New Blossom

I didn't realize that Hens and Chicks blossomed. But here is the start of a blossom stalk. Very interesting.

Siberian Iris

Some photos of a new addition.

I am pretty sure this is a siberian iris. Got two clumps from a woman at work, last year. After transplanting in my garden the clumps did nothing except look like big grass. The gift was becoming suspect. But this year, I got blossoms. After looking them up on the web, I read that they are pretty hardy. The flower blooms on a tall spike that stands about 3 ft tall. It took about two weeks to go from the hint of a blossom to the bloom.

Honeysuckle

I bought the Honeysuckle about 2 years ago at the February Yard and Garden Show. This is the first bloom. If you get up close, it does have a nice scent. I was hoping for a bunch of blossoms of which I could catch the scent from as far away as my porch. I think will need to wait another couple years for it to do this.

Fresh Kale Pear Simple Salad

I have a few kale recipes saved up to share, but had quite a bit going on to prevent their being posted. Here is the most recent from a couple days ago. I found that the kale I planted in the fall (yes, the fall!) finally did something. I harvested leaves and got about 3/4 cup.

Build salad as follows:

3/4 cup Kale, ripped into bite size pieces

1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped up, sprinkle the pieces on the kale bed

1 red pear, cored, chopped up. Place the pieces on top of the kale and tomato

1-2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil dressing (Safeway Select)

2 tsp of toasted sesame seeds on top

Rated a 4.5 on the kale scale.

Finally, Roses!

This spring has been hard on the roses all over. This week is the first appearance my roses - usually they are all a blossom around Mother's Day. So this is a month late!

Today, a bit of rain. Topped out at 60 F.

Newport Tulips

I bought some special bulbs in September when we went camping at Beverly Beach, and came upon the Newport Farmer's Market. The local gardening group had a special sale on various tulip and daffodil bulbs. I bought these, but don't remember their name.

Winter Survivors

It's spring. Really. The weather has been wet, cold, and at long last a day of sunshine. In the dead of winter, I was tempted to clean out the pots. But, thought maybe something would pull through. These winter survivors have been struggling to blossom, and once they do, slugs devour them. At long last, I think they are making headway.