Here's to Martha!

Martha's Garden

Each year, I take vacation from work for the week of Good Friday.  I call it my “Gardening Galore” vacation.  This is the first “Gardening Galore” week without Martha, my gardening buddy, so I thought a post in her honor would be fitting.  I don't intend this to be a sad post, but a post to remember someone dear who I had great gardening times with, and who taught me a lot about gardening.  Aside from being my gardening buddy, she was also my mother-in-law and fellow daylily addict.  Martha was the only person I’ve known who was more obsessed with daylilies than I am.  Actually, SHE started my addiction (to her delight)!  One of the first daylilies I remember Martha giving me was one named Orange Crush.  I still have it.    In her last days, Martha told me I’d have to carry on in the gardening world without her.  She knew I would.  The most treasured items I have from her are some precious daylilies from her collection (she had hundreds).  When her daylilies were in bloom, I’d always go straight to Martha’s after work to take the daylily tour.  The great thing about daylilies aside from their beauty is that each day is a surprise!  Each bloom only lasts a day, so you have a whole new show each morning.  She was particularly fond of the daylilies with a spider form as am I.  Yesterday, I stood on the deck and looked at Martha’s garden in bloom across the fence.  She had lots of amaryllis planted, and they’re all in bloom now (daylilies should bloom in about a week).  Red was Martha’s favorite color, and it definitely shows in her garden.  For some reason, her flowers (even of the same type) always bloomed before mine.  There must be some special micro-climate over there.  We both loved hummingbirds too.  Martha accused me of mixing “special” nectar when the hummers hung around over here more than at her feeders.  The truth is, hummingbirds can just be fickle, and will fly right by with their beaks “up in the air” for no good reason sometimes.  As I begin this week of “Gardening Galore,” it will be a big adjustment not hearing the sprinkler next door, Martha’s hoe or shovel in the dirt, the squeaky wheels of her gardening cart, or not having her just pop over to see how my gardening is going.  As I told her, I will carry on in the garden ...

Martha's Garden

From Martha's Garden

Another from Martha's garden (think it's "Aztec Fire Bird)


Not sure of this one's name, but it's a beauty ...

Martha

Three special gardening tips I learned from Martha:

1. When planting the same type of plant/flower in groups, always plant three, five or seven (never an even number).
2. When combining plants, have something spiky, something ferny (cascading) and something mounding … “Spiky, Ferny, Mounded.”
3. Always taper your flower beds off on the edges, so the heights of the plants get lower as they get toward the edges/sides.  Personally, this has worked for me.  It is especially noticeable with smaller flower beds.

Martha's "Daylily Farm"

:-)

Where oh where are the iris blooms?

- Where oh where are the iris blooms? -

Today, I had to face the disheartening realization that my tall bearded irises probably won't be blooming this year.  This is probably due to the very mild winter we enjoyed as well as a very early heat wave this year.  Bearded irises are tricky to grow in lower Alabama, and this year they are just being persnickety!  If they do this next year, I know some tall bearded irises that just might be finding a new home in a northerly direction.  Well, on second thought, I'll probably keep two or three of them just for the foliage ... I think the silvery foliage is beautiful.  On to happier subjects ...

- Budding Daylily - Muscle Man -

The daylily buds are appearing overnight.  They're about six weeks early this year!  I have a chart of what is planted where, and I had to use the chart this morning, since there were so many new buds when I went out to check.  I have several pink daylilies that have buds on them, so I'll have lots of pink daylily pics to post soon.  

- Pears -

- Black and Blue Salvia -

This plant amazes me!  It has lived in this old strawberry pot for years.  Black and Blue Salvia is one of my favorite plants/flowers.  It  has bluish black stems, and the new leaves are lime green when they first unfurl.  The flowers are a striking blue color.  Black and Blue Salvia is a drought tolerant, dependable perennial.  Last but not least, hummingbirds love it! :-)

Announcing the First Daylily Bloom!

I dug out my "big girl" camera last night.  I have been using a Canon Elph, but I think it is worn out and has lost it's edge.  After all, that little camera has taken thousands of photos over the past seven years. My "big girl" camera has been around for a while, but hasn't been used a lot.  It's a Minolta Diamage A2 ... I hope you notice an improvement in my blog photos as time goes by.  I took a few photos with it this evening when I got home from work.  I will be off work on vacation next week, so I'll have plenty of time to practice with the camera, garden like crazy and blog!  It's time to recharge. :-)

Stella d'Oro Bud

Announcing the first daylily of the season ... Stella d'Oro!

Dianthus - Chili

Dianthus

Coreopsis

Honeysuckle

This is the current garden perfume right now ... it smells heavenly!

Even my blog space is blooming now!  It was time to replace the area rug so here's the new one.  The photo doesn't do it justice ... it's a deep chocolate brown with deeply hued flowers.  It brings the garden indoors. :-)

Lowe's Garden Center (again) and Carrabba's

A trip was made to the Garden Center once again where I found more herbs and flowers.  This time I ended up with:

The Coveted Marjoram

Now that I finally found the marjoram, I 'm set to make spaghetti sauce with only fresh herbs.  I found the oregano and basil previously, but searched high and low before finally finding the marjoram.  I was lucky!  The plant I found was not doing well due to lack of water.  I knew I better get this pitiful plant anyway, so I put it in the cart and immediately headed for the fountain area.  Then, I inconspicuously (at least I thought so) held this thirsty (to put it mildly) plant under the trickle of a fountain for resuscitation purposes. I was desperate and so was the marjoram!

English Lavender

I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I just had to have this one.  Do you have any ideas?

Cherry Tomato

I love to put these in salads or just eat them as a snack.  Don't they smell great?

Heirloom Brandywine Tomato

Haven't tried this one before so this should be interesting.  The picture is pretty on the tag.  There is also a Homestead tomato in the mix, but it didn't photograph well.

Mammoth Jalapeno Peppers

I can't wait to see these.  They are supposed to grow to approximately four inches in length.  I'll use these for salsa, guacamole and armadillo eggs.  I'll be sure to post my recipes when I use these. :-)

Now, for the blooms:

Dwarf Coreopsis

Bloomin' Doormat

Carrabba's Insalata Johnny Rocco

The perfect end to a lovely day.  We were able to sit outside and enjoy the weather.  I had the Insalata Johnny Rocco which was delicious.  It is a bed of mixed greens topped with roasted red peppers, olives, grilled shrimp and scallops, ricotta and vinaigrette.  Of course, there was a glass of chardonnay to go with it (no headache this time :-).

Spring Bloom Safari!

Red Bottle Brush Tree Bloom



Bridal Wreath Spirea



Beautiful white bird house built by my father-in-law.  He was a master carpenter in his spare time.   What a roofline on that birdhouse!

Mighty sycamore tree ... just as mighty as any oak.  This is one of my favorite trees.
What is your favorite tree?

Sycamore tree again ... my husband planted this when he was three!!!

Today was a gorgeous day here!  I spent the morning weeding the main daylily bed, fertilizing, and planting.  The dianthus and chives I bought last weekend are finally in the ground!  It looks like things are really running ahead of schedule in the plant world around here.  Normally, the irises bloom followed by the daylilies.  Well, not this year ... I have several daylilies with buds, so daylily bloom season should begin in about two weeks (very early for daylilies).  Wow!  Irises and daylilies blooming at the same time.  This is going to be quite a garden party! :-)

Pretty in Pink - Dianthus & Loropetulum

Earlier this week, I went out looking for new blooms as soon as I got home from work.
Here's what I found:

Dianthus 

These don't officially count because they were still in their pot from the garden center.  Just had to snap them anyway...



Loropetalum



This one is so pretty ... love its fringe y flowers.

Loropetulum

We had rain and thundershowers last night.  Today, everything in the garden looks at least an inch taller.  It is amazing!  Irises and daylilies are right around the corner.  :-)

Giveaway!

Please check out Annabelle Serendipity's giveaway here:  Giveaway
The winner will be drawn on March 25th.