Garlic Growth

Above is a shot of the garlic that I have growing in an area that gets a bit more light, albeit lately, it has not gotten much light due to the constant rainstorms we have been having, but it sure has made things GROW! This patch is almost three feet tall! You can see that they are almost as tall as the peonies next to it! It's the first year I have planted in this area. My regular garlic patch is amended with all sorts of good stuff and aren't growing nearly as well as they are here!

May 15th Update

I am missing an Allium this year. The one next to Persian Blue is not in bloom. I wonder if it is a light issue?

The Sambuca 'Black Lace' is getting quite big! I've had to hack it back some each year! It should look pretty nice in bloom this year as long as no crazy rain fall knocks off all the petals!

The native strawberry plant is taking over. I should move some of the plantlets into the area behind the garage. I don't know if it'll grow in full shade, but it seems vigorous enough that it might?

My peony 'Sorbet' is like 4' tall and has TONS of buds! I am excited to see them all in bloom at once!

I don't think my Cyps are going to bloom this year. That weed block really did it in and I'll be lucky if they are alive, let alone bloom!

Most of my pitcher plants have a bud on them except for flava. I'm excited to see my first flowers!

The Absent Minded Gardener

I just realized tonight that I have, once again, forgotten about my new Cyprepedium sitting there in the fridge downstairs waiting to be potted up so it can GROW! Thank god my friend, Tim, tagged me to look at his beautiful Cyp in bloom! Then as I walked by to pot this poor thing up, I saw that white box again....DOH! The nematodes! They need to be put out and down too! This physics is getting to my head! I hope it isn't too late. I'm going to try and do it tomorrow before my appointment!

On a better note, the Cyps I had to rescue are starting to green up so I hope they are going to be ok!

Weed Block Fabric

Last end of summ/fall-ish I succumbed to my fiancé's request for weed block fabric. It was a PITA to install and I hated it. I did not want to put it in, nor did I want to install it! Well...this spring I've been waiting and waiting for my Cypripediums to come up and they never did. Good thing I decided to poke around because I had forgotten about having put that junk down over them! The poor things were looking and looking for sunlight to get up, but found none! They were long and pale underneath that horrid fabric! I immediately yanked that stuff out from under the mulch (once the mulch rotted on top the weed seeds would find a new (better) medium to grow in anyway, so this stuff is just worthless!) and propped up these poor plants so they can green up with some sunlight! I hope I haven't killed them thanks to not listening to my inner voice and that they would still bloom for me this spring!

May Market 2011

Much to everyone's disappointment this year, the mushroom sandwiches were not there this year! :( I was so looking forward to a nice hot cup of mushroom soup with a mushroom sandwich! Thank god the fodant dipped strawberries were there at least! Luckily strawberries weren't all there was to eat. Phipps had a whole stand of made to order food of pizza or tacos! I got the pizza and it was yummy!


I walked around for hours with only one plant in my hand. I know, shocking, right? Well, I fixed that real quick LOL I picked up the following:

Tricyrtis hirtis 'Moonlight' (Toad Lily)

2 Spiranthes cernua var. odorata (Lady's Tresses), I couldn't help it, they were only $4 each!

Viola odorata 'Rosina' (Strawberry Viola)

2 Iris cristata

Fragaria vesca 'Variegata'

Callirhoe digita Winecups

2 Aslepias incarnata 'Cinderella' (Cinderella Milkweed)

Maya Red Habanero

Pea Green (These are SUPER yummy!)

Lemon Verbena


There was a new vendor there this year from Ohio who specializes in all things miniature! I loved it! Above is one of his fairy garden displays!


The Wisteria in this picture has nothing to do with May Market, but they were in bloom in the outdoor gardens and it just smelled SO good I had to take a picture to remember them by! :)


This also has nothing to do with May Market besides the fact that I saw it in bloom in the outdoor gardens at Phipps while I was there and thought these peonies were SO pretty! I can't wait for mine to bloom! I did not see any buds on mine this year. I hope it just means it is too young to bloom and not that it is not getting enough sun! :S

Anyhow, I tried hard not to buy anything, but it didn't work so I hurriedly planted them in the ground or in pots so that my other half won't see LOL This was the first year I volunteered at the Shrub & Perennial booth and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I need to volunteer at a booth that doesn't sell anything I might want though to save myself! I think that might be hard to do as it IS May Market, where one goes to buy PLANTS! LOL

It was supposed to rain this afternoon and I got there all prepared, but we lucked out and had GREAT weather!

What's Growing on April 30th.

Not sure what these are? Couldn't find my tag...

Bloodroot's lonely leaf this year.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit pitcher

Jack-in-the-Pulpit clump.

New Butterwort project! :D

Arugula and dandelion greens for Pele!

Planting & Moving

Yesterday was such a nice day that I had to work on the garden some when I got home from the early morning meeting! Planted 4 of my 5 Hellebores, 2 Trilliums & variegated Soloman's Seal. Repotted my Bhut Jolokia and fertilized some of the plants. I am undecided as to where to put the new Peony I got. The site I want it at looks a bit crowded during the spring when the bleeding heart is in bloom, but that doesn't last too long and I think the Peony leaves will last much longer. I have a Lady's Mantle behind the Bleeding Heart that I may move, but I don't know where? Maybe I will find it a new home in someone else's yard? I did, however, bought them for my planters, but didn't put them in. I don't know why I didn't just bury them pot and all though? I moved the Jack-in-the-Pulpit tho. It was getting lost and not being enjoyed enough. Seems this past winter did a job on my Moneywort too, but it will come back so I have no worries there! It's such a weedy thing.

Today it is raining so I guess I don't have to water my new plantings! :D