Rabbits, Snails and Beets Oh My

I took some of the fresh beets from my garden over to my new friend's house. The four of us made dinner all at the same time, something that would have been impossible in my tiny kitchen.

So I brought beans I made in the crock pot overnight. My boyfriend brought all the fixings for chili for the crock pot we gave our friends, and I also brought the beets from the garden.

My friend made corn bread, a giant salad, and a German chocolate cake.

They have a giant yard and put in a garden. Unfortunately the rabbits are eating it bare. So though my city garden may be tiny, at least there are no rabbits. I could live without the snails though. We are hang picking them out and tossing them at the moment. I've never seen so many snails.

It was so hot today. I'm glad it's cooling down a bit right now.

Beets Coming Out of My Ears

How am I going to eat all these beets? My boyfriend decided he doesn't like beets. I'm thinking my neighbor from Romania might like them. But everytime I give her something she feels obligated to give me something back. And I hate to put her on the spot like that. Anyway I took some photos for your beet viewing pleasure. I still have a lot more to harvest. Egads! And I have to say once again you don't need a big yard to grow enough vegetables for a family of four.

Garden Photos

I've been super busy in the garden. Today I planted sunflower seeds.
I repotted a bunch of succulents. Then I bought a bunch more at the swapmeet. I couldn't resist getting 12 plants for $10. Here's some photos of my current gardening experiences. Hope you enjoy them. Comment and link me to your blog if you have one.

My Ten Favorite Annuals For the Flowerbed

As part of a writing challenge I'm doing, I've been writing a bunch of online articles on gardening and sharing my garden photos from over the years. Seeing all those lovely photos and sharing my gardening tips has made me happy in a way I never expected. My newest article is about annuals for your flower bed. Enjoy. And then go plant some seeds if you can.
Annuals

Pink Ice Plant

I've been dying to show you the pink ice plant. I planted it last summer so it was pretty small, but it's fabulous this year. Up till now, the landlord kept turning down the sprinklers and everything I planted in that hot spot died. Then I remembered ice plant from my hot summers in Riverside County and knew it would be the perfect plant. Plus it's a perennial so I don't have to keep buying it again each year.

Of the snapdragons I planted last year, only one made it to this year. And it's white. I'm not sure if it came up from seed or overwintered. But the way the gardeners go nuts with their weed whips, it's amazing any seedling survives long enough to bloom. The landlord wants me to let those vipers into the backyard, but there's no way if I can help it. I don't want everything trimmed to within an inch of it's life. I can't do much about the front yard because it's a common area, but the backyard has a locking gate and I hope he continues to respect that.

Snails

On Sunday I bought and planted 4 out of 6 of the plants that were in little peat pots. Then on Monday morning, I saw that snails had totally eaten the top off of one of the two remaining plants. The next morning, I saw they'd destroyed the other one too. Little varmits. Grrrr. I put what was left of them in a covered terrarium. I have little hope that they'll recover without any leaves but at least I can try. One was the Anaheim pepper my boyfriend was so happy to find. It was the only plant he picked out. So I'll have to see if I can get another one next week. I'll be gone all weekend so I won't be able to fix it till next week anyway.

As for the snails, the beer in a dish didn't work at all so I'm back to using Deadline. Don't yell at me...it's no garden if the snails eat it all.

Finally Got the Garden Going

I finally corraled my boyfriend into taking me to a nursery where I got 4 varieties of tomatoes, an Anaheim pepper, and soybean and flower seeds. Weeds were already growing in the spot I cleared for the tomato plants so it took me another hour to clear it, clean up debris and get 4 of the tomatoes planted. Two of the tomatoes are supposed to be pink so this should be interesting. I still have about half the garden to clear.

I'm pretty worried that my boyfriend is going to lose his job, and then we'll have to move and I'll lose the garden, but I'm going to go ahead and plant it as an act of faith, because we can only live in the present, not the future.

Roses in Bloom

I just had to share these rose photos with you that I took Sunday. If I forgot to go in my backyard for a week or two I miss so much. I never get bored with these striped roses. Each one is unique.

When I was out driving around I spotted a glorious orange rosebush. I'm thinking about adding an orange rose to my garden now, even if the original color scheme was supposed to be a fairy garden in purple and pink. I need more yards, that's all there is to it!

Pink Epiphyllums

It's beautiful out so I got my camera and took those epiphyllum photos. I also spotted one of those elusive spiders I've been trying to get a photo of. They are extremely shy, and even though I was far away he ran off after only 2 fuzzy photos. But if you can tell from my photos which spider it is, I'd love to know. This is the first year I've spotted them in my yard.

Epiphyllum Love

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Now that the epipyhllum is in bloom, it's a much lighter red than I was expecting. Just beautiful. I'll need to get out there today and take photos. If I recall right the blooms last a while.

I definitely want to spend some time outside today. It's going to be a perfect CA day. I never take our weather for granted. I know much of the country is still covered in snow.

The ice plant I put in the front yard in the 'bald spot' has grown like crazy in the spring rains and is about to burst into specatacular ice pink blooms. I'll finally be able to compete with the African daisies my neighbor planted in the yard across from mine. Everything else I had planted in that spot had died when the previous owner turned off the sprinklers. The new owner is really into landscaping and our new front yard looks posh.

Gardening in a Tiny Yard

I just spent an hour in my garden enjoying it and making it look better. First off, I take one of those trash grabber tools. I picked up about 20 things that had fallen into my yard from my upstairs neighbors balcony, including a dirty diaper, chip bags, a charcoal bag, random bits of plastic and wrappers, a t-shirt, some broken toy parts, and a tiny tennis ball which I assume belongs to their chihuahua. I used to try to give them their stuff back but they never seem to learn so now I just toss it. Except for the dog ball. I threw that back up on their balcony and made it in one shot.

Then I used the weed whacker to get the sprawling lantana and jasmine off of the sidewalk. Then I had to hand prune a bunch of the jasmine vines which are determined to be king of the garden. I watered my potted plants, and finally transplanted the spider plant that was completely root bound in his little container. Someone just gave me a hyacinth plant as well, so I watered that again. The pot is so small it needs water daily, so I really need to figure out where I want it and get it planted.

Then I swept everything I cut down into a pile. I'll let it dry a few days so it takes up less room in the dumpster and then I'll toss it out.

My roses are in glorious bloom.

Epipyllum

I'm happy to report that the epiphyllum I got from my partner's grandmother's estate has not only adapted to it's new spot under the ficus tree in my back yard, it has four new flower buds on it. Epiphyllums are not the world's prettiest plant. But they are famous for their flowers. These flowers look like they are going to be a deep burgundy red. I'll be sure to get some photos when they bloom.

When I was a teen I used to take my mother to the Desert Nursery in Sunnymead CA all the time and they had a vast collection of epiphyllums for sale. Sadly the nursery is long gone. I believe it got plowed over to make a Moreno Valley, CA mall. My mother is gone as well. So my memories are even more important to me. We always came home with a flat or two of new succulents to try.

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.

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