Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Garden treats

It's bright and cold again this morning. Like yesterday, the bird bath is frozen over. At least the sun is shining and yesterday's cold North wind has died down.

While debating just how much outside work I wanted to do on Monday (turns out - very little! Brrr), I found a couple of surprises. First off this very early iris. I don't remember when or from whom I got it (senior moment). I only know that it is short, has 'real' iris foliage (not like Dutch or Japanese), and blooms in mid-April. I had no idea that it was this advanced by Sunday night and it obviously did not enjoy the 27F. The petals are sort of translucent, a sure sign of freeze. Poor thing. Hopefully the nights won't be as killer the rest of this week and I'll keep an eye out for the others.


I think I posted earlier that I bought 2 rhododendrons to put under the white-blooming crabapple tree. This 'Vulcan' sports deep red blooms and will make a nice change from the rest of my rhodys (lavender).

Obviously these new plants are more advanced than mine. Even so I did not expect them to start blooming in this cold weather (or hot, depending on the day - sheesh!). Still, it's a nice pop of color and (at least this year) I'll be able to see the red under the white crab.

Another garden treat (for which I don't have any pics) was a fun visit from fellow Ohio garden blogger, Jeph. You can check out his gung-ho gardening adventures HERE. Also, he and friend Mary have started a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) co-op this season and you can watch how all that shakes out HERE.

We toured the gardens, exchanged plants (toms, veggies & herbs), shared tips and ideas and thoroughly enjoyed the visit. All too soon he had to leave. Having taken the day off work his own beds beckoned while I was compelled to get out of the wind, so headed down to the basement to start some trays of annuals. After all - it's only 4 weeks till plant out. Woohoo.

7 comments:

  1. Kris - thanks again for having me over - I had a blast seeing all your beautiful beds and garden work. You forgot to mention the crabapple butter I'm nervous about (but looking forward to) trying - not a comment about your cooking, but about crabapples, which I've never had.

    I wish you had some way to get an aerial photo of your gardens to show the big picture. Walking around your yard, and following the subtle paths from one section to the next, was impressive to see now - and I can only image how cool it would be to view it from a bird's-eye view, once a month, as it changes with the seasons!

    Thanks for all the growies!

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  2. Thanks for your kind words, Jeff. First off, it's crabapple jelly - tastes mostly like apple jelly so grab some toast and have at it! LOL

    I tried to do a birds eye view, but by April the trees near the house block the whole view. We'll just have to be content with some good angle shots.

    It was great visiting with you! You gave me some really good tips and am looking forward to trying some of them. :-D

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  3. I have dutch tulips up but I haven't looked to see if there are any buds. That jelly would be delicious.

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  4. Hi Kris,
    It sounds like you had a great time. I like his idea about shots from above. Do you have some second story windows you could take some photos out of?

    I hope our weather warms up. I'm in zone 5, too. We've had a couple 80s, a few 70s, and now we're back with highs in the 60s, and lows in the 40s.

    That iris sure is pretty. I have some dark purple ones open.

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  5. Hi Larry - IMHO the jelly is wicked good! ;-D

    Hi Sue - like I told Jeph - I tried to do a birds eye view, but by April the trees near the house block the whole view. We'll just have to be content with some good angle shots.

    I'm actually glad that the weather is becoming more seasonal (cool/wet). This early warmth has triggered too much growth I think and may be harmed with upcoming frosts and freezes. Ah well, Spring is always 'iffy', no? LOL

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  6. Don't say "upcoming frosts and freezes" - let's pretend those are all done... ;-)

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  7. Jeph, okay, mums the word....;-D

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