Fresh!

Iris corner, before

I should have just done this in the first place but I was so excited to start gardening when we moved here, I just cleared a little space and threw down some seeds. The iris was overgrown, even after dividing a bunch of it out [the gaping holes there], not to mention way off center, and I didn't clean the dirt where I planted the alyssum and catnip well enough; it was too late in the season for them to do much anyway, but being overrun by grass and oxalis didn't help any. And the strawflower was doing all right but then the frost got it...

Iris corner, after

...so I bit the bullet and pulled everything, thinned the iris a bit more and centered it, then put in rosemary, Provence lavender, and parsley. It's kind of sparse right now, but it should fill in nicely soon enough. I was thinking about planting some basil and sage, but I'm going to put on my Shoes of Patience and wait to give whatever extraneous seeds might have snuck through a chance to sprout and be removed first.

Two new roses, two of six iris in front

A couple weeks ago, I divided the iris by the porch and put six bits along the sidewalk, which should fill out nicely and are already starting to show hints of blossoms, and Monday, I added two roses.

Back and Newty

Chad started attacking the bamboo roots again, and pulled out a bunch of oxalis along the fence where I'm going to plant some vines. It looks kind of trailer park right now, but I'm hoping it turns into an oasis by summer. I found an arboreal salamander while I was breaking up the dirt, his name's Newty and that's him in the fishbowl on the table.

And those are the peas lower left, they weren't doing much for awhile but the days have been a bit warmer the past week and they're growing again.

Parsley, strawberries

I planted the parsley out front with the iris on Monday, but I'm holding off on planting the strawberries until we have a couple frost-free mornings in a row, which doesn't seem like it's happening any time soon. They might end up living in a big bowl out back for awhile.

January 21, 2007
Days of grapes and roses

I generally avoid the big box stores -- I don't shop at Wal-Mart and Target because of their restrictive policies, and I prefer to spend my money where I know I'll get great service and quality and can support our local economy, like Thomsen's Garden Center and Pagano's Hardware Mart -- but once in awhile there's something at Home Depot, like a couple small, bare-root roses [we checked Thomsen's first but theirs are all gorgeous giant $30 ones that I can't afford right now] and the grape vines I'm going to plant in back.

January 18, 2007
Every gd morning

We live in California, at sea level, where the climate is usually very mild -- the year-round average here is 60° F, and it only dips into the 30s a few times each winter; I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen frost in the past five years. This year, we've had two straight weeks of frost so far. This was taken after the week that killed off most of California's citrus crops, ending tangerine season when it had barely begun; this morning, a week after this shot was taken, our front lawn was completely white when I got up and still has frozen spots at 10am. The only upside is the cold is apparently great for the stone fruits that ripen in summer, which includes my beloved pluots, but I'd prefer we had our normal weather back.

December 18, 2006
Frost rocks

...though I thought it was pretty darn neat when it first showed up in December.

Foolish heart

Frost TLA

December 17, 2006
Tulip magnolia at 5th and Santa Clara

These started showing up in mid-November here. In 2005, at my old place two miles away, they were super-early when they started blossoming in December; usually it's Januaryish for us, so I'm counting them as two months ahead of time.

December 16, 2006
Neighbor's fern

Viney's first bloom

This is as good as Viney's first bloom got. She suffered a bit of frostbite and the blossom shrivelled into itself and died.