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

Can't be crocus time already?!

I just love the demure burst of color crocuses add to the drab winter landscape. Still, this year they caught me by surprise. Can it really be crocus time already?

Last year we were in New Orleans around Mardi Gras and caught a few strands of beads. I saved them all this time intending to make a "Mardi Gras Tree" at our house. Here is our little pink dogwood adorned for the season.

Last but not least... Thank you all so much for your congrats on the arrival of our sweet Clara! Here is a picture of her from today, with a precious outfit given to her by Lisa of A Shower Fresh Garden!

I have no idea how I'm going to have time to garden with a baby, a demanding job, and a husband who works nights out of town and is in school.... but I'm going to try!

Have a great weekend! GG

End of July Garden Updates

The forecast calls for it to be in the 100's here the next three days - just in time for the weekend, my only free time to work in the garden (very funny, Mother Nature). My garden has been suffering this year. I'm not sure if it's from the heat or what. Things that always bloom haven't (bearded iris, tiger lily), and my veggie garden has been ridiculously hit or miss (lots of green beans early, lots of cherry tomatoes and cowpeas later, a very few eggplant and larger tomatoes now, bell peppers just getting started, no cucumbers in sight, and some utter failures: corn, pole beans, butter beans, winter squash).

One weird thing about pregnancy is that your tastes change, so some things I planted in the garden the spring don't appeal to me now, namely eggplant.

This is the second year I've grown these asian eggplants from seed. The basil and black krim tomatoes were grown from seed, too (the red tomatoes are from a friend). Trying to figure out what to do with these eggplants that sounded remotely appetizing right now was a challenge, but then I found this recipe. I basically followed it except that before frying the eggplant pieces, I breaded them in flour with salt and pepper mixed in (and skipped the step about drying the eggplant pieces after rinsing them). It was so good!

The tiny fish pond is the only area of the yard that looks lush. I was thrilled to find this helvola dwarf water lily blooming! Word to the wise, even a dwarf lily will send out an incredible number of lily pads. I'm glad I didn't just get a small lily, because this is all our ~100 gallon pond can handle.

These naked ladies took a couple of years to bloom, but they were worth the wait. They are a shimmery pale pink and so pretty.

I love how they come up literally overnight on these long stems.

The heat has not put a damper on the critters. Check out this neat/creepy sphinx moth that was hanging out in our carport last weekend. It was huge! It reminded me of the stealth bomber.

Have a great weekend and stay cool!

May Flowers, Finches, Fruits and Veggies

Hope everyone had a good weekend! I've been slacking a bit on the blog, partly because I took up running. I have still been reading your blogs and will get back to more regularly commenting soon - promise!

Here are some snapshots of what's happening in our yard/garden in mid-May.

We've had a sudden influx of house finches:

Hydrangeas are starting to bloom:

My lone (but reliable) amaryllis:

Blueberries are plumping up:

Lamb's Ears are blooming:

Today's harvest: a handful of sugar snap peas (probably the next to last harvest), a few strawberries, and the first harvest of green beans:

Have a great week!

Blooming Tuesday

Happy Blooming Tuesday! Here is a snapshot of what's blooming in my yard in late March. These blooms are all about a month late due to our unusually cold winter.

An assortment of daffodils:

Sugar snap peas, coming up! Yum!

Wild violas - so delicate and precious.

Phlox:

More assorted daffodils:

I can't quite capture the brilliance of this lorapetalum from afar. It's really a vibrant hot pink (while in bloom). These shrubs blend well in a perennial border with their informal, almost sprawling habitat. Just beware they can get huge, so plant them 5 feet apart even if it seems like a big gap.

Long-time readers will remember my laments about the azaleas the previous homeowners stuck in clay holes in full sun. We moved them to the shadier backyard, and three years later, they are finally blooming! I'm thrilled we were able to rehabilitate them, though it sure took some patience.

For more Blooming Tuesday, visit Ms. Green Thumb Jean.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - March 2010

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, March 2010! My yard still looks pretty dead from the street, but a closer look reveals many harbingers of spring.

Above: an unknown daffodil. Below: precious white flowers that crop up in the grass before mowing time.

Above: a lorapetalum bloom. Below: one of three HUGE bradford pears we have. Every year I just know they're going to fall, but I can't cut them down when they are this beautiful.

Above: pansies thriving in an old compost pail. Below: a hyacinth forced a few years ago and then planted in the garden.

Above: This came with the house - bridal wreath spirea, I believe. Below: more unknown daffodils.

Above: grape hyacinth (muscari). Below: a different lorapetalum.

Above: pansies. Below: blueberry bush.

Above: the camellia that's been blooming since late October. Below: the azalea that is preparing to bloom for the first time ever (prior homeowners planted it in full sun in a hole of pure clay - we transplanted it three years ago).

Above: violets popping up in the yard. Below: a two-story camellia beginning to bloom.

Above: tiny and precious new daffodils! Below: a bradford pear branch forced inside.

For more March blooms, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden.