For Lack of Anything to Say – Flowers

I should put some words here, but I’d rather not. I feel like having a nap, or cleaning off Honor’s dresser, or working on my quilt. I don’t feel wordy, so you’ll have to simply enjoy some flower photos with a few comments.

Mother’s Day flowers for me (and the cats)

Some progress on our potted plants and seed experiments. The seed trays haven’t been working very well… it’s so dry here! Even watering every day doesn’t keep them from drying out. I thought about trying to get out there and water them twice a day, but that didn’t happen (oops), and putting plastic bags underneath them to stop them from draining and drying out didn’t work. They are shaded most of the day too. I might have to get new seeds and try putting the planters under/beside some light shrubs in the garden itself… maybe?

The pots did better. Beans in the front rectangle planter, passion flowers in the back. The rose, tomatoes and peppers are doing fine, as is that large thistle in one of the pots… I keep forgetting to bring gloves out, and I guarantee that any attempt to pull that monster without wearing armor will result in lost skin. In the cement planter towards the back, you can see some mint and oregano peeping out.

This end of the garden is not the lush paradise of colorful plant-life I might have wanted it to be, but honestly, I am very tickled with how well it is doing. The soil is poor… hard like clay… and the bit in front of the steps was newly dug this Spring. It’s been compacted as part of the lawn for some time. I decided to turn it into garden because the shade kept the grass from growing well anyway. I thought most of these poor little guys would likely die off, but they’ve been doing fine. I’ll eventually have to replace the annuals though.

What about the rest of the garden? It’s greening up quite nicely! Except for the daisy bushes, those are covered in white flowers now.

The plants have filled in, and the roses have been so dense that we’ve had to tie them up to keep the plants from falling over. Many are the more old fashioned variety too, meaning, they smell heavenly(!), unlike the hybrids, although I have several hybrid varieties back there too. I didn’t get a photo of them in their first full bloom because my back went out and I simply didn’t think about limping out the door to take pictures. They are MUCH happier and healthier plants this spring! oh, and over the top of it all, our bougainvillea are starting to bloom, and the ivy has it’s pretty green leaves back too.

Now that I can get around a bit better again, I can start spending some more time out there as we’re finally getting warm and dust free spring days… just in time for summer! ;)  (ok, not quite summer, but it feels like spring is very late this year and my patio furniture has been feeling unused and unloved.)

Some close-ups:

Geraniums up in the wall planters

Two of the gazillion blooms on the daisy bush

Ranunculus

A ‘freebie’ – I love ‘surprise’ bulbs that came with a new (to you) house that you don’t know about until they pop up in the spring.