babies

lilies starting to emerge













balloon flowers too













tomatoes (again! but I love them)













mini tomatoes













lettuce and okra

young gardeners 4.1.09

Watering the seedlings




















Trimming the flowers off the negi.






















Resting after working hard in the garden while Mommy was off blogging.

"budding" artist 4.1.09

M is 4 years old. These are some of her garden drawings and her sources of inspiration.












Flowers need sun and rain to grow. And they even have roots!












The most trodden part of the lawn needed to be fenced off.













M and L playing in the yard, with the fenced off lawn.

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!

4.1.09 trees

My husband rarely meets a tree seed or nut he doesn't plant. Various citrus fruit seeds, not sure which is which, hundreds of acorns, every avacado we eat, and apple seeds too. Only the ones from the fruit that tasted good, of course.









Lilac leaves. The lilac was sick last year, and early this spring we discovered we hadn't removed a clear plastic band that was choking the poor thing at the base of the trunk. It seems much happier now.


















The red maple leaves are really coming in.














My husband's work often takes him to the mountains. He "rescues" baby trees that don't have much chance of survival and brings them home. The same is true of our dog. Rescued from a mountain in Inuyama City. Really!

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.

4.1.09 spaces in between

These spaces in between the buildings are narrow and shady. We've planted camelias, a few mystery bulbs that were left over from the previous owners, those little purple flowers (??) dh got from a friend, and camelia trees, but these spaces are still scrubby and weedy and end up used for extra pot and bag of dirt storage.

yard and flowers

Time to play Name That Flower! What are these called in English??

March 30 2009 mostly vegetables

New seeds planted today: green beans (つるなしいんげん), zucchini (black beauty Botanical Interests), french marigolds (サカタのタネgreen packet), campanula, forget-me-nots, cornflowers (maybe, or maybe not, I don't know what they are called in Japanese or English). Dh's acorns on the right. Baby broccoli (planted March 2) on the front left.











Baby carrot mix (planted March 1). Bountiful Gardens.















strawberries















negi (green onions) are starting to flower and need to come out. Spinach (center) is kind of yellow, maybe planted too late (Feb). Broccoli (bought, not from seed) on right.












Peas: hopefully snap peas. The package says スナック753。 Last year we planted green peas by mistake. I was so disappointed, I love snap peas.















My husband's baby cucumbers (planted March 2)














Salad Bowl Blend lettuce (planted March 2) and Clemson Spineless Okra (planted March 2), both seeds from Botanical Interests.













My babies! Tomatoes (planted March 2). I've had to bring them in every night this past week since it's been chilly. Only one tiny money maker has come up, but 2 or three each of Brandywine, Cherokee purple, Big Rainbow, Evergreen, Black Krim, and Marmande Super. Bountiful Gardens Tomato mix.











Cherry tomatoes (planted March 2). Two or three of Black Plum, Gold Currant, Riesentraube, one Chadwick's chery, and one Sweet Orange II. Bountiful Gardens Cherry Tomato mix.

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.