A New Season

What a difference a week makes...this time last week, we were covered with gorgeous snow. Today, however, is the first unofficial day of spring no matter what the calendar may say. Here is the first of the daffodils to bloom. Tulips and hyacinths are pushing up leaves. The roses are breaking bud (and desperately need me to finish pruning them.)

Today is also the day pitchers and catchers report for spring training. The 2010 Major League Baseball season has begun. WhooHoo!

That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball. ~Bill Veeck, 1976

It's a time of new beginnings, of waking up old dreams. Shake off those winters doldrums and create something wonderful today.

Fresh Herbs

The sweet scent of fresh basil snipped for my lunch is a delightful summer smell in the middle of cold, gray February day. I love having pots of fresh herbs growing in the window during the winter.

Here's a few tips for keeping herbs happy....

1. Light. Lots and lots and lots of light. The herbs I love, basil, rosemary, lavendar, thyme, and oregano, all love the sun. When I remember how they thrive under our brutal Texas summer sun, I know they'll love being in the south window all winter. If the plants look sorched, move them to a place with less direct sun.

2. Water. Just a bit. Not too much. I love my indoor plants to death sometimes by overwatering. During the summer, potted outside, these herbs are thirsty all the time. Indoors, they need a drink once a week. One thing that makes the plants really happy...when we clean out the fish tank. Wow, the plants love fish water.

3. Warm. Even placed in the sunny window, these plants get cold. We had a cold snap several days in length in which the outside temps didn't get above freezing. I scooted every pot away from the window an extra foot. Still in the path of the elusive winter sun, but far enough away that the cold soaking through the double paned glass couldn't touch them.

4. Snip. The joy of indoor herb plants is using them in your cooking. I hope it makes the plant feel loved and useful, too. Mine certainly seem to respond with more growth after I take a leaf or two.

If you don't have a pot of basil or rosemary in the window, grab a bunch the next time you are at the grocery store. Nothing smells like summer like fresh herbs on your pizza. And the taste! Very worth while.

I found these two pieces of writing about basil....

Pounding fragrant things -- particularly garlic, basil, parsley -- is a tremendous antidote to depression. But it applies also to juniper berries, coriander seeds and the grilled fruits of the chilli pepper. Pounding these things produces an alteration in one's being -- from sighing with fatigue to inhaling with pleasure. The cheering effects of herbs and alliums cannot be too often reiterated. Virgil's appetite was probably improved equally by pounding garlic as by eating it.”Patience Gray, cookery author

And a bit of poetic writing.....

And she forgot the stars, the moon, and sun,
And she forgot the blue above the trees,
And she forgot the dells where waters run,
And she forgot the chilly autumn breeze;
She had no knowledge when the day was done,
And the new morn she saw not:
but in peace
Hung over her sweet Basil evermore,
And moistened it with tears unto the core.
-Keats,John Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and Other Poems, 'Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil', stanza 53. (formatting mine)

A Perfect Fall Day

Japanese Gardens in the Fall

Garden Bounty

Today was a good day in the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, basil, and okra. The heat is on here in Texas so the tomatoes will hunker down for a few weeks. Everything else will kick into high gear. I love plants like okra and basil that laugh at our heat....as long as we keep them watered that is.

We picked more blackberries.


I had a batch we picked a few days ago in the fridge. Together with today's harvest, I had enough to make 8 pints of blackberry preserves. They'll be yummy on biscuits or ice cream. It's been a few years since I made any kind of fruit preserve or jam. It was fun and fairly easy to do.



For the next little while, gardening means watering and keeping ahead of the weeds. Why is it that weeds don't seem to suffer from heat stress like my favored plants do?

Wordless Wednesday ~ Daylilies

It's daylily time...



















Don't forget to go to Sunday's post and sign up for the give away.

Garden Party

When I expressed my wee bit of disappointment at no one getting to fully enjoy my gardens during our son's graduation party, a gal over on the GardenWeb boards suggested I have a virtual garden party. You are all invited. Grab your favorite beverage to sip and join me for a stroll.
Welcome


Stella Daylily



Step out back....


The pond is small, but fun. See the fish?


Rampant roses and just opening daylilies


The Graduation Boy's Garden is just beginning to cook...


There's more, but my tea cup is empty and my shoes are wet from the dew. Let's get a refill and do some more another day.

A Garden Nursery

This little flower bucket hangs by the front door. I change the silk flowers seasonally. The other day, I noticed someone else had taken possession of it.


Can you find the three babies snuggled in there?

These are house finches. Mom is rather drab, but dad has a colorful red neck. They get mighty nervous when we head out to the front porch. It is a special blessing to have babies on the place.

Sorry I've dropped off the planet for the last week or so. We moved Nathan's graduation up a few weeks to the third weekend in May. Once we made that decision, we had to get in high gear to get senior portraits created (boy, am I out of practice!) get invitations done, addressed and mailed. All while maintaining our standard crazy baseball, work, and church schedule. Being the vain gardener gal that I am, I also felt like I *had* to get some plants and seeds in the ground so they'd look good for the shindig after the ceremony. Had, I tell ya, had to.

Thanks to those who've checked up on me. I appreciate your caring!

O The Green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is the last average freeze date for our area...and, wow, we are having an early spring....it seems a full two weeks earlier than normal, but I'll take it.

Here's a little green to help you celebrate St. Pat's properly.













When I was a girl, I remember my Mom saying not to plant the veggie garden until the mesquite trees had broken bud and started to leaf out. I don't have mesquite here in my neighborhood, so I've always used crepe myrtles as my indicator, along with weather reports and common sense. Right now, two different varieties are leafing out. I've the itch to plant, plant, plant.