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.

the tomatoes are always redder...a neighborhood stroll

Our kabocha had its first flower this morning. A baby girl! Unfortunately, we have no boys yet. There was a bee, I hope it was a far flying bee that had visited the male kabocha flowers a block away. We tried hand-pollinating it with a male American pumpkin flower too, just in case.
I can't remember if these are the Sugar Lump or Chadwick's Cherry, but they are cherry tomatoes, have been this size for about a week, but aren't getting red yet.
Marmande Super. I decided to take the dog and the camera for a walk and see how the neighbors' tomatoes are coming along.
Here is our embankment from a distance. We are on the right in front of the bridge.
It is said that tomatoes do better if protected from direct rainfall. Some people have clear plastic awnings. Some make do with what is at hand. And some (like myself) don't bother. I went up close and it looked like the one with no umbrella was doing just as well as the other two, so I'm not convinced it makes a difference.
I checked lots of gardens, in the last one (the local tomato experts, imo) some cherry tomatoes were starting to redden. These people moved in last year. I've never seen them, but I check their tomatoes almost daily (they live across from the park). They were way ahead of the rest of the neighborhood and some day I hope to run into them to learn their secrets. No umbrellas or other coverings here.
This is a random photo of mums....just because I can't help but wonder why one family could possibly need so many chrysanthemums. He hasn't even finished planting them all yet. This man has tons of plots of land all around. Maybe he just wants to fill up space. I know he doesn't sell any of his produce...
Here is another of his plots. Look at all that space! Wow! We are not as rural as our photos may appear. Most people have houses on 50 tsubo (1/25 acre?) lots. I was feeling rather jealous and almost stole one of his male kabocha flowers (not shown here) to bring home to pollinate our female. But decided that it was bad enough being known as the crazy foreigner (with a crazier dog) who wants to photograph people's tomatoes without being known as a kabocha flower-napper as well.

enbankment 4.1.09

This is the south side (by the river) of the embankment to the south of our house. It is prefectural land. DH cleared the 2m high weeds last summer/fall. Over the winter he planted lots of trees. He collects and plants acorns, I collect and plant Rose of Sharon twigs, so we have tons of baby trees.








He also transplanted the raspberries and blackberries to the south side of the embankment this past winter.












This rose of sharon was in a pot with an anemone I thought was dead, but it has revived once planted.



















The river and south side of the embankment. I hope to get "wild" flowers growing here eventually as well as our baby tree farm.











North side of the embankment, the side near our house. I have planted daffodils, hoping they naturalize. Also, dh moved the blueberries here as they were not happy next to the strawberries. And, of course, more baby rose of sharon.










The north side of the embankment. We have taken over the flat bit for veggies and dh's wild tree nursery.

May 11, 2008

yard, Japanese dogwood in the front, Japanese red maple by the bench, magnolia with small (for a magnolia) pale yellow flowers on the right















the embankment to the south, still fluffy with 2m high weeds














What is a creature with the body of a cat and the head of a yellow iris called?



















cucumbers
















trees from the left, red maple, summer camelia, ??, Japanese green maple















strawberries to the left (I picked off all the flowers so no strawberries in 2008), tomatoes to the right of the strawberries, the unfortunate green peas behind the tomatoes and cucumbers to the left. Summer camelia behind the slide, green Japanese maple front right, and I don't know what the tree behind it is called.