The Bloom Day I missed

I was on the road to Houston for work on the 15th and as it turns out my computer is out of hard drive space. So I am pretty late for Bloom Day. But here are my pictures anyway:

Columbine--I have a couple of these in the yard, but this one is the best. Each year, I collect seeds, but I haven't been successful to grow them from seed.

Wood Hyacinth--this is the first time these have bloomed (since I moved them Fall 2005) and they are beautiful.

Lilly of the Valley--this is the only one I have. I think my aunt gave it to me a few years ago thinking that it was a hosta. I think it's great now that it's bloomed. Hopefully it will spread.

Allium (I think this one is "Purple Sensation") --I planted 5 of these but only 4 grew a stalk with blooms. But I think they are really cool. I've seen tons of them in gardens in my neighborhood.

Those are the majority of what is blooming. The strawberries have some flowers (berries coming soon!). I also have some sort of summer bulb that is blooming a light purple flower. The foliage indicates some sort of ornamental onion.

Garage Sales and African Violets

Mom and I ventured out on Saturday, May 3rd for the annual Highway 38 garage sales. Now this is the 5th year for this and it is a BIG deal to Pendleton. The town practically shuts down for it--just like during the Heritage Fair. I guess small towns can do that--you know so people can buy other people's crap.

A couple of thoughts on garage sales on the highway:

• It's on the highway, where there are few stops and the speed limit is 55. At times, I felt oddly unsafe while traversing the 2 lane road to look at someone's trash.


• It's on the highway, where there are generally not neighborhoods or subdivisions. We would go for quite sometime before finding the next sale. We even ventured miles from 38 looking for the posted barn sale or huge sale.


• The happens from Noblesville to New Castle. We made it from Noblesville to Pendleton; Lapel runs through it. This is the country--farms, trucks, and livestock. We're not only looking at other people's cast-offs, we were looking at country-kitschy cast-offs.

Don't get me wrong: we had a good time and found a few good things, but the majority wasn't all that great. It was open on Friday and I think the good stuff went that day.

But the find of the day, in my opinion, was the biggest African Violet (above) that I have ever seen. I purchased it from this oh-so-adorable lady in Clarksville. She was the cutest thing and grew all of her African Violets herself. She told us how to take a leaf and create a new plant. And, BONUS, since the violets had only ever been given rain water, she gave me a gallon of rain water to take with me to keep them happy.

Moving...meh...

Official Moving Day is May 31. Everyday I am overwhelmed by how much I have to do before then. I'm off to a good start, though. My Virtual Garage Sale is happening on craigslist.com. I've put some things on FreeCycle and hauled about 2 loads to the Goodwill. But I still have a lot to do.

The inside is daunting--but deciding what to take from the garden is even more so. Here's a list of what I hope to dig up and re-plant at my new place:

Tulip (3/4 are coming with)--these are quite possibly my favorite thing in the spring. I would have liked to somehow tag them to know when ones are which color, but that's for another year...

Iris (1/2)--these are budding, not yet blooming. But they smell so wonderful. Some are from Edna's, my late neighbor, garden. When I think about my love for a beautiful outdoor space, I can definitely mark her as an influencer. So I have to take some of these, but several were here when I moved in--I won't take them all.

Crocus (1/2)--I just planted a good 100 of these last fall. I'm definitely taking some with me.

Allium (3/4)--I just planted all of these last year as well. The 'purple sensation' are blooming right now and they are just beautiful.

Daffodils (all)--these are too beautiful to leave and they were the first bulbs I planted.

Minor bulbs (a few)--I really like the dwarf irises, the Grecian windflowers are good ones, too.

Muscari (lots!)--there are a tons of these and they are just beautiful when they bloom. A big sackful is coming with me (even though they were already here).

Hosta (a few)--some of the smaller ones are coming with me; the big boys can stay

Perennials I planted that come with me (at least most of them): delphinium, coreopsis, columbine, creeping phlox, day lilies, other lilies, lily of the valley, Beard tongue, asters, and sage.

A few things that existed in the yard prior to my arrival that I think I should get to take some of: lilies, clematis, lilac bush starts, maybe a rose bush, and these little blooming bulbs that I don't know what they are.

What I'll leave behind: Rose of Sharon, the lilac bushes, most of the roses, a lot of minor bulbs, the peonies, many irises, the wisteria that refuses to bloom, one of the clematis vines, the mums, periwinkle, weeds, weeds, and more weeds.

I'm taking a lot--but part of the reason why is that I know these won't be taken care of once I leave. It's a rental property and few renters care about keeping a garden, especially one that is larger than the amount of grass. I'm being selfish, but only because I care. I feel like an adopt-a-plant caretaker--I have to keep these precious creatures in my possession to ensure their survival.

Delicious Smells

This week has been the best for opening the windows (well, it was, at least, before it got too chilly). Here's why: the lilac bushes a blooming! And, my are they doing it well. This year they got to bloom and smell and everything--where as last year a terrible frost came and destroyed the buds. They've grown to be almost as tall as my upstairs windows, so the spring breeze made my house smell wonderful.

I even cut some and took it to work. Co-workers were happy to look at the tulips and smell the lilacs. This is a change as they typically complain about gnats flying around (supposedly from my potted plants). **On a sad note: I had to say good bye to two lovely indoor plants this week. One just never looked the same after vacation and all of the leaves were droopy and yellowed. The other had spider mites--something I wasn't ready to deal with. I took them to greener pastures and wished them well.

I'm starting to get antsy about buying plants. I know I shouldn't I need to wait until after I move. There is no reason to do it now...but every time I pass a garden center I hear them calling me. They keep telling me to come and buy them! I've already picked out a couple of amazing house plants at Habig's in Nora. I won't blog about them until I have them in my possession, though.

Update on the seedlings: many have died, many have starved, many have been cut at the throat due to space constraints. I know this is all for the best in the long run, but it is sad to have to see them go. I think we're going to need some pots for planting before the big move.

Tulip Thief!

So at some point today between when I came home around 3:30 pm and when I left again around 7:30 pm, someone or something decided it would be a good idea to pluck the heads off of 10 or so of my tulips! Why would someone do this!?!

I don't know who or what would do this. But if I found out, I can promise that I'll track them down and break their grubby fingers/paws/mitts.

Do you think it would be a squirrel? Like this guy in the picture? You'd think they wouldn't just pull off the flower and only strategically get some of the flowers around the edge of my yard.

In the words of Stephanie Tanner from Full House: HOW RUDE!!!

When it's all worth it

Earlier this week, I came home one day after work and it was one of those days when you know the work you do is all worth it.

It was a perfect day--warm, sunny, not too hot, and plenty of flowers blooming in the yard. On this spring day, I was particularly proud of my spring bulbs and knew that all of the hard work of digging, separating, and re-planting last October was worth it.

These pictures don't nearly do it justice, but hopefully you can get a sense for what it looked like. I was particularly happy with the tulips on this day. The daffodils are almost all done at this point--wilty and brown. But all of the tulips looked great! There are still some buds to come, too.

Other happenings on this nearly perfect day included reading in the hammock and a walk around the block with Whitney (we made sure to stop and look at other people's yards, too).

Not sure what these guys are, but I have a couple in the "extra" bulbs bed.

Even the New York Times says to grow a garden.

Sunday's New York Times Magazine had an interesting article, in The Green Issue: Why Bother?. It's a long article, but basically boils down to suggesting people grow a vegetable garden. (Thanks to Tod for sending it my way...)

It battles the idea that no matter what you do--become a locavore (eating only locally grown items), buy a hybrid, install solar panels, etc--there is always the possibility that someone is "undoing" what you've just not done. We are already in this mess, so Why Bother?

The reason why: "If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand." So basically create social change.

I've seen this happen to me in the past year, for example. Historically, I've not been particularly interested in recycling, "doing my part for the environment" or considered my "carbon footprint"--now I recycle everything I can. This includes creating a spot at home to keep recyclables: plastics, newspaper, aluminum cans. Towing cardboard to the Wal-Mart parking lot (the only place in town where I can find it's accepted). Carrying reusable fabric bags, recycling the plastic bags (when I forget to get them) is something else. Now there is the crazy idea of composting leaves and coffee grounds so they don't go into the landfills. I'm using cloth napkins at dinner and cleaning with old rags instead of paper towels. Spring is finally here and so is the opportunity to bike to the grocery, the pool, to lunch as well as work. Two years ago these things would be the last on my mind, but now I am consciously thinking of them everyday.

But how much of what I do matters?

The author states that while it seems like a "why bother" state, planting a garden might be the key to getting out of it. "At least in this one corner of your yard and life, you will have begun to heal the split between what you think and what you do, to commingle your identities as consumer and producer and citizen. Chances are, your garden will re-engage you with your neighbors, for you will have produce to give away and the need to borrow their tools."

Trowels up! Go grow something! :)