First Rose of 2009

Normally I go out to the garden and take a photo of the first rose of the year. But this year it bloomed before I even realized it was there, and instead of being pink or red with a few white stripes it was predominantly white.

The pink jasmine just started to bloom as well. It has a huge number of buds on it thanks to the recent rains. As much as my bf wants me to pull it out because it's an invasive vine, I so love the smell of it and the cascades of flowers. I guess we'll never agree on gardening. My wild streak always ends up manifesting in my garden.

The epiphyllum and donkey tail (sedum I think) we got from my bf's grandmother's estate. They are showing signs of new growth so hopefully they've adapted to their new home.

Right after I took a photo of the first rose, the petals started falling off. Life is so short.

Rainy Days

We've had 3 days of rain so I hope my beets pull through. The seedlings were doing very well.

When the sun came out today I was hoping for a rainbow. Alas, no luck. So I thought I'd make my blog slideshow to feature rainbows. That way I'll have some rainbows to enjoy even if mother nature isn't cooperating.

I enjoyed sitting on the porch and watching the rain today. The constantly changing clouds are fascinating. Yesterday we heard quite a long patch of rolling thunder. It's nice to have interesting weather for a change. We've had an ongoing drought in S. Calif. for years now.

Here's a photo of the park just before the rain started a few days ago.

Beets & succulents

Yay my beets sprouted! I counted about 20 seedlings. And I also remembered a tip for thinning. Don't pull them; clip them off with a pair of scissors. That way you don't disturb the roots or pull out more than you mean to. I should plant some lettuce, onion sets, and radishes soon.

After a week of unusually hot weather, we are back to sweater weather. We got some rain last weekend so I haven't had to water at least.

The donkey tail and epiphyllum I brought over from Nadine's old house have adjusted to growing in my back yard. After carrying for them so tenderly, I found out my boyfriend never cared for those plants anyway. But I love succulents, and always wanted a decent donkey tail plant. Everyone had them when I was a kid but ours never did well. I knocked a lot of 'beads' off this one when I moved it, but at least it's growing and looking healthy. I never thought to ask how old the plant was.

Beets

I recently planted some beets in my garden. They should be sprouting in a day or two.

One of my snapdragons survived over winter and is now covered with snow white flowers. I'm not sure if it's the same plant or came up from seed.

The ice plant I put in last year in the hottest spot in the yard spread like crazy and will keep the ground underneath it a lot cooler now. I'm looking forward to it's next bloom cycle. It will be a carpet of ice pink flowers.

I have a friend that is really into praying mantises. So I'm looking forward to seeing if they really do hang out underneath rose buds. I'm hoping to find a pink one like she did last year. She brought it inside and it has babies. How exciting!

Tree Trimming

I cleared the garden just in time. The landlord gave me less than a day's notice that he was sending tree trimmers in. Before they got here I cut down the two hummingbird nests from last spring. Sadly one had an unhatched egg in it. So that's why I never saw the new baby hummingbird. I set it gently on a shelf on the patio. So wouldn't you know it a rainstorm blew through that night and knocked it to the ground and the egg broke.

Anyway, with the tree trimmed off, my bedroom has a lot more light all of a sudden. But I can also hear my neighbors as if they were standing on my porch.

I still haven't planted the winter garden. Hopefully I can get some seeds today.

Makes Like a Tree and Leaves

This morning I was awakened at 8 AM by the sound of the neighbor's sweeping their patio. Not a welcome noise considering I went to bed at 3 AM. But if you can't beat them join them, so I got up and swept up some leaves too. Then I hosed off all the plants to get rid of the ash that's been covering them since the Orange County fires.

Year of the Spider

Photo: This spider seems to be missing a few legs.

In Asian countries I'm not sure what animal year it is, but in my backyard it is definitely the year of the spider. I went out to clean away the dead vines and plants from the summer's garden and there were spiders of every variety and size out there. Every time I saw a big brown spider I thought of the brown recluse horror stories we've all heard, including one my friend in TX told me last week. While I was keeping an eye out, I picked up a white paper plate that had found it's way into my garden and when I flipped it over it had a black widow on it. I jumped, flailed my arms and launched it off the plate and into the air and I know not where it landed.

An hour later I saw another one, hourglass side up, smashed on the sidewalk. Then as I was pulling out an agressive asparagus fern from around the water spigot, I almost set my hand on another black widow that was sitting there on the greenery. In general I don't mind spiders, but with so many everywhere I turned I was starting to get freaked out. So that's enough gardening for one day.

I just signed up for Tagfoot. http://ping.fm/lfV6m Come see all my links and comments and my wishlist.

Now I don't have to rely on my memory

I've added the Flickr badge to show off my roses. And to bring back fond memories whenever I look at it. So many times I have moved and left my great roses behind and only have my memories to think on. But now thanks to the Internet, I can visit my past roses whenever the mood strikes me. And maybe someday I'll have a scanner so I can scan in photos from my past rose gardens in Riverside, Moreno Valley, Carson, and San Luis Obispo, CA.

Want to join ping.fm too? Go to http://www.ping.fm.Use the code 'legendofping' and you could have the luxury of posting to all your blogs in one fell swoop like I do. Way more efficient than doing it one by one.

I'm not sure what 'ping my default' means but I guess I'll find out when I hit send.

The week sure went by quick. I had a lot more planned but didn't have the energy to do it. My hands are still sore from woodcarving, and so I've had to lay off the knitting and crocheting. I'm looking forward to the weekend. My daughter may visit. We'll see.

Terrariums

My houseplants & housecats didn't mix.
Alas I have stumbled upon a solution.
Terrariums!
Plant stays in, cat stays out.
Genius


I used to make terrariums as a teenager. And early on I used to sell them. So why did I forget they even existed when I've had to keep every plant out of my apartment for the last 10 years because I have a cat that wants to chew on every last one? I wish I knew. I could have had terrariums to enjoy all this time. And I want to make a bit of a fairy garden theme. Yes!

Sunflower

I only had one great sunflower this year but what a beauty.

Yellow Rose Photos

I planted this rose to honor someone serving in Iraq. He was from TX so I planted a yellow rose. But the name of the rose is St. Patrick's Day because the buds are greenish yellow.

Come view my Flickr photo stream. Over 3000 photos I've taken are waiting there for your pleasure. http://ping.fm/3TTAi

I just signed up for Ping.fm to make social networking more effiecient.

tomatoes love summer

While I was out of town the tomatoes were going insane. I went to pick them today and the basket was so heavy I almost dropped it twice.
And I was surprised to find a zucchini. The white mildew has about wiped them out.

A New Hummingbird Nest

I can't believe my good fortune. Another hummingbird has built it's nest in the same tree as the last bird. This one has a more golden tone to it.