This time of year, you can almost literally watch things grow. These buds weren’t visible yesterday. I won’t know what kind of irises they are, or even the color, until the buds open.
Blooming
Wild Geranium
Coral Bells
I bet y’all are sick of garden photos, but there’s not much else going on here. Besides, this time of year, garden photos are about all I want to look at, and it’s all about mememememe, right?
Seedlings
My little veggie garden is sprouting! The pepper is a little bigger, because it was a seedling I got from a coworker. I’ve also got a large container of peppers I’ve sprouted from seed, but they’re only now starting to peek out of the dirt.
Pepper
Tomato
And, because I just can’t get enough of it, another gratuitous Wild Columbine shot.
I also got canna bulbs and some more primrose plants from another coworker. I put them the ground when I got home from work. I’m not holding my breath for the primroses, because they were awfully sad looking. The cannas were starting to grow shoots, though, so I think they’ll be in good shape. Assuming the grounds crew don’t mow them down again this year, that is. And if the primroses don’t make it, I’ve got some in another bed from last year, and they’re thriving. I can just move some of them around, if I ever get anything remotely like a garden plan.
Speaking of plans, with the help of some imaginary friends in the Kibology group, I think I know what I’m going to do with Pandora’s grave. Someone suggested putting a box on top of it, as a marker, which I thought was both funny and appropriate. And then someone else suggested planting catnip on her grave. I don’t want to do that, because catnip can be invasive. But! Some catnip planted in a box would be Perfection. Now, all I have to do is find an appropriate, and appropriately sized, box-like planter.
More Gardening
I always feel like I should put “gardening” in scare quotes, because what I do is not real gardening. I haven’t even bothered to pull out all the dead leaves from last fall. I gave up about half-way through. I did weed, though, and I’ve finally planted the rest of the columbine (three kinds) and echinacea seeds. Aside from those, there are wild columbine, wild geranium, and about eleventy different kinds of lilies and irises.
On the other side of the patio, I made a couple of new beds, one for heuchera and another for a combination of zinnias and four o’clocks. (The heuchera came from a coworker, who insisted it is not the same thing as coral bells. I didn’t argue with her, but it sure looks like coral bells to me. That’s okay, because it seems to be a different variety, and coral bells do really well in my shady garden.)
Also on that side are primroses, which are getting large. There should buds on them soon. The sedum is getting big, and the stupid basil plant that volunteered last year seems to be back. There is something growing where the liatris was. Don’t know if that’s what it is, or if the liatris died and some interesting looking weed decided to grow in its place. The one thing I haven’t seen is the asters, but I’m pretty sure that the grounds crew killed them last year, so I’m not surprised.
Pictures of that side shall be forthcoming, as soon as it starts to look like something.
Pandora
Pandora has slowly but steadily been going downhill the past couple of years. And then, the past few months, she really started to show her age. She was sleeping almost constantly, waking only to eat. She was wobbly when she walked. There were a few times lately when her back legs would give out on her. She was in good spirits, though, and didn’t seem to be in any pain. Her appetite was good, too, so I didn’t feel like it was right to have her put to sleep.
This weekend, she seemed especially bad, though, and I knew she’d be gone soon. And she was. She died tonight, curled up next to her food bowl, the little greedyguts.
Stupid me. I knew she’d be gone soon, but I stopped and picked up more canned cat food and a new bag of cat litter this morning. I didn’t even stop to think, until I was leaving the store, that she wasn’t likely to be around long enough to need either of them.
I’m going to take tomorrow off work, so that I can bury Pandora in my flower garden. I’m sure it’s against the rules, but she was a little kitty, so I don’t think anyone will mind.
Godspeed, Pandora.
Wildflowers
Wild Columbine
Wild Geranium
So the mystery flower turns out to be wild geranium. It only has one bloom at this point, but when the rest of the buds open, it’s going to be pretty impressive. There are probably 50 buds on that one little plant.
In other garden news, the four pepper plants I got from a coworker survived their separation and transplant to a larger container. I don’t have enough soil right now to put them in the Uberpot, so I moved them to an intermediary container. I don’t like having to move them twice, but they should be strong enough to handle it.
No sign yet of the tomatoes or peppers that I planted from seed, but it’s still really early. It’s been nice and wet, though, so hopefully they’re germinating their little heads off.
This is Mr. Columbine in all his glory. I counted 15 buds (some are hiding in this photo). I think that means he’s happy.
Wireless Achieved!
My wireless router was delivered today, which of course means that it’s rainy and not fit for patio computing, but that’s OKAY, because I (finally, and after much swearing) managed to get it set up and working, all by myself.
And now, I’m blogging completely untethered, bay-BEE!
Garden Report (Illustrated!)
Wild Geranium
Coral Bells
Wild Columbine
What looked like bleeding hearts yesterday has today revealed itself to be wild columbine. Which means that the bleeding hearts didn’t make it through the winter. I’m sad about that, because I really like them, but I can plant more.
Those silly coral bells are deliriously happy where they are, though. The dumb things didn’t even have the sense to die off over the winter. Same with the wild geranium.
Dear Freecycle People
If you send me an email with the subject line stripped and nothing in the body but “Interested!” then I have absolutely no idea what on earth you are, indeed, “Interested!” in. Would you like a crappy-assed resin table with two mismatched resin chairs, or a laser printer from the paleolithic era? Not that it matters, because both items have been claimed, and I posted messages to that effect about three hours ago.
Reading is Fundamental.
Garden Report
I finally got around to planting tomatoes and peppers. Just seeds, though, which makes me a little nervous. Hopefully, they’ll sprout.
I also bought four o’clock, zinnia, and columbine seeds. The columbine is a white variety, which isn’t very interesting on its own, but it was the only kind they had. Hopefully they’ll make a nice contrast to the wild columbine I already have.
I haven’t seen any sign of bud stalks on any of the irises or lilies yet, but they’re in deep shade, so it might take them longer than normal. Everyone looks pretty happy, which is encouraging. The coral bells, bleeding hearts, and somethingorother I got from Ms. Lea that I can’t recall the name of, all have buds, though. I should be able to identify the mystery flower after it blooms. (This little web tool has come in handy for identifying flowers in the past.)
Addendum: According to the Wildflower Identification guide, the mystery plant may be a Celandine Poppy or Wood Poppy. That would make sense, as it seems to be thriving in deep shade.
red paper boat 