THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR when our gardens change dramatically. Here it is the end of April already. When I look back at the photos I took at the beginning of the month, it shocks me how much my plants have grown in a single month.
I work full time so I sure appreciate my evenings in the garden, looking over my plants, catching a whiff of fragrance or a new blossom opening up. For the next several months I would like to slow down time. I would like to bottle every sunny day and every stroll down the garden path. But since I can't, I'll just do my best to take it all in. And share it with my garden buddies.
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| I'm excited to show off this unnamed Clemmy my neighbor rooted off of her plant. I'm psyched to finally see its very first blossoms--pink of course. |
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| Equally thrilling is my Weigela florida‘My Monet’. Purchased back in 2008. It has been extremely slow getting established and has put on very little growth. This year, finally it has blossoms. Could it have been the colder-than-normal winter? |
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| I bought this little species Penstemon at a plant sale last year. I'm pretty sure it's Penstemon cardwellii. I love the grape-colored blossoms. |
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| A little pot of Ledebouria cooperi came home with me after seeing them at Dancing Oaks nursery. I don't grow very many spring ephemerals, preferring to have my garden hit its peak in summer. But these guys were so dang cute. |
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| Ledebouria cooperi |
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| These are Caesalpinia pulcherrima seedlings. Caesalpinia, commonly called "Pride of Barbados" or "Peacock Flower" is purported to be a fast grower. It comes in reds and oranges or pink shades. Bet you can't guess which flower color I chose. I'm hoping they'll behave like Cosmos, growing quickly, blooming and dropping seed for next year. |
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| Here is an Internet photo of the flower in bloom. |
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| Here's another photo. I'll let you know if my experiment works. Fingers crossed. |
Before saying sayonara, I wanted to let you know that my garden blogging friend Susan Troccolo is featuring me on her awesome blog, Life-Change-Compost. You can read an excerpt of my new book and if you leave a comment with your email, you're eligible to win a free copy of Grace in the Garden. Click here.
Good luck and happy gardening!
