Only our cream colored tulips are blooming so far--we also have deep purple and red ones that we are waiting to see. Our Hyacinths have bloomed, although only one of them really looks right. The other ones seem to have had their blossoms knocked off--whether by insects, hard rain, or small children (more on that later), I don't know. I was also very happy to see that our Dusty Miller made it through the winter. It kept it's shape throughout the season, but had mostly died above ground. Since I've cut it back down to the ground, I see a lot of new growth poking through. The same is true of our periwinkle, decorative grass, and Japanese Painted Fern. Our Creeping Phlox are also starting to bloom (the clumps that get the most sun throughout the day have been going first), as is our plum bush. I still haven't seen any sign of the zebra grass we planted last fall, the white salvia, or the viburnum. Two out of the three peonies we planted are coming up, as are our lilies.
About a week and a half ago, I saw my first pea seedlings starting to break through the ground. I now probably have at least 15 plants coming up. I was so surprised!
I was even more shocked when yesterday I discovered that my carrot seeds had germinated! Since it had been so long since I planted them, I had just assumed that they were a lost cause-- but one day, the carrot came up! Har Har.
Inside the house, almost everything has germinated and is growing well (some things a little too well--I wish I could plant them outside right now! I'm debating whether I should plant some). At least one of every variety of tomato I planted has come up, giving me 17 tomato plants. Most varieties of my pepper plants have also come up, giving me 12. I am disappointed that none of my Firecracker Piquin, Habenero, or Early Crisp Hybrid peppers have germinated. Also, only one seed of Lady Lavender germinated, and none of my English Lavender. Cumin, Spearmint, and Rosemary also all failed (or at least haven't come up yet). Since I really want at least a few of these plants in my garden, yesterday I decided to plant some more of these seeds. Thinking that perhaps they didn't have enough heat before (the peppers, according to their seed packets, need the temperature to be between 80-85!), I've placed the seed trays in the attic, where lately it has been starting to heat up. I'm crossing my fingers again.
The tomatillo plant I received from the Civic Garden Center has amazingly started flowering inside! I've been trying to help pollinate it by using a cue tip and swirling it around the inside of each of the flowers. Also, my blueberry cutting looks like it's about to flower. I still don't think it has set root though (I've read that you can cut flowering branches off of trees/shrubs during the winter, bring them inside, and place them in water and they will flower before they die).
It's always been a frustration with the amount of garbage in our yard on a daily basis. I'm getting a little bit more tired than usual of coming home everyday and having to collect all of the junk that's either been blown or dropped into our driveway or on our garden beds. I think it might be worse lately since more of the neighborhood kids are out an about, and also just because I'm out and about more to notice the stark contrast between the beauty of God's creation and Flamin' Hots.
Another HUGE frustration is that some of the kids were picking petals off of our flowers! They also don't seem to realize that it's not good for plants or the garden bed to be stepped on. We had to have a little talk with some of them about it. I just hope this doesn't keep happening.
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