Charming and Impressive

Okay, so it's not strictly gardening related, but definitely sustainable living related. My town has a series of rides called Sunday Parkways. The events are inspired by the Ciclovia events in Bogota, Colombia.

The rides are on city streets temporarily closed to cars. They are several miles long, connecting parks. These events are free. People are invited to come, ride, walk, skate.

The parks are full of activities and food vendors. And it's always a good time.

On the first ride of the year I spotted this ambitious mom and her impressive cargo. Two kids in the box of the bakfiets, one behind her on the rack and one more being towed and adding pedal power on the Follow Me. Wow!

Really? Still?

It's the end of May and the temperature may reach 54 degrees today amid showers. And tomorrow maybe as high as 51 with more showers and possibly some hail. Luckily most of the plants don't seem to mind. Here are a couple of super achievers doing their thing.

Lovely Wisteria on my next door neighbors house.









Hops on my porch, rapidly creating a shady haven from the sweltering days that still seem so far off.






Even the tomatoes and peppers, who most crave the heat and sunlight, don't seem to be suffering much. They aren't making a lot of progress, but they look pretty good. Some of them even have tiny blossoms. And the currants have already set their fruit.

The cedar shavings around the plants are my favorite mulching material. It keeps the soil from caking rock hard, helps retain moisture, which isn't currently a problem, but hopefully will be sometime soon. And the cedar smells nice. It is usually sold as animal bedding and is really inexpensive. I got 11 cubic feet for less than $10, and that covers almost all of my planted areas. And it breaks down adding organic matter to the soil.

It's Raining, But I Don't Mind

No, really. I can hardly believe it myself. After boring both my readers and myself to death with endless self pity and complaining about the weather for far too many posts I find myself enjoying a gentle spring shower.

Maybe it's because I am lazy and won't have to water the plants I put in earlier today. Maybe I am feeling smug for getting my gardening done before the ground got muddy. Maybe I have given up grousing about the weather for Lent, even though Lent ended weeks ago. Maybe it's because it isn't freezing, and I think we have left the really cold temperatures behind. I am hopeful for warm sunny days in the not too distant future. And the plants have given up waiting. So many trees and flowers are looking gorgeous.

Whatever the reason, I am at peace with the rain.

Keeping Calm and Carrying On

The plants have resolved to soldier on with their springtime business despite the cooler temps. Here are few of the top performers in several categories.

Apple trees in bloom.


Red veined Dock. Also known as Blood Sorrell. One garden blog describes it as a drama queen in the garden . It can be eaten as a salad green or in soups









Strawberry plants with flowers and tiny fruits, even though the plants have barely had a chance to leaf out the way they like to.





Rhubarb.







White Currants. These didn't produce much fruit last year, but there are loads of blossoms this year. So I remain cautiously optimistic.

And the raspberries look ready to deliver another bountiful harvest. Such a treat.

Cold Comfort

I take little consolation in the fact that we are setting records for cold and wet this year. If we get the promised rain today April 2011 will vault into third place among wettest Aprils on record. Yay. 51 degrees to go along with that precipitation too. Really?

But last Saturday was divine, 71 degrees and sunny, balmy even. A perfect day for what has become known as the 2nd Happiest Day of the Year. The 3rd Annual Neighborhood Plant Exchange. Friends and neighbors gather to trade starts, seeds, and plants they have too much of in their gardens. We also share our hopes for the coming garden season and of course our disappointment in the weather. Coffee and pastries sustain us while we choose our plants.



It was a huge success.
I bought home 3 tomato plants, 2 peppers, some onion starts, Sweet Pea seeds, Gourd seeds, Chinese Lantern plant, Red Bee Balm.

And the very next day temperatures were back down into the 50s with plenty of rain.

Many plants are defiant in the face of this unpleasantness. Rhododendrons and Dogwoods are in bloom, trees have leafed out. Raspberries and strawberries have set their tiny fruits. But the cool weather persists. It will have to give up soon. I'm sure you are tired of my complaining, especially if you live in a place that has real winter, and you still have snow.

Spring Hopes Eternal

You'd think there would be more posts on a garden blog at this time of year, right? Well, I haven't felt much like gardening lately and I haven't felt like I had anything worth writing about. This can't go on much longer. Can it?

Another drippy day. Spring is late. Again. Temperatures are below normal for this time of year. We keep telling ourselves if we can just make it through the next few wet days there are suns on the weather page of the paper. Just over the horizon, at the end of the week. Maybe.

Right now the sun is shining, even though an intense shower with some hail is passing through. But the plants don't seem to notice that what is supposed to be happening isn't. And we've had a taste of pleasures to come. Buds are bursting forth and all over town there are colors besides gray and brown. This little tease has me yearning for more; more color and the smell of plants and flowers warmed by the sun.

I can't wait for:
Orange
Milky orange of squash blossoms, and the flesh of pumpkins
Blinding, piercing orange of marigolds and zinnias
Peaches, even though they are more about the smell than the color
Carrots, which always provide a surprise when pulled from the soil

Yellow
Waxy perfection of daffodils, shocking against the still dead landscape
Winter jasmine and Forsythia, (these have come and gone)
Pale yellow of sweet corn, only at peak for a few weeks, but such a classic taste of summer

Pink
Soft pink of cherry trees in bloom, fluttering away at the touch of a breeze
Pink Magnolia buds, like a tree full of Easter eggs
Searing pink Zinnias and Cosmos

Blue
Western Scrub Jays that turn up looking for peanuts most mornings
Borage flowers and their fan club of bees
Sweet pea flowers of whose delicate perfume I never tire

White
Star Magnolia, bright light against the frequently gray skies of March
Blousy, charming, old fashioned Peonies
Classy white Roses, always elegant
Paperwhites

Red
Roses in every shade of red
Blood red beets
Fire engine red Crocosmia

Black
Rich, loamy soil, crumbly fragrant compost
Black tomatoes, which aren't really black, but dark purply green and rich in flavor, my favorite
Creepy black Tulips

Green
Millions of greens as plants emerge from hibernation
Blue green of Lacinato Kale
Electric chartreuse, green of new shoots and Sweet Flag grass

So I will distract myself with spring cleaning and in a few days we may have sun and warmth.

Now You See 'em

And now you don't. Just as promised. We placed the dabs of Terro among the swarms of ants and waited. At first more ants came, just like we were warned on the package. We remained calm. We kept the bait traps full.

Each morning there were fewer and fewer of them and they seemed more and more tired and slow moving. Finally, after 2, maybe 3 days, there just weren't any more ants. Hooray!

We waited, just to make absolutely sure before we reclaimed our kitchen counters. After a day or 2 with no ants we wiped everything down and replaced appliances and utensils and life returned to normal. And we have been ant free ever since. Until next time.