05-25-2013 A beautiful Spring day!

Corn in the making.

A few weeks ago, just after only two weeks of gorgeous Spring, temperatures shot up for a week putting an end to my lettuce and endive and forcing more than a few groans from the locals about "never having a Spring around here."

As a gardener, you need to take into accounts those weather fluctuations and be ready for losses and prepared for the unexpected.

One of the things I did was to re-seed some lettuce, a totally crazy move in Raleigh at this time of year. It usually goes from hot to hotter and forget cool weather crops like lettuce.
Well, just last night, we were eating lettuce that still has the true taste of Spring. How???? Because our Spring temps have fluctuated so much that this morning, we had 49 degrees Fahrenheit, totally unheard of around here at the end of May. Tomorrow morning could even be cooler!

To be a successful gardener, you have to be prepared...and prepared...and prepared. Prepared to take it on the chin when the weather does not cooperate but also plan for the case that things could turn around. Does this mean you waste some time and some seeds? Yes, but time spent in the garden is usually so enjoyable (save maybe having to weed in mid-Summer while feeding the skeeters) that it is all worth it, not to mention that it becomes some kind of betting competition between you and Nature and, who ever wins, the competition itself really is the cause for excitement and...being able to eat fresh lettuce at a time where temps should already be cooking.

My wife has been enjoying the snow peas and we both have had more (transplanted) wild strawberries this year then ever before.
The unpredictability of crops production is part of the fun, providing your living does not depend on it, just your stomachal enjoyment (and new words creation in the process.)

The open space is filling up quickly. Those great Spring rains and cooler temperatures have really helped.

First lily of the year!

Blue sage will be with us until frost. A favorite of bees and hummingbirds. Because bees cannot reach this deep into the long flower, bees just drill a tiny hole at the bottom of each bloom and suck in the nectar. Very efficient! Hummingbirds just hover and dip their beak into that same nectar's receptacle.

I bought this "dwarf" rose when we moved in. For years, it has been growing to the top of my adult Crepe Myrtles. I'm curious to see what the standard variety could do if this is the dwarf.

Delphinium.

Tomatoes have loved this cooler, wetter spring; they are growing like crazy.

I'll let everybody guess what this is.

Starting to get the "jungle" look. Love it!

Colors!

Striations!

05-18-2013 from spring to summer!

05-11-2013 

Spring at last! After those up and down temperatures, this week has felt more like the real thing.

We did start the week with a major gusher, close to 3" of rain that has soaked the ground and washed out all those pesky maple seeds off the street.
You should have seen the bees when, finally, near 4:00 pm, the sun came out. They were all over the place like kids who had been kept inside way too long.
temperatures have remained moderate and are especially enjoyable early morning and late evening, when you want to stay out another few minutes, when you're not quite ready to give up the day and come in.

On the plus side: tasted the first strawberries, wild and domesticated. They need another few days of straight sun!
The tomato plants are growing beautifully; they do appreciate this cool temps/rain combo. For good fruit, on the other hand, you need constant, nice, warm sun.

On the down side: leeks I had planted just a few days ago are getting way too slender, meaning they are ready to go to seeds rather than grow in width for future cooking. I will have to pull them all out early so as not to waste the whole thing...

...long pause...

 05-17-2013

I started this blog a week ago,I have not attempted to complete it for the last few days because the weather was so perfectly gorgeous: forties in the morning, sixties/low seventies during the day and ravishingly enjoyable evenings that I followed Voltaire's advice to Candide:"Vas et cultive ton jardin."
Who wants to sit at a desk when it's so beautiful out there?


                 It simply felt like paradise!

Having lunch on our little patio hidden from the street (very quiet) traffic, listening to birds has only added to the pleasure. Pleasure that may soon change thanks to...the first mosquitoes that have appeared in the last couple of days with the rising temperatures.

The first strawberries have made it to the table: wild ones that are producing very well this year (my bees must have worked them extra early this year) and some cultivated ones.

Next: the edible pod peas!

The corn and beans are growing beautifully but quite a few weeks away from consumption:

This photo was taken a week ago when I started this blog and they have doubled up in size since. Nature is amazing!


For the rest, work still consist in weeding, transplanting and watering a little more in earnest, now that the temperatures are climbing.

While I do love the Flanders red" poppies, I have grown to appreciate this paler version. It's quite pretty!

The beginning of summer means the end of those bearded irises. They, literally, melt in the sun's heat.

it is also the end of Dutch irises until next spring.

More poppies!

Honeysuckle: most people consider it a pest because of its quick growth and tendency to climb on anything but that sweet smell is just enchanting!

Louisiana iris. Since they live in swamps and dappled light, they can take the heat a little longer.

Bees also like that poppy pollen.

Street view

Street view from the other side

Still one of my favorite color combinations in flowers!

Future artichokes!