Look up!

I have to admit that I have been a bit obsessed with small blooms lately.  Grape hyacinths and crocus have given me reason to look down and to look closely.  Weeding has given me even more reason to take a closer look at the ground.  Kneeling in the flower beds have become almost an every day chore for me right now.

So completely immersed in the small world of miniature blooms in the garden, I didn't see the big picture.  In fact, I didn't notice the crab apples were blooming until I was inside!  It was there, standing up, looking out, that I finally looked at the garden - instead of looking at the ground.  And there they were - beautiful crab apple blooms.

How could I not have noticed before?  Time to take a look at the garden as a whole instead of inch by inch!  Time to get off my knees and look up!

March 2011 Bloom Day

It's Garden Bloggers Boom Day again!  And unlike last month, when temperatures were cold and buds were unwilling to bloom, this month has been glorious!  Warm spring days, with highs in the 70's, have convinced spring bulbs to come out and show off in a parade of color.

Blooming right now in my garden are snowdrops, daffodils, grape hyacinths, crocus, camellia.

Grape hyacinths (muscari) with crocus

Every day there is a new bloom, a new bud, or new leaves to see.  It is an exciting time for this gardener.

Professor Charles Sargent camellia japonica

But the blooms that make me jump out of bed every morning, the blooms that bring a smile to my face, are the iris.

Irises in the garden

The camellias and early spring bulbs may open the door to spring and say "Welcome", but the iris waves it in and says, "Come on in.  Stay for a while."

Honey Do

"The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others".   - Saint John Chrysostom

My maternal grandfather used to keep bees.  He would collect the honey and save it in jars.  The jars were kept in an outside storage shed, nicknamed "the honey house".  There was always a jar of honey sitting on the breakfast table, and I assumed jars were given away as gifts, or sold if times were tough.  Years after his death, the house was sold.  Cleaning out the honey house, we found shelves still filled with amber jars of honey.  It was like finding lost treasure.

I always felt a little guilty eating the honey.  I felt sorry for the poor worker bees that used their short lives gathering nectar (most worker bees only live to around 35 days old), only to have their life's work stolen by some strange man clothed in an even stranger white suit.  I did not know that the worker bee actually works herself to death - her wings get frayed and she is rejected by the hive.  But I knew that gathering the honey didn't hurt the bees.  And I knew that what my grandfather did was interesting to most, enviable by some.

The worker bee is appropriately named.  She goes from flower to flower collecting nectar (liquid) (remember getting nectar from honeysuckle as a kid?) and pollen (dry particles).  The pollen gets passed from flower to flower, helping fertilize plants to produce seeds (or, the fruit of the plant, which holds seeds).  The nectar gets stored in a special sack.  When the sack gets full, weighing almost as much as the worker bee herself, she flies to the hive and transfers the nectar to another bee, mouth to mouth.  This nectar is used to produce honey in the hive. Worker bees also have a special undercoating on their abdomen which produces beeswax.  What a multi-tasker!

Gardeners are very much interested in bees.  The reports of declining numbers of bees are alarming, and researchers are working hard to find the cause.  If you understand the  importance of bees on the production of food, you begin to have great respect for the bee - and not just for its sting!  Before we decided on this house, we looked at a number of homes to purchase.  One house, though not exactly what we were looking for, stood out.  The owner of the house kept bees.  The bee boxes and all his equipment were to be sold along with the house.  I often wonder what happened to those bees.

Snow? No.....

Our meadow is white this week.  It looks a bit like a fine covering of snow.  Without the cold.

What is that beautiful white flower covering the meadow?  There may be some plants of the wild onion or wild garlic mixed in, but most of this is the false garlic, or crow poison.  Nothoscordum bivalve.  

You can eat wild onions and wild garlic, but false garlic is poisonous.

How to tell the difference?  Dig one up and smell it.  If it smells like onion, you've probably got wild onion.  If it is odorless or smells a bit like dirt - false garlic.

False garlic is common in Texas, and most of the southeast.  I dig it up in the garden areas.  You have to make sure you dig up the entire bulb, or it will return.

I could never dig it all up from the meadow.  Nor would I try.  I enjoy the look of a false spring snow.

My First Time

Every year during weeding time I recall the memory of my first attempt to grow flowers.

I was living in a tiny place barely big enough for a small goldfish and me.  And I knew nothing about gardening.  Absolutely nothing.  But this place had a small patch of land between the house and the walk to the front door.  Just about 1 ft. wide, and about 4 ft. long.

It was spring and I thought it would be cheery to have some flowers instead of a barren patch of land.  But I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I was renting.  I was poor.  And cheap.  And I wouldn't have known where to buy a flower for planting anyway.

So, I purchased seeds.  I don't remember what kind of flower seeds I bought, but I do remember I bought about 10 or 11 packages.  I wanted a lot of flowers.  And I read the back and planted them just the right depth.  But I didn't space them out.  I wanted a lot of flowers, so I planted every seed.

Flowers were certain to be in my future.

Except, I was dating some dud (no, that's not a typo for dude).  And one day he noticed that there were a lot of little sprouts coming up in my flower garden.  He said "You'd better get all those weeds out of there."

OH!!!!  I hadn't thought about weeds!  Weeds!  What a horrible word!  The thought of those weeds smothering out my precious flowers was disturbing to me.  So, the next Saturday I spent all day weeding each and every weed out of that patch of ground.

And I waited for my flowers to come up.

I was so ignorant about all things gardening that I didn't even realize that those little weeds I had pulled up were actually my flowers.  I wondered for months where my flowers were and why they didn't come up.  Not a one!  Very disappointed, I supposed perhaps the seeds were old.  Only until years later, when I had my next garden, did I realize what I had done.

If I were a new gardener, I would tell myself to plant shrubs.  And if I were renting and didn't want to leave the plants, I would advise container gardening.  And if I could only afford a few packs of seeds, I would say - weed first, plant your seeds, then don't weed anymore!!!!

What was your first big mistake?  And what advice would you give to new gardeners?

To Transplant or Not To Transplant

I'm having an argument with myself.

You see, the tomatoes are growing from seed.  In the house.  (I never got that greenhouse put together.) They are not very happy.  I am not very happy.  They are quite leggy.

However, according to my father, who is the tomato expert, you can plant them with most of the tomato sideways under the dirt and they will be fine.  Legginess is o.k.  

But it bothers me.

Lettuce

I don't want to put them out too early.

But I am tired of tending to them.  And it shows.  I forgot to water them for a few days.  Most of one type died.  And the rest of the vegetable garden is beginning to perk up.  Tiny, but alive and growing.

Cabbage  

But the vegetables outside are mostly cold weather vegetables. 

Radish

It's been much too cold, wet, and rainy the last couple of days to work outside much.  But it should warm up soon.  And then - then it will be perfect weather for transplanting the tomatoes.

Oh, I know it's a bit early to put them outside.  A late freeze could demolish all my plans for tomato sauce, hot sauce, and fresh tomatoes.  And Easter is late this year - my personal crystal ball for foretelling the weather.

Lettuce

Still, I am tired of them in the house.

But they really aren't any trouble.  They don't make any noise.   They don't run around the house.  They don't tear the place up.  

And yet - like guests that stay too long - I want them out of here!

Although I suppose I can try to be a good hostess for a while longer.

Grrrr.....How much longer can this madness go on?

The First Iris

The first iris of the season has bloomed!  I was surprised to see it open this morning, as just last night I walked around the garden.  I knew there were buds on the irises, but thought it would be a few more days before they opened.  The little bit of a shower we received last night must have prompted it to open.

The rain drops weigh heavily on its fragile petals:

I have iris in several places in the garden.  I can't wait for more of them to open.

In fact, I am so thrilled with the form of the iris - the spiky leaves which give such a wonderful contrast to most other plants' leaves in the garden; the tall, regal way in which the blooms raise up to be seen; the fleur-de-lis shape of the bloom - that I am wondering if I should move the dianthus in the front and replace with iris (it needs a little more height there).  I'm pretty sure I should.  Now to figure out where to put the dianthus!

A plan is beginning to form in my mind.  Of course, that is the way it always is, isn't it?  One wonderful bloom and suddenly we want that flower all over the garden!