A Story - "Ballerina Tulips" and Pulmonaria, Daffodils, and Sweet Basil

A Story

Ballerina Tulips

The colourful pictures of tulips were very enticing.  Mom and I leaned close together studying the catalogue.

"My favourites are the scented orange Ballerina tulips," she said pointing with her arthritic finger.  "They're really special."

When I visited in May, Mom declared indignantly, "I watched the groundhog eat three Ballerina tulips this morning."

"Too bad,"  I commiserated.  "Maybe I should put mothballs around them, or get a motion activated squirter, or..."

Mom gazed out the window and sighed.

"No, I don't want any of that,"  she said quietly.

"He's cute and," she hesitated,"he's company."

Pulmonaria is so pretty and it is an early plant for pollinators.  Even though it was chilly here today (last night was -3C) and windy,  I saw a bumble bees buzzing around the pulmonaria this morning.  Pulmonaria likes to grow in part shade but on my property it's not overly fussy and tends to spread more than I would like. It's not too hard to get out though.  My soil is on the heavy side and I think they really like that.  I never fertilize it and it's always vigorous.  The leaves have fine hairs on them,  slightly prickly, so it doesn't get eaten by insects.
 

This clump of daffodils is interesting as I never planted plain yellow daffodils.  I had some doubles that I got years ago and I think they have reverted to their two parent plants - a yellow and a pale cream. I find it fascinating how some plants will revert over time. Anyway, all daffodils are lovely and cheerful.  They come back every year and multiply, and no little creatures like to eat them.

I started this basil from seed in January. Basil does very well on a windowsill even in the dead of winter. I am always surprised that it doesn't mind the chill by the window and the lower light levels. I have pinched off some of the top leaves to use in soup so it will branch out a bit more now.  

I accidentally bought some cinnamon basil (this is sweet basil) and I also planted some of it but I found the leaves had a strange chemically aftertaste that I didn't like.  I just watched The History Guy on Youtube and he had a video on saccharin  - the history and chemistry, etc.  Very interesting.   In the comments, some people said that saccharin tasted bitter to them and others said they liked the taste. I don't like the taste of Stevia. It's so individual how we taste things. I find cilantro tastes like the smell of skunk. Yuk.  If you haven't discovered The History Guy yet, definitely check him out .  He covers a whole wide range of history topics and produces them very well.

A Story - "Cards" and Blue Scilla, Fuschia, Dutchman's Breetches, White Crocus, Glory-of-the-Snow

A story

Cards

Marsha blinkered her view so she only saw the birthday cards in the rack.  Beside her, a young mother scanned the Mother's Day cards.

"You are always there for me with your precious love," the mother read.

"That's just right for Grandma," she confided to her baby snug in her wrap.

Marsha's throat choked painfully.  A shudder rippled through her chest as the agony of her loss shivered through her.  Quickly she grabbed a birthday card.  Her heart do-looped anguish as she struggled to the cash.  The image was chiselled in her mind.

Her mother slamming the door, gone forever.

The blue scillas are a treat to see in the spring.  They are easy to grow and naturalize. Because they are a small bulb growing only about 4" high, they are never a bother no matter where they appear. The blue is so striking that it gives a strong pop of colour even though the plants are small.

Last summer I bought 4 fuchsias and they bloomed nicely all season.  I decided to try to overwinter them in the basement which is usually about 10C.  All the leaves fell off which was fine as I wanted the plants to go dormant.  I barely watered them. Now I have pruned them , watered them more but still not a lot, and have started giving them time on the deck.  If frost is likely, I bring them inside at night. They look very bare...

but the plants have lots of leaves starting to grow.

Hopefully in a couple of months it will be full of flowers like last summer.

Dutchman's breetches, which are native to my zone 4 area, come up very early. The feathery greyish green leaves are lovely.

You can see by the flowers that they are related to Bleeding Heart.

I thought this cluster of white crocus looked very pretty in the sun.  The purplish stems and orange stamens are so cheerful against the vibrant white.

I have been increasing my collection of Glory-of-the-Snow (chionodoxa) as the chipmunks don't eat them.

Their star-shaped flowers are like little fireworks in the spring garden.

 So nice to see the spring flowers and to hear the frogs croaking away.  Lots of birds especially in the mornings and some mourning cloak butterflies are drifting around.

A Story - "No Going Back" and Double Snowdrops, Planting Early Potatoes in Bags

A Story:

No Going Back

Linda admitted that she had a crush on Bob.  They didn't move in the same Grade Seven social circle but they sat next to each other in class.  She let him copy her homework, and he teased her with smiling eyes.

Every day they had a friendly little chat, although sometimes he seemed worried.

One morning in the classroom at the beginning of recess, he held her arm asking her to stay.  When the others had gone, he said starkly, "My brother was killed.  Shot by a drug dealer."

Linda stared at him, stunned.  Pain screamed in stricken silence.

The double snowdrops come out a little later than the singles.  The patch is gradually growing now that they've had a couple of years to settle in.

I find the flowers so pretty but you have to flip them up to see them properly. 

I have been chitting the Norland potatoes for about three weeks. They were in a bright spot on a table near a window.

I decided to plant them even though it is early.  They are planted in old reusable grocery bags which is what I did last year with good results.  I have put them just under the soil so the sprouts can get sunlight.  Later as the sprouts get taller, I'll put more dirt on top of them.  I fertilized the soil with about a tablespoon  of Miracle Grow slow-release pelleted tomato food per plant bag.  We are getting a good soaking rain in a couple of days so that will help them.  I can easily cover them if a frost is predicted.

My favourite kind of crocus.  I really like the striped petals.  I don't have many as the chipmunks go after them but I still have the odd one usually coming up somewhere that the chipmunk planted it.
 

A Story - "Deidre" and starting Geraniums from Cuttings

A Story

Deidre

"You remember Deidre?" Ian's sister asked.  "She looks so happy in this post.  30th anniversary.  Three grandchildren."

Ian sighed, smiled. She'd be a wonderful grandma. 

 Twenty years ago.  How cliched to fall for your co-worker; yet one day, as they bounced around ideas, he knew she would be his only life love.  Whispered word was she and her husband were struggling.

Wrestling, he weighed a fractured family for her girls, anger in divorce, with his longing to cherish her.  Could he give enough?

Ian quit the job and prayed her marriage would survive.

Forever, his love burned, heart ached.

This is a grouping of, I think, four pots of geraniums that I grew last summer.  I fertilized them regularly and kept taking off any buds until the beginning of July.  That made the plants branch nicely and grow lots of leaves to feed the plant.  When they finally got to bloom, it was a nice show.  They were in 8" pots.
 

In the fall, I brought in one pot.  For about a month in October, it was just parked in the porch with very limited light.  I barely watered it. I just wanted it to keep limping along.  Sometime in November I put it near a window but still I kept the watering minimal.  It's obviously having a rest.

In February, it started to pick up and I fertilized it and watered it more regularly. It put out some nice growth.

Now I am taking off shoots and rooting them up.  The shoots are about 3" long and I take off all but about 3 leaves.  I dip the shoots in rooting hormone. I don't dip them into the rooting hormone container but make a small pile of rooting hormone on a plastic lid so that I don't contaminate the rooting hormone. You can root geraniums without rooting hormone but it increases the rate of success.

I want to have about 18 or 20 new plants and I have limited window space so I decided to put about 6 cuttings in a 4 or 5" pot. I cover them loosely with a plastic bag and put them in a bright spot but not in a window.

These ones are about a week old and I think they have already rooted so they don't need a bag anymore. They are pretty crowded but they will only be in the pots for about 6 weeks.  I can always fertilize them if they start turning yellow. When I go to plant them outside, I will put the pot in a bucket of water to wash the soil off the roots and allow me to gently tease them apart.

Whether I plant them directly in the ground or in a pot, I will fertilize them at planting time with a liquid fertilizer high in phosphorus, the middle number.  That will stimulate root growth. Later I will feed them with slow release balanced fertilizer.

A Story: "Splash" and Air Plant Blooming

A Story

Splash

Beaming through bright blue sky patches, sunlight glittered on rain-washed scenery.  Olivia's mood was in sync with the weather.  She slipped on her low-cut rubber boots and danced outside.  Stretching up her arms, she pictured herself as Maria in the Alps.

"The hills are alive," she sang heartily, twirling her way across the lawn.  She closed her eyes, swept away with euphoria.  Then in slow motion time, her foot slipped, her body swirled and gently, incredibly, she splashed face down in a puddle.

Sitting up, she burst into a riot of laughter.  She wasn't Maria; she was Charlie Chaplin.

This air plant is blooming.  Air plants are amazing as they live with no soil.  I soak mine every week in rainwater for a few hours. When I take it out of the water, I turn it upside down and give it a shake to get excess water away from the base of the plant.  Then I put it back in its crocheted pot.  I have the plant in a south facing window but that window is shaded in the summer by the roof overhang so the light is bright but not scorching hot.                                

Once in a while, I will add a little liquid fertilizer to the water.  

I like the sculptural shape of the plant.  The two sections that bloomed other years stay green but do not grow anymore.  After this section finishes blooming in a couple of weeks, the plant will start to make another offshoot.

A close up of a bloom.  Each reddish point will send out a bloom. Funny looking flower that doesn't seem to match the red of the bud.  Each flower only lasts a couple of days.  This plant is about 7" tall.

 

A Story - "Lake Swim" and Cabbage Beef Soup

A Story

Lake Swim

Savannah was delighted at the sight of the lake.  After easing herself down the ancient rock that hugged the lakeshore, she pushed off into the spring-fed water.  She gasped with the cold jolt but it helped her to refocus.  Quiet breast strokes sent her gliding over the pristine surface.  Floating effortlessly on her back, she soaked up the unlimited blue of the sky.  Slowly she let her legs sink, treading water in a circle of stillness.  Her mind serene, shivers finally sent her on shore.

Suddenly she shrieked in alarm.  A blood-sucking leech was stuck on her leg.

Winter isn't over yet for us here in Ontario so it's still soup season.                                                              

Cabbage Beef Soup

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups cabbage, chopped

1 large carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 medium potato, finely chopped

1 apple (I used McIntosh), finely chopped

1/2 cup sweet pepper ( yellow, red or orange) chopped

1 cup cooked ground beef

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. salt or to taste

5-6 cups water

Saute onion in butter or oil.

Add the rest of the ingredients including the water and simmer for 45 min to 1 hour.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

 

A Story- "Once Upon A Time" and Crocuses

A Story

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a little girl.  At bedtime, she always read her story books.

As the years went by, the sunshine of wonderful people and animals nurtured her.  Growing-green challenges and red-fired adventures added interest to her life.  There were dark purple times, too, sad and difficult.  This life was like stained glass, and reading was the lead between the pieces.

When she was old, she started to write a story a stained-glass window made from the rich, bright, dramatic colours of her life.  Books she read were the lead between the panes.  Once upon a time.

My crocuses are not up yet but it is nice to see a picture of them in anticipation.  Over the years, chipmunks have reduced the number of crocuses I have in the garden but there are still some that they miss.