Nursery

Here you can see growing inside the nursery Phil made for Christmas, 2007, six packs of canterbury bells, winter sweet peas and stock. The columbines planted in the six pack to the far right haven't come up yet.

The bottom row has two pots with clarkia, which readily reseeded itself from fall, 2008. Out of view are six little pots containing a red echium each. These are the descendants of the nine-foot-tall mammoth, commonly called "Tower of Jewels," which grew in the fride (FRont sIDE) garden in 2008.

The second photograph shows the view of the terraced gardens from the nursery. Everything's pretty much dormant or growing steadily for a spring show. The fountain works rather well now, though there's still a leak somewhere.

Phil loves the cala lilies near the blue base of the waterfall.

The tinfoil you see hung from string is the most effective way I've found to scare birds out of the yard. It's a bit unsightly, but not nearly as bad as bird netting I used to string up like beleaguered tents across the backyard.

Last day of January, 2009

January was a month of extremes. We had near-freezing temperatures as our highs, lots of rain, no rain for several days and temperatures in the upper sixties.

The garden has done very well this winter, especially since we've not had anything like that hurricane-strength windstorm this time last year.

The cleomes in the front yard continue to grow and send off new flower stalks, the tallest plant about five-and-a-half feet tall.

In the fride (FRont sIDE) garden, one hollyhock and lots of purple stock are in bloom. Columbines, crocuses, a foxglove, anomones and hyacinths are also charging up in this garden with partial sun to bloom in the next month or so.

Hanging in a pot from the fence above the hot tub is a purple sweet pea that continues to go into bloom. Most of the plant looks completely dead, but it somehow still has a shoot still in flower. I planted this sweet pea in the summer, 2008, and it shows no signs of giving up yet. The little flower even smells great.

If you look closely at the hanging pot, you can see two winter sweet pea seedlings poking up. I planted them about a month or so ago.