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Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Honeybee
This afternoon I noticed half a dozen honeybees rooting around the artichoke flower. They must have found something they liked there! (Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge it - see amazing bee and flower detail.)
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Gestation
For the past couple of months, I've been monitoring the buds on the Stargazer Lilies in our back yard. It's rather like watching a pregnancy unfold (only without the stupid baby showers) - noting each minor change, the anticipation, guessing the birth date. Sunday morning, we were rewarded with a litter! More are blooming every day, and the fragrance is heavenly. Here's a slideshow of the pregnancy and birth:
Friend or Foe?
We had great hopes for our cherry harvest this year. There were lots of cherries on the tree in May and the tree looked healthy and
vigorous.
Until it didn't. First we noticed some of the leaves curling and darkening; then the fruit was dying on the vine. Laurie thought we had some kind of cherry mite. It looked like we wouldn't get any fruit at all.
Last week I noticed some really evil looking bugs on the leaves - and lots of them. We were prepared to have a smashing party (we won't use insecticides in our yard) - but we decided to take samples of the bugs to our favorite local garden shop, Portland Nursery, first. I'm so glad we did before we resorted to extermination!
This is what we were looking at. I was particularly freaked out by the one on the upper left
(better photo below, courtesy of What's That Bug?). It turns out these are all ladybugs in various stages of life! I would never have guessed that! The experts told us that at these larval stages, they're actually eating more of the bad bugs than they do at the mature stage.We have a terrible aphid infestation on the cherry and plum trees, so the ladybugs are having quite a feast. Unfortunately, we probably won't have any fruit this year.
Would you trust this bad boy with your fruit trees?
The good news is, the aphids are leaving the cabbages and artichokes alone this year. Read More!
Earthly Delights
We went to Sauvie Island this morning to a U-Pick farm for fresh strawberries. We picked about 20 pounds of juicy sweet Hood berries, brought them home and popped them in the freezer (those that we didn't pop directly into our mouths). What a treat that will be in January. We'll probably go once more for another batch and then it's on to...
blueberries! These are in our garden but we'll need to supplement with some U-Pick. We do have enough raspberries in the garden to keep us happy for the rest of the year.
In the non-edible sections of the garden, here's what bloomed this week:
Hydrangea...
...poppy (this one survived the curious fingers)...
...and the lavender keeps the bumble bees busy.###
Read More!Some garden firsts
It was delicious.
The first poppy bloom - I went back to photograph it last night and all the petals were off. I suspect curious little children.
Broccoli several days ago -- it will be dinner tonight.The cabbage is furling, the kale is curling
and the broccoli is broccoling.
It's a good life.
Lezlie was curious about the artichoke plant. Here's a photo I took a couple years ago when it went to bloom (note the industrious bees! well, and the aphids too, sigh.) Click on it to enlarge.
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Read More!In - and out - of the garden
Time to start harvesting a few things.
The strawberries are beginning to ripen. I sat by the garden the other evening and watched a brazen scrub jay jump into the garden and start pecking at an almost-ripe strawberry! The nerve.
We have peas galore.
Of course, it takes more than a galore to equal even a few batches of shelled peas.
Sigh, Guess we'll have to start eating artichokes soon. Life is rough.
The alliums are particularly beautiful this year.
Speaking of alliums - the garlic I planted last fall laid down and surrendered. It was time to harvest.
They will cure in the sun for a few days ... or until it starts to rain.
O garlic! O pesto! O hummus!
It finally stopped raining long enough so I could water.... hmm. This is the greens bed - lettuce, chard, kale, cabbage, broccoli.
I decorated my dinner plate with rainbow chard and parsley from the garden.
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The strawberries are beginning to ripen. I sat by the garden the other evening and watched a brazen scrub jay jump into the garden and start pecking at an almost-ripe strawberry! The nerve.
We have peas galore.
Of course, it takes more than a galore to equal even a few batches of shelled peas.
Sigh, Guess we'll have to start eating artichokes soon. Life is rough.
The alliums are particularly beautiful this year.
Speaking of alliums - the garlic I planted last fall laid down and surrendered. It was time to harvest.
They will cure in the sun for a few days ... or until it starts to rain.
O garlic! O pesto! O hummus!
It finally stopped raining long enough so I could water.... hmm. This is the greens bed - lettuce, chard, kale, cabbage, broccoli.
I decorated my dinner plate with rainbow chard and parsley from the garden.
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Garden variety
We live on an average sized lot in the city. I wander around the yard with the camera and I'm astounded by the variety of color, texture, shape and fragrance that surrounds us. Some are bold and brash, some are subtle, some complex. Here's a sampler from a Saturday stroll. (Click on the images for an expanded view.)
Clover
Contorted catoneaster
Clematis petals
Center of a clematis - the symmetry is stunning
We don't remember what this flower is; here's a closeup of a petal
Bee balm
Coral bells or rock geranium (call the media! there's one in the shape of Buddha! oh...never mind.)
Irises are such shocking flowers.
Lilac - intoxicating scent
Columbines
Sage
Daisy (this is a tiny flower scattered through the lawn).
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Clover
Contorted catoneaster
Clematis petals
Center of a clematis - the symmetry is stunning
We don't remember what this flower is; here's a closeup of a petal
Bee balm
Coral bells or rock geranium (call the media! there's one in the shape of Buddha! oh...never mind.)
Irises are such shocking flowers.
Lilac - intoxicating scent
Columbines
Sage
Daisy (this is a tiny flower scattered through the lawn).
