Yesterday was rainy all day. Which was great, the garden really needed the rain.
Today was sunny and very windy.
We harvested our first pea of the year. The girls said it was good.
The pumpkins the kids planted on 4/4 are coming up, 1 Cinderella and 4 Howdens sprouted today.
The yellow and white irises are blooming. My mother always insists there is no such thing as yellow irises.
I saw an ad in one of the free magazines for a park with a big field where kids could go pick dandelions. It must be aimed at downtown kids. This is the embankment behind our house, but they are rampant alongside every rice field.
The girls gift me with large bouquets daily.
My main osteospermum (Thanks for the name, Vicky!) is blooming its little heart out now.
The periwinkle by the side of the house is coming along. I'd like to fill some of that space with periwinkle, but my husband is very opposed to vines unless they come with cucumbers attached.
One of my weird little flower shop acquisitions, blooming. Why do I frequent it? I have never encountered less friendly service in Japan. Downright surly. The prices can't be beat, however. And the excitement of waiting for a mystery flower to bloom is rather enticing.
This one had really pretty pink flowers when I got it (from the garden center), but didn't bloom at all last year. I was happy to see that it is looking like it will flower this year.
My father-in-law kindly gave us an Emperor Dahlia. Not our favorite, truth be told, but it will be cheerful at a time when not much else is blooming. We planting it by the embankment, so it can be seen from the road (and not so much from the house).
I have been seeing more and more insects around. Spring is here! Some bees, so hopefully the strawberries will get going. The aphids are also out in force. Hope the ladybugs can keep them under control. And I saw some of those horrible orange beetles that eat all our vine veggies yesterday. sigh.
Well, now we know why this tree was having some problems. Caught in the act!
My husband gave the avacado tree a drastic trim, but it seems to be fighting back.
My husband saved and planted apple seeds from the better apples we at in the fall, and they are doing quite well. Especially now that he has thinned them. Usually I am left to be the designated "murderer", though thinning isn't my favorite either.
finally planted the lettuce yesterday
Our pea plants have baby peas! hooray!
Pumpkin seeds (Howden) sprouted using the Wet Paper Towel In Plastic Bag method (5 days). We planted these Howden seeds, as well as kabocha (saved from the best tasting ones we ate over the winter) and some from my husband's friend that are meant to be very vigorous.
We planted the spinach too late, and it has gone straight to seed.
Our first green bean has been about to sprout for 2 days now, waiting breathlessly (well, not literally, or we'd be dead, of course)
zucchini
Brandywine tomato. It has potato leaves!
Big Rainbow tomato, happy in its new pot. 8cm
my other two mystery Long Name Starting With "O" flowers bloomed. I'm not sure if I like them or not...
First tulip. It's shorter than I expected.
gladioli starting to emerge
Another weird little flower shop acquisition...
chives, thyme, oregano, and lavender have decided it's spring
so we got out the old baby bath
then they wanted to water the garden
iris in the morning
and in the afternoon
cornflower. I was hoping to get these growing wild on the embankment, but despite all the seeds I shook out here last year, only two have grown.
I am hoping to naturalize daffodils on the embankment, too. I planted this this past fall (2008)
I moved the tomatoes into bigger pots today, which gives me an excuse to post more photos of them. I buried the stems to strengthen the roots. Still, the tallest were only 5cm or so. I had a shock this morning at the garden store when I saw their tomatoes plants are 25 cm. Wow! I will just tell myself they must give them all sorts of nasty chemical fertilizers to achieve that, right?
I planted nasturtiums by the daffodils yesterday. I am hoping they grow quickly to disguise the daffodil leaves.
Last year our irises bloomed one color at a time. This year they seem to be coming together, which is nice.
white too
baby carrots are starting to get real leaves
