Early Spring in the Garden | February 2019

That wonderful warm weather we had earlier this week is now gone. I had an appointment in town yesterday morning so I watched the temperature rise to 75 at 10 am and then start dropping mere blocks before I arrived to work. When I got out of the car it was 67 and by the time I left at 5pm it was 51.

I was just getting used to wearing crop pants and t-shirts again! I know, in a few short weeks they will be back out for good until next October.

Let’s go on a garden tour! I took these photos on Tuesday at lunch. This is a bluebonnet seedling, one of a couple I saw in the garden.

A rather ragged look at the garden here. I would love to get this fence fixed but I’m honestly not sure it will happen unless we (read: our neighbor’s since it is their fence) put in a whole new one. It’s now been like this for I think three years after a spring wind storm caused a branch of the elm tree above the garden to crash into the garden and crumple the fence. The problem is finding the square metal part at the top when most fences these days are now round—Chris has come up empty looking for that piece. At least when the passiflora covers the fence it makes it less unsightly.

Prunella vulgaris seedlings

I think my next task when I can find the time is to get the path cleaned up and get some new decomposed granite put down. And hopefully get the house painted in the next few months.

Rhododendron bud with lichen

I’m interested to see what this side looks like when it fills out this year. Since I moved the Argentine senna to where the almond verbena was (near the well) it will open up the area on the right where the banana trees where. I’d like to move a fern that is underneath the fig tree where Chris waters his orchids and bromeliads because while I know most ferns enjoy a lot of water, this one has seriously declined with the amount of water it receives from runoff from above. It has put on new growth this winter because it hasn’t received that much water while the orchids and bromeliads have been in the man-cave and so I think moving it to the other side where the senna was would be a wise move.

The brugmansia that didn’t die back! I thought it had died back after the freeze in November but when it warmed up in December it put on new growth throughout the plant and well, here it is! I covered it a few weeks ago when we had another light freeze and just a few bits were burned but otherwise it looks healthy!

Lobelia spicata seedlings

The edible garden is slosh pit all around. It is impossible to use the wheelbarrow at the moment as it ruts the ground just outside the fence. The wet winter paired with whatever is going on with the drain pipe that drains the front yard and runs under our neighbor’s yard to the easement next to his house, well it is really causing a problem. The groundwater is staying very high for this reason.

A few weeks ago I finally pulled up the pennywort that was acting as a groundcover in one of the perimeter beds near the strawberries. I’d been leaving it there because we didn’t have mulch to put down and I’d rather have it growing than bare ground but since I had some mulch I finally pulled it up. It was a bit pleasing to pull it out in mat-like chunks but underneath was just one big mud pit and the groundwater was near the surface. In hindsight we’ve both thought that maybe we should have either brought in more dirt than we did to raise that area up even more way-back-when or sited the garden elsewhere, which there aren’t really any other great spots to chose from.

Because it is so wet out there I haven’t had the desire to do much weeding or upkeep out there. I get out a couple of times a week to pick greens for salads and check on things but I’m not doing a lot. More spring ephemeral weeds are popping up now so I’ll need to get back on top of that soon.

Seeing the calendula bloom was a delight out there and this bee gave me some entertainment for a few moments.

Cilantro blossoms

Japanese hawkweed, Youngia japonica, a prolific weed around here. I usually pull it but sometimes I leave it because Forest loves to pick its flowers.

Lyre-leaf salvia, Salvia lyrata, sending out flower spikes.

A nearly equal mix of purposefully planted and grown by Mother Nature in this bed.

I am really enjoying the Morris Heading Collards! They are extremely mild and not so thick that when you add them to salads they aren’t chewy. Daikon radishes are in the back.

Chard—I swear it always takes the longest time to germinate and get established but come spring it is there waiting for you to harvest.

Our lone self-sown borage from last year’s crops.

The peas seem to be languishing a bit. I feel like they are usually larger by this time. I guess I need to sift through the archives and compare.

And finally some better photos of the second pipevine swallowtail from Tuesday.