Now that the garden is growing, every day some brilliant color or flower jumps out at me. The pansies I have scattered around in the asparagus bed, irises and poppies and the dear plum trees, which never looked so sweet. I walked all around them to find the best presentation.
Today a handywoman named Julie sanded my playhouse. I was surprised at how thorough a job she was able to do with the mighty power sander. Now I must seal it up against next winter’s weather. It lost its little dormer decoration and I’m thinking of having a church friend stencil something on the front to restore that cuteness — or repair the dormer piece.
I worked outside a little in the garden myself and wondered why the peas are so late; they only now have a few blossoms. I’m afraid they have some kind of wilt as well. One of the planter boxes has nothing but parsley – and weeds – in it, both trying to go to flower and seed, but I found quite a bit of parsley that is still as sweet to the taste as the plum blossoms are to the eyes. And things blooming in the greenhouse, cold and damp as it is.
Since we pruned the echium correctly last fall, it has sprouted ten stalks! Later I’ll show you its history, but enough to say right now that the first year it had three, and the second year only one, because of me not knowing how to prune it back. I can’t envision what it will look like when they start getting tall and covered with a thousand flowers.
The pink clusters are hanging like jewels on the native currant. On the left, one plant seems to have some dead branches. And it looks like I should sand that bench, too!
The most delightful thing right now must be the bugloss, or Anchusa officinalis, which I had planted in a pot on the patio last fall. It’s in the same genus as borage, and probably forget-me-nots; just starting to bloom, and the main reason I wanted to share the garden with you today.
In Washington and Oregon this wildflower is a noxious weed. 😦 “Common bugloss is a threat to agriculture. It invades alfalfa fields and pastures. The fleshy stalks can cause baled hay to mold.” But it is as popular with the bees as borage. It likes a little shade, which is why I have it in a pot with begonias on the patio. I hope the bees find it soon!
Gladsome Lights 
If that bench is teak, there are environmentally friendly cleaners that would spiff it up without losing wood to sanding, and it would be a much easier job — especially if the bench can be moved away from the plants.
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Thank you! I can’t remember at the moment what the wood is, but I think I can find the information.
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Here’s the teak cleaner I use on the teak decks of boats, and teak deck furniture: Eco-Clean.
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Your playhouse is darling. And the garden is making me smile, big time. Soon enough we might see something like that here!
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That deep blue flower on the bugloss is a colour hard to find in blooms. Seeing as we are so close to the Washington border I wonder if bugloss will soon find its way into Canada. For all I know maybe it already has.
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Lovely!
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Enjoyed seeing glimpses into your gardens. If your bench is teak, it will be so pretty when oiled. I love teak wood. Dear hubby and I made a coffee table and two end tables with it way back in the early 70’s. Beautiful wood. ~ The bugloss blooms are such a lovely deep blue. ~ Happy Gardening dear Gretchen ~ FlowerLady
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So much beauty – I don’t know where to start!
We don’t have much snow this year but what we have stays at the moment, so no flowers of any kind. Your flower photos make me dream of spring.
Your plum tree is lovely and so is the playhouse and the echium and the bugloss… I hope to have a bench like yours one day.
Happy gardening – stay safe and healthy!
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That flower is a very pretty blue.
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Praise God! Spring is springing!
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Beautiful! I love all of the blooms! I meant to set out some new flowers before the rain, but the rain arrived before I bought anything new. I was sorry to kill my Christmas cactus last summer with overwatering. I have one sprout left that I am trying to nurse along. The next time I go back to my mom’s, I will take some cuttings from one of her plants – she has two huge pots that were originally from a plant that belonged to my grandmother’s aunt. They have to be close to 100 years if not older. My grandmother was 96 or 97 when she died 10 years ago, and she nurtured her plant with benevolent neglect for decades.
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We have been doing a bit of maintenance on our little play house too.
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