These are Cosmos Seashells from my older daughter's flower garden. It is looking very pretty right now. I will show more pictures of the entire bed in a later post. She chose to grow the Cosmos Seashells because they are so unusual. I guess the bee doesn't think they are unusual. He was camping out on that flower!
Wow, oh wow has the weather been "unseasonably cold" for the past couple of weeks. I know this is not news to anyone. It’s just that I have never seen this bad of freeze damage. Not only were many of the garden plants hurt by it, but so were the trees! Look at our normally beautiful Sugar Maple tree!
All of the leaves were killed by the many nights of freezing temperatures. When the wind blows, the leaves rustle like they do in the fall.
Nature is a funny thing though. There is a peach tree about fifty feet from our maple and it still has about half of it's blooms!
Unfortunately, this peach blossom is the exception to the rule. Many of our so-called hardy perennials were damaged. Look at the frost damage on these hostas and day Lilies:
And now for the dead plants that really sadden me; my poor baby broccoli and lettuce plants:
Actually, I think the lettuce may survive. My wife and I took a walk around the yard tonight and that is the kind of thing we found ourselves saying over and over. "That plant isn't too bad", and "That may make it" were the best we could come up with.
The plants that faired the best were ones that had a bit of protection from an overhead tree or roof overhang. The plants around and slightly under my daughters' tree house did well. For instance, here's some Easter Lilies and Live Forever:
The other thing that the cold has temporarily put a stop to is the reconstruction of our deck.
We'll just call that the "before" picture. I like to stay positive.
I will end on a positive note as well. These phlox seemed to sustain absolutely no damage.
Just like the peach blossoms, I can't explain it. They are right out in the open like everything else. That's just the way nature is I guess. As for the rest of the spring, I hope the weather is better. In the garden it is okay to lose some once in a while. It just makes our successes all the sweeter. You cannot have the mountaintops without the valleys.
Here's wishing you all a mountaintop growing season!
This is the coldest Easter Sunday that I can remember. Right now it is 27 degrees! Our daffodils are frozen and gone now, but a week ago they were beautiful!
This unusual cold we are having will make this Easter have far fewer flowers than usual, but that is okay. Easter is wonderful because our Savior lives!
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These are the orchids that my friend brought to me to look at:
I have to admit that I know very little about orchids. About all I know is that they are beautiful, and they look good for Green Thumb Sunday!
Since I know very little about them, I have to ask you (who hopefully knows more about orchids than I do) the question that my friend asked me. She has two orchids that she got about three years ago and they are still in the containers they came in. Here is a full picture of the one that is currently in bloom:
And here is what the pot of the other one looks like:
So the question is "what are those giant above ground roots, and are they normal? Do the orchids need to be repotted, and if so, why are they still blooming so nicely?
Gotta Garden is a blog I like to read that posts about orchids from time to time. She said that the roots are normal but they should probably be repotted. My friend is reluctant to do so since the orchids are doing so well in the pots that they are in. I would appreciate any further advice. Thanks!
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I know I said I was going to post about tips for making the garden better this year, but first I wanted to show the pictures my wife took yesterday in our back yard. She got some great photos of this nuthatch:
She had read that the nuthatches are the tamest, friendliest birds. She tested that theory by slowly getting real close to it. Our camera doesn't zoom very far so it is hard to tell from the photos how close she is, but look at this next picture and notice that the nuthatch is looking at the camera without flying away!
While outside yesterday, my wife and kids noticed many other signs of spring. We are all happy to see that many perennials were coming up under all of that snow we had.
A Hyacinth!
It is a beautiful sunny day here again today, and almost all of the snow has melted and caused a bit of flooding. Look at the standing water in our yard!
The grass is actually looking green already. I am so happy to see the snow gone. I'm not so sure that my children want the snow to be gone. They still played in the tiny bit of snow that was left.
He may be only half a foot tall, but he's pretty cute! I hope he's the last snowman of the season.
Happy pre-spring!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens is starting a monthly Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in which we are to write a post about what is blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month. February is probably the month with the least amount of blooms, but it makes it easy for me. I only have one thing blooming right now, but the blooms are gigantic - My Hippeastrum!
These photos were taken a few days ago, but the Hippeastrum is still beautiful today. There are actually more blooms now than pictured. These pictures are from last week's post. In that post, I showed a close-up of a fungus gnat. I am not including those pictures here because this is about the beauty of the bloom!
Thanks Carol for coming up with the idea. I can hardly wait to see what everyone posts in the next few months!
I enjoy studying insects and their role in the synergy of a garden. I do not believe in chemical insecticide because there are many beneficial insects that are killed along with the pest insect you have sprayed. Call me weird, but because of this interest in garden insects, I try to photograph them whenever possible. Take a look at my posts from this summer titled
"Garden Insects: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"
or
"Tomato Hornworm or Space Alien" to see what I mean.
Well, below is one more insect picture for you: A Fungus Gnat.
What, you don't see it? It is right there at the base of our Hippeastrum. Here's a closer look!
Closer still:
You might think this picture is gross or weird, but it was very difficult to take. A Fungus Gnat is only 2-3mm in length - very small! The adult females (pictured above) lay eggs in the soil and the larvae feed on fungus in the moist soil. We only have a few gnats with this Hippeastrum and they are really not a bother. Sometimes Fungus Gnats are a nuisance indoors, but outside they help in organic decomposition.
We have enjoyed this Hippeastrum for its big colorful flowers since it is colorless outside. (we have 6 inches of snow on the ground right now). Here are a couple more pictures of the blooms:
This one is still my favorite:
Maybe I should have been an entomologist!
Now before you Rose lovers hate me, I have to explain. This bush was growing along the side of our house. It was already there when we moved in, but was very puny. My wife cut it down several years ago and planted daylilies all along the house. We also got new siding put on the house and this is on the side of the house that we rarely see.
Last year the rose bush grew back and grew up and under the siding! After it got under the siding, because it was looking for light, it grew several feet up into the side of the house! I nearly ripped off the siding trying to get the rose out of there! At that point I decided to completely remove it.
Well, just the other night I was cutting the grass on that side and was quite shocked to see such a prolific rose bush! Now I don't know whether to leave it or try to dig it up and move it to a better spot. Obviously, it likes living right where it is. Do you think it should stay?
Funny isn't it, that sometimes when we try very hard to grow a certain plant in a certain spot, it dies. But other times like this, we get a beautiful plant without even trying. It just goes to show you that it is the Lord above, and not the gardener, who is really the one in control!
