Bits and pieces

My store bought pansies are doing fairly well this year despite the unusually cold winter.
But once again, the pansies I started from seed are doing a whole lot of nothing. They got a few leaves and then just stopped. I don't know if they will start growing again when the sun comes back or what.
The stalk is the only other flower (other than camelia) that is in bloom right now.
The mums were finished, I pulled them and the girls made lots of flower soup in thier sandbox kitchen.
My husband gave the mallow trees a good trim.
The lettuce is coming along well, hoping for salad days soon.
The broccoli is particularly sweet this year. I think it is the same type as last year, so I wonder if the cold makes it sweeter.
Spinach spinach spinach. I have told my husband he is NOT allowed to sow spinach anymore unless HE is in charge of the thinning/picking. He believes that he must sow every seed in the pack no matter how little space is available. I love spinach, but the amount of time I spend each day picking cleaning and preparing spinach is really absurd. We have spinach sauce spaghetti, spinach bread, spinach with mashed tofu, spinach salad, tuna spinach, spinach omelettes, you name it, we do it with spinach. Ah well, much better than daikon!
These are the birds (storks? herons? cranes? I really don't know my birds) by the river behind our house. We also have lots of cormorant (this IS Gifu, home of cormorant fishing). Not really relevant to the garden, though they do make a small contribution towards natural fertilizer on occasion (mostly on the cars, unfortunately). Despite the mess, they are amazing, I love watching them soar above as we garden. The government is concreting over the banks of most rivers in our area, so there aren't many places left for them to go. I hope they keep their bulldozers away from our river.
Not the greatest photos, but trying to photograph birds while walking a sweet, but emotionally disturbed dog, is really tricky.

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.

Cosmos

The cosmos are just starting, but I do love them. Especially this kind.
Cosmos and veggie patch. Lemon grass on the right, lettuce that is starting to bolt in the middle, tomatoes behind.
Cosmos and rose of sharon (mallow?) trees. We started the trees from 30cm (1ft) single branch clippings almost two years ago. They grow really fast!
I am not the only cosmos lover in the family. Apparently, they are quite tasty. Hopefully, not poisonous.

bird house

The girls and dh put together and painted the birdhouse Maya got for Christmas.













When it is dry, it will be ready to put in one of the trees down by the river. The trees in our yard are still pretty small, and I think Bagus (cat) will keep the birds away.












The mini tulips are blooming, but the big tulips aren't even close to ready. The neighbors' tulips all seem to be blooming. I wonder why our garden is always 2 weeks behind all our neighbors?











The daffodils by the west fence have finally started to bloom.

4.1.09 rose of sharon

My husband knew I like these and that they grow quickly. We wanted trees for a wind break and privacy on the west side of the garden. He cut off a bunch of clippings in the fall of 2007 (I think) and stuck them in the ground. This is the biggest one a year and half later. Really fast growing. We'll have to start trimming the tops next winter.
















This is one I cut from a really pretty specimen I saw when dog walking. We stuck it in some dirt last fall and it is budding. Dh moved it to a new pot yesterday and it has no roots. None. But it is budding. These things are practically impossible to kill it seems. Perfect for us!

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.

March 30 2009 mostly flowers

Anenomes, pansies, and serveral others I don't know the names in English. The Japanese red maple leaves are starting to come out.















Daffodils, pansies, and soon...irises. The crocuses finished last week.














Daffodils, narcissus, rose of sharon that were just twigs last year
















Pink and blue flowers















Herb garden. The rosemary is out of control. The basil is still just starting, so some failed kohlrabi are currently taking up space on the right.