This must be summer June 5, 2016

What a week.
It was a short week. Things that had to be done on Thursday were much too close to the beginning of the week. I felt like I never had enough time. That was true for the garden and for work.
Maybe it was all in contrast with the three day weekend a week ago. At least for several days there seemed like lots of time.

What glorious mornings we have now. I try to be out in the garden before 6. There is such a feeling of accomplishment to have some garden task done and it is not even 6 yet.
The flip side of that is the feeling that you are behind if you sleep in until 5:30.

It is puttering time in the garden. I do random weeding to fill up some container. Then I go plant something. In a way this is the reward for weeding. Planting impatiens or caladium can be like splashing color on a palate.
Then I go dig up something to transplant.
Then I start the process all over again.


Summer is here.
On Friday the first orchid cactus bloomed.

Here was the second one, the next day.

The biggest orchid cactus is now hung on one of the sky hooks under the walnut tree. I had much help with that plant. The teenager across the street provided the muscle. Everyone should have a teenager across the street. He not only moved the plant to one of the hangers, but then move it again several times as I decided that the plant needed to be higher up on the rope.
There are maybe twenty good sized buds coming on that plant. It will have yellow flowers.
The fantastic first flowers above came on a plants that really don't have that many buds right now.


Also on Saturday the first waterlily bloomed.

Sometime during the week there was the first frog jumping into the pond as I approached. There is no picture.

The leaves are coming out on the Sycamore tree. It is just about the last tree to leaf out. That means the orchids can go hang on the metal tree in the middle of the backyard. They are responding well to being outside in the air and the warmer weather.

Perhaps because it has been dryer than normal, it does not seem that there have been many bugs. This is good.

I colored outside the lines last weekend. We had guests coming on Tuesday. Our three day weekend was full of spring cleaning. One trip to the attic yielded a mounted fabric hanging we had not seen in 25 years. Remember Marimekko? Here it is, now on the door to our back garage.

The flowers in the garden should just keep on coming now for the next 2 months. The daylily scapes (the name of the flower stalks) are forming on many of the plants. The Asiatic lilies should bloom in the next week.

The Louisiana Iris started blooming this week.

Here is another Louisiana Iris.  They like sun and wet feet.








Here are other contributions from the garden last week.

This is an Amaryllis. It was dormant all winter. It made a bud this spring when it went outside.

It was a week to plant seeds. These are clivia seed. They actually will start to grow, still in the seedpod. When you gently cut open the seedpod you will find the shoots already developing.

Here are the seeds all in their pot. (I do put dirt over them. That would not be such an interesting picture.) They will stay in this pot for perhaps a year. I do have to put something on top of the pot. Otherwise the squirrels will decide to see if there is anything in the pot they might like.

This is an alium. They make big purple globes on tall stalks around the garden. I have found them quite reliable. They come back year after year. They will even multiply, if you dig them up in the fall. That does require you to remember where they are.

Poppies are good.

Here is one of the Iceland poppies. I am still trying to work on the close up focus. I find that to be a necessity for these flowers.





That's about it for this week. It is another cool morning. The weeds are calling.
Philip