Seeing Violets Now

In kindly showers and sunshine bud
The branches of the dull gray wood;
Out from its sunned and sheltered nooks
The blue eye of the violet looks.
- John Greenleaf Whittier

First Blossom of 2011

The first paperwhite appeared January 16. Looking for a poem on paperwhites, couldn't find one short enough, but I found this quote attirubted to Georgia O'Keefe.

“Still, in a way
nobody sees a flower
really
it is so small
we haven’t the time
and to see takes time
like to have a friend
takes time.”

Kale Starts

I bought some kale starts about 10 days ago, and wasn't able to plant them until today. They look a bit whoozy and limp. Gave them some fish fertilizer and will hope for the best!

Whimsy

The newest addition to the garden. It was windy today, and it was twirling when I took the picture. But, with digital point and shoot, it's hard to get it to show this motion.

Added 9/4/10 - the wind is blowing a bit this evening.

Buzz Off!

The water didn't work on th bees. I ended up with a spray from the Farm Store that says it would shoot a 20 ft stream. Last night, I sprayed and aimed towards the hole from the sidewalk. The spray piled up like a bunch of whipped cream on top of the hole. Left it.

Read the fine print - it says to spray all of the can into the hole. Hmmm. You'd have to be right on top of the hole to make that happen.

This morning by the light of the full moon, I got closer, and sprayed more into the hole, but still piled up like whipped cream. Left it.

Came home from work, and so far ... no bees!

Buzz

Remember when I had all that gopher activity? Well, no gophers this year, but a group of bees have invaded. Ground bees. I think they are squatting in an old gopher tunnel. I looked at them through my binoculars - they appear to be yellow jackets. If they were honey bees, I'd leave them alone.

I planted a yellow jacket trap nearby. It's definitely in use, now.

I tried watering the hole for 20 minutes last night, and again this morning before it was light. Didn't do a thing to deter them.

Tonight I am getting out the poinsonous spray.

Asian Lillies

When you don't accidentally mow them down when they first appear like weeds, these lillies blossom into quite a sight. These are the lillies I bought at the Yard and Garden show in Feb of 2009. Last year I had one stalk that survived the mowing incident. These year I have 3 stalks.