march wrap-up and a wasp question (help!)

March has mostly been a month of beautiful weather here. I'm still enjoying being home with Clara, and terribly sad I have to go back to work in 3 weeks. I've gotten to spend just a bit of time outside (and contracted my first case of poison ivy of the year - yuck!).

This was taken a week or so ago. I love the hot pink lorapetalum with the bright yellow daffs!

I also love wild violets and let them grow wherever they want in our yard.
It's always exciting to see the first fern frond unfurl.
First harvest of 2011!
...turned into a delicious pecan-encrusted mozzarella salad. mmm... if anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I'll email it to you.
All three of the original fish we got in 2009 are still kickin'.

And now for some much less likable wildlife.... we have a lot of red wasps in Mississippi. At my house, they all gravitate to this one structure. They have since Scott built it a couple of years ago. Can you help me figure out WHY, and more importantly, how I can get them away from there? It's in the middle of the veggie garden, so it's quite a nuisance to me. They don't seem to have a nest there. It's like they are scavenging/mining for something.

Thanks in advance for your advice! And now for the obligatory/shameless Clara pic.....

Have a great weekend!

-Ginger

p.s. I still have two extra packets of lima bean seeds if anyone wants them

Early spring blooms

Of the two apple trees we planted last year, one is blooming these precious pale pink blooms (tons of them). The other looks weeks away from blooming, which may be a bit of a problem since they were supposed to be cross-pollinators! Hmm.... we'll see!
Pansies and violas are planted in late fall here and will live until late spring with zero care if planted where they can just collect rainwater and some sun.

I have two varieties of lorapetalum blooming, but only caught a photo of this one. They are so FUNKY! I love it. The other's blooms are a pale pink.

This has been a bad year for camellias here... poor blooms, late blooms. This 50-year-old 10+ foot tall shrub usually blooms from November through the end of January, but is just getting started this year. No idea why, though I'm quite relieved it's going to bloom now rather than never.

Daffodils, muscari, hyacinths and crocuses are popping up, and more daffs will bloom over the next couple of weeks.

There are white crocuses in bloom, too. Haven't seen any of the purple ones this year.

I write about them every year, and every year people say what awful trees they are.... Our house came with 3 HUGE bradford pears that are DECADES past their anticipated life span. Two of the three had already split, and one of those was taken down last year. This is the biggest of the remaining trees - isn't it ridiculous?? But it's beautiful in bloom, provides tons of shade and interest, and isn't in danger of falling on a house.... so I'm not taking it down anytime soon.

It even looks cool at night. The blooms are like big snowflakes.

I haven't done much gardening, but have lettuce ready to harvest and carrots still cookin' in the raised beds. Basil, a few tomato plants, zinnias and one eggplant started from seed have been moved to transitional pots. Planting sugar snap peas tomorrow.

Here's my excuse for being a worthless gardener - and the light of my life:

Clara will be 5 weeks old tomorrow!

-

On a totally unrelated note, I have two seed packets for lima beans bought last fall that I'm not going to use. If anyone wants them, let me know and I'll mail them to you (first to stake a claim will receive both packets).

Hope y'all are having a great gardening week :-)

-Ginger