I see it doing so well.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Here are my tomato seedlings.  Don’t they look great?  We sowed the seeds on March 9th.  So they are just about 5 weeks old.  When the threat of frost is over, in early May, they will get planted in the garden.  We made the mistake last year of putting them in the ground on April 20th, and had to cover them with 5 gallon buckets on April 23rd, because of cold weather.  It wasn’t THAT bad, but I don’t want to make it a habit.  Just wait two extra weeks.  

 

You are looking at three flats of tomatoes.  That is 108 tomato plants.  They won’t ALL go into our garden.  But we will plant the best 3 of each variety.  There are pineapple, red heirloom, Abe Lincoln, grape, and Roma-type tomatoes.  There are also several 6-packs of Brandywine heirlooms.

 

I have a few gardening friends who love to plant my tomatoes.  So I will grow them, which I absolutely LOVE to do, and they can plant them in their gardens.  Everybody wins.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

It is growing!!!  This is my pink celery that was planted back in February.  The seeds took over a month to germinate, but once they got going, they have taken off.  The two plants on the left are in 4 inch pots, and the ones on the right are in a 6-pack, waiting to get up potted.

 

Meanwhile, I have snipped a couple leaves to taste.  Tastes like celery.  ;)

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I think I told you about sweet potatoes back in February.  Well, it’s taken this long, but here they are sprouting.  Not all 6 potatoes are sprouting, but a couple are.

 

Oh, and that celery stump…I’ve heard that you can regrow celery from the stump, so I thought I would give it a try.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

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!!!