Narcissus bulbs close-up. 

Happy Thankgiving! We have our first blooms! 

Narcissus update

The narcissus have set buds now. They will be blooming soon. I hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.

Flowerbed with narcissus and silver dusty miller (artemisia). 

Narcissus in the garden. 

The bulbs today. 

Lavendar

This morning I was noticing how bushy and agressive the lavendar was getting. I was trying to think of a way to use it. I hate just trimming a plant and throwing it away. And then I remembered a beautiful art festival booth from years ago in Morro Bay, CA. The artist had taken flattened flowers and plants (botanicals) and then she had used them around a hand lettered calligraphy placque and framed it all under glass. So I trimmed and pressed some lavendar for a future project in the middle of winter. I wish I had a flower press, but phone books and paper towels work just fine. I do miss the flower press from botany class, and I know they are not too hard to make, so maybe that will be a future project too.

My variegated hoya.  

Believe it or not, this was a $5 swap meet find. 

Striped rose from the late summer garden. 

In the lower left corner is a wasp nest in my bird house. 

Paper narcissus growing in a ceramic container full of rocks and water. 

Paper white narcissus in the garden are just starting to bloom. 

My gardening journal

I've been fanatical about gardening ever since I was a little girl helping my parents plant roses in the base housing at Sandia Air Force Base in New Mexico. Through the years I've been faced with numerous gardening challenges and it is very rewarding for me to make things grow despite the odds. The spark of life is an amazing thing. I never tire of watching seeds sprout, observing how sunflowers turn their heads toward the sun, and the constant parade of insects that wander into my field of view.
"And I think to myself, it's a wonderful world."