Category Archives: my garden

Garden Happy

my garden,
basil seedling

Sitting in the sun with my husband, looking over the evidence of our recent garden work, I said, “I know I could be happy without a yard, but I’m thankful that I do have a place to garden.”

He said, “You would not be happy without a yard.” Well, maybe he knows more than I do. I hope I don’t have to test our hypotheses anytime soon, because I want to be around to see how many basil plants survive their transplanting stress.

Why is it that one can’t buy single basil seedlings anymore? They are always growing in a bunch, obviously from five or six seeds dropped into one hole — or sometimes more like 20 seeds.

iris opening

Yesterday I bought two six-packs of the 5-bunch type, and ended up setting out plants in 40 different spots. I started out by carefully pulling off one little plant at a time, trying not to tear the roots as they separated their tiny fingers. It’s like disrupting a group of siblings who have always slept in the same bed, and forcing them apart to different homes, never to be united again, just so they can grow up — alone. I’m glad I didn’t think of it so sentimentally at the time.

After a while I ran out of room and planted some groupings as they were, or in twos and threes. Maybe I’ll find out that basil does fine even if large families live in one room. They all look remarkably healthy today. Though at 1:00 when I took the picture, they sun hadn’t got to them yet.

I’d also like to see the rest of the cobalt Dutch iris emerge from their buds. It’s always curious to me how they bloom immediately after I cut the last of the lavender-and-yellow sort in the bed right next to them.

The yellow California poppies come back every year in this spot and hang over the sidewalk. Nowadays there is a big salvia bush named Hot Lips behind them, which looks very pretty.

I admired the chives that my husband suggested we plant many years ago when we had to re-do the whole backyard. They don’t require much maintenance, and keep providing nice greens for the eye and the kitchen, and at this time of year, pretty purple flowers to be seen close-up while we are sitting on the swing. Lambs Ears and Pincushion Flower are behind them in the picture below.

And the tomatoes! Mr. Glad and I set out ten plants yesterday, which is the most we’ve ever had in this yard. Because we are going to be away during midsummer, I didn’t want to plant any vegetables other than tomatoes and basil, which meant that we could fit in more tomatoes. When they start bearing I’ll give a report with the names of the winners. We are determined to get a good crop of tomatoes — one of these years.

In the meantime, we had a calming weariness and comfy satisfaction from our labors, and the cheer of all these pretty blooms already here. The other day I counted 40 different plants blooming in the back yard, and another 15 in the front. Spring has sprung in this happy garden!

Snails and Schist Story

my garden, nature
with arugula flowers

A few years ago Soldier son gave me a lovely piece of schist, a rock slab that he brought from the mountains for me because he knew I would love it. And I did. It isn’t the sort of stone you can use for a path or a table or anything, because it’s too thin, so I leaned it against the fence for decoration.

All the snails in the area thought I had made that arrangement just for their sakes — the perfect snail house. I think I even posted a photo of it here once before. Oh, yes, here it is, last April.

When I was trimming the honeysuckle this week I thought I would check behind my rock for snails, and this time there was a cute little colony of them. I laid the slab down on the ground so that I could take their picture, which you see here.

I went into the house for my camera, snapped the photo, took the camera back, and got on with my pruning job. Crunch. I had stepped right on to the schist and broken it into many pieces, of which I decidedly did not want to take a picture, because it would be too sad.

Coming into glory for Pascha.

friends, my garden, ,


Yes, there are still lots of flowers in my life. I’m trying to get the house — at least the downstairs — clean in time for Pascha so that I can bring in some flowers and have the whole thing look good and festive together.

It’s been raining, and that makes the plants look refreshed and happy. This is the first time the gaudy bearded irises have bloomed. I mostly like them for their color; otherwise they are a bit messy looking for me.

 

 

 

 

The tulips are still blooming. Every night they close up, and in the daytime they open up more and more. But none of the petals have fallen off yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Dutch iris bed, these pale yellow-and-lavender flowers dominate the view for a few weeks, and later on when they are spent the cobalt variety open up.

Centranthus ruber

Our friend Art has a nursery in his back yard, and a few months ago he gave me this Centranthus ruber plant that he had propagated. It took forever to recover from being transferred into the pot in which it still lives, but now it is blooming, and coming into its common name of Red Valerian.


It appears that the kale, and arugula in the background, are making their bid for Tallest Blossoms in the Garden. About the time we turn the calendar page to May they’ll be out of there and tomato plants will be in their place, so I’m letting them have their days in the sun – and rain.

Forget-me-Nots, calla lilies, cyclamen and daffodils — I’m so happy to see them, I’m not worried at all about the hours and days of garden work that will need to be done once the rain stops. A lone and miniature red salvia bloom also greeted me this afternoon, and I can’t recall even noticing what were surely profuse weeds behind it.

In only a few days the ground may dry up enough for me to dig around, and the joy of the feast will strengthen me to do it — in every way we’ll be in Bright Week!