Wednesday, July 1, 2009

flowers

I am trying to alternate between vegetables , flowers, and tomatoes. Otherwise I seem to get stuck on tomatoes. I didn't even like tomatoes until I was an adult. The only ones I would eat were the ones from my Dad's garden! Thanks, Dad :) Anyway, writing about flowers today...Some of our baby trees that we transplanted to the embankment in the spring are doing well and starting to flower.
I think I have 4 different colors of gladiolus now. Most are still just starting out.
Red was new this year!
I need to post photos of my flower beds occasionally, so that I can check back and remember more or less where the bulbs were.
I planted some petunias in this dark miserable space between the classroom and shed that is usually filled with dokudami and other weeds. I thought they would die, but apparently they don't mind minimal sunlight, no nutrients, and being right in front of the air conditioner vent. We have a mouse living in our tool shed on the left. I am afraid I will decapitate it when I put the shovel back one of these days.
I think these wild flowers are very cheerful in large numbers and on a mission to fill our embankment with them. Every time I walk the dog I dutifully bring home piles of seeds from up river and spread them over our embankment but so far...
We only have the one. Can you see it, right in the middle? Not really. But it IS going to happen. I am determined. Bachelor's buttons followed by yellow flowers followed by cosmos. A hillside of flowers. Maybe daisies, too.
Marigolds in the rain amongst the watermelon vines.

2 comments:

shinshu life said...

ehhhh? I thought I was the only one who does the handful of seeds walking thing? ;P Cosmos worked amazingly well for that. A little too well infact- it's taken over the lawn this year! And nobori-fuji (lupins? ) worked well but my favourite are wild viola as they self seed really well and come up everywhere and flower for a really long time. Good luck with your embankment!

Xana said...

I am glad I am not the only one. My older daughter was horrified that I was pilfering seeds. I said it wasn't REALLY stealing. A mother of loose morals.
But the neighbors DO have way more than they need and are forever mowing them down, so I do think it is okay. I am also trying to propagate cosmos, bachelor buttons, and a few other things I don't know the names of on the embankment, as well as mint, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Oh and we are trying to grow pumpkins there too. And my husband has tons of baby trees. It seems a shame to let the space go to waste, even though it isn't legally ours. I just hope the govt mowers don't destroy it all when they come roaring through in August.
Aren't fuji wisteria? But maybe nobori fuji are different.