Almost Summer

It has been way too long since I posted anything.  However, my gardens are growing well, and it is time to show them off.

Over the fall and winter, I completely reworked one bed, to make it more butterfly friendly.  I am quite pleased with the results.  I have a variety of plants to attract butterflies, particularly the swallowtail and monarch.

Lots of fennel and parsley for the swallowtail caterpillars, and a variety of nectar plants.  I have also added a "puddler" for the butterflies to perch on.  Haven't seen any use it yet.

I planted lots of milkweed two years ago.  Last year, it grew, but never flowered or had seed pods.  This year it has spread, and is very healthy.  Lots of buds, and today I found the first flowers.  Monarchs do like other nectar plants, but they have to have milkweed.

Next post I will share my bush bean angst.

Happy New Year

I missed several days in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge, but I think I did pretty well, not being a particularly dedicated blogger.

Our crazy weather continues.  It does look like we are about to have more seasonable temperatures now.  We have had rain daily for the last nine days.  Everything is saturated, but the warm weather means all kinds of things are blooming.  I don't know what the long term impact of several nights in the 20s will be on these plants:

This is a star magnolia tree.  It is one of the earliest bloomers in our spring garden.  But seriously, January 1?

Azalea bush.  We have a variety of azaleas, most of which have buds on them.

Canna lily blooming.  These have not yet died back from the summer.  In many parts of the county the bulbs have to be dug up, as they will not over winter.

I saw this shasta daisy blooming this morning.