Daffodils!

Ours seem to bloom about 2 weeks after everyone else's but spring is finally here!

Tomato, ToMAHto

So, tomatoes are my favorite food. As such, I only eat them in their prime. Which, here in B to the more is August. Namely nearly my birthday (August 19th. I will be 30. Am scared) week. So, why are all of my tomato plants full of GREEN tomatoes? We have some flowers and some tiny tomatoes but nothing ripe. Well. We have had 2 ripe tomatoes since June (both now in quotes "Early" Girls) and one in June (yellow pear) and nothing else. For all of June/July we pretty much had zero flowers so at least these flowers speak of potential but we are going to Belgium for a little over a week in early September and I have horrible thoughts that they are all going to ripen then. Is it in bad taste to ask the neighbors to pick my tomatoes and then hold them for me? We have like 10 heirloom varieties I am dying to eat. This summer was supposed to be the summer of tomatoes, not the summer of suck. Le sigh.

Lilies

I thought you might like a peek at what the lilies look like in the wild.

Resurrection Lily, Surprise Lily or Naked Lady Lily

This lily really was the most surprising thing in our yard the first Summer we moved in. We didn't see the leaves that appear in the Spring because we moved in in July. Even if we had, we'd still would have been surprised! These flowers are almost eerie, iridescent and a ghostly lavender. They send up leafless stalks about 3 ft tall and then bunches of the flowers appear soon after. Very fun and unexpected.

Coneflowers

They are doing great and attracting a lot of bees!

Blackberries!

Sorry for the lull in posting, but not much has been happening in the garden lately. A lot of growing, but not a lot of flowering or fruiting. Oddly all of the baby plums on our tree have vanished but the blackberries are going strong.

Peony!

The peonies opened yesterday! I am glad they waited until after the rain.

Rain!

Well, I should have gotten right on the rain barrel purchase because it has done nothing but rain. I worry that my tomato plants are drowning! One of them already has some yellow leaves from overwatering and I haven't had to water them once.

The blackberry bush is flowering, but a lot of the flowers are falling off because of the weight of the rain. I am so looking forward to some more seasonable weather soon!

dogwood!

dogwood!
Originally uploaded by rachel is coconut&lime

Just in bloom! It is amazing that just a few days ago they were tiny buds.

Gardening Update

The cherry blossoms are just starting to bloom. Finally! I remember when we first moved in that they bloomed around March 25th and we had no idea what kind of tree it was, so it was a big surprise to walk out one morning to a tree in full bloom. So it is blooming late but I am glad it is blooming at all, it is pretty old and there is a dead branch.

my favorites

Spring 2008
Originally uploaded by rachel is coconut&lime

Finally, they bloomed! I love daffodils. I really want to plant more-maybe those pink ones I've seen?

starting to move into spring

starting to move into spring
Originally uploaded by rachel is coconut&lime

plum tree

plum tree
Originally uploaded by rachel is coconut&lime

Hibiscus

We planted some hibiscus in a area that used to be populated by out of control rose of sharon. It grew to about 5 feet tall is now beginning to bloom.

Pollination

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

First up: The blackberries are blooming and starting to fruit.



We have a circle of yucca in the backyard that we uncovered when we moved in. It had been completely overgrown. Now they are healthy and blooming. You can't tell in the picture but the shoot with the flowers on it is over 5 feet tall.
Our first blooming hydrangea. Matt thinks it was blue last year, but I am not sure. It is the "endless summer" variety.


I think this picture came out pretty. It's the redbud tree we planted last year-raspberry sundae.

And last: the coneflowers Matt planted last Saturday to help fill in the hole that was left after taking out an old clothes pole.
This is my first participation in Bloom Day! I just took these pictures less than 10 minutes ago, so it is literally what is blooming right now.



Also: please vote for my cooking blog, Coconut & Lime in the GrillMe contest. By voting for me you are also entering yourself in the same contest-a trip to Napa Valley! Click here to enter.

Tomatoes!

We finally have some baby tomatoes! Heather had some on Sunday and I was worried my plants were woefully inadequate, but I think she just planted hers first. My mom was over today and she thinks they might be planted too close together, but I think they are okay. They are already doing a 1,000 times better than they did last year.

Also: please vote for my cooking blog, Coconut & Lime in the GrillMe contest. By voting for me you are also entering yourself in the same contest-a trip to Napa Valley! Click here to enter.

Red Lilies

Anyone have any idea what these are? They appear to be some sort of lily and are a really lurid red.

Pink Carnations

I bought these back when we first moved in and wanted something that would grow and spread a bit in the area near our mailbox. It was past their blooming season and the picture on the tag was tiny and contained only their Latin name. It wasn't until last year that I realized they were carnations. I had never really thought of carnations as something you can grow in your yard, but you can and they really have spread. The only thing I don't like about them is how floppy they are!

And we have blooms!

The peony opened. Isn't it pretty? It is one of my favorites. We also have some pale pink more traditional looking peonies but they haven't opened yet. Maybe today?

Also: every once in a while when I am sitting at the computer I get a big whiff of flowers. Roses, mostly. It is wonderful. I want to go outside and sit.