Monday, April 27, 2009

More April blooms


Chilean Rock Purslane (Calandrinia grandiflora)- just keeps performing better and better each year, in the ground and in pots. Love it, love it, love it, and soooooo easy to propagate.



Byzantine glads (Gladiolus byzantinus)


Chinese Ground Orchids (Bletilla striata) just beginning to open


Geum

Not pictured but blooming now... and totallly worth mentioning: Queen's tears (Billbergia nutans)!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Mmmmmmm..... Spring.

Days of Flonase and flowers...



The woody little stub of a tree peony cutting that I brought home from the San Francisco Flower and garden show three years ago bloomed and is fully open for the first time today. It's lovely... and unnamed until I can find the tag.

Just checked my blog archive and discovered that the vendor was The Lily Pad Bulb Farm. Judging from their website, it might be 'Blue Jewel'.

So much else is blooming as well-- tulips, wallflower, Byzantine glads, abutilon, coral bells, African daisies, ceanothus, calandrinia, columbine, blue gilia, etc.





And in other happy news, I found my lost keys! I had been looking "everywhere" for them... except the backyard, where they sat glistening on the teak patio table. The last few months of my life have left me a bit (OK, majorly) discombobulated-- lost keys, brewing pots of coffee without remembering to add the coffee, not being able to plan or plant my Summer veggie garden...

Why? The end of my twenty-year marriage, pretty much... not knowing where I would be living... worrying about how everything was affecting my son... and myself. But I'm happy to report that things are looking up. The dust has settled and everything is moving forward in a happier direction. For everyone.

My son will be with me week on, week off, and I may just rediscover who Angela is during the off weeks. I will be moving into a cute little house in about thirty days and may even be in there in time to pop some summer veggies in the ground.

Speaking of ground, my new grounds will be quite downsized. I'm moving from a 1/4 acre lot to a .1 acre lot. This was actually a conscious decision on my part. Not only was I feeling like scaling back because of the economy and my new circumstances, but I wanted to move back to my old neighborhood in East Sac. I'll be back in the Thrifty Fifties over by East Portal Park!

I have family nearby and would love it if my folks, who now live a couple blocks away from my Carmichael house, follow. There happen to be not one but two empty lots next to the new digs. I'm picturing adjoining gates... me helping them with their yard work... family parties... bike rides... dog walking chats...

I may not have as much space for gardening in the near future... and a giant sycamore currently dominates the backyard (more on that later)... but I still intend to pack that lot with as many of my current plants as possible. And if I need anything new, I can just ride my bike over to Talini's.

Goodbye quantity, hello quality. Goodbye driving everywhere, hello biking and walking everywhere. Hello new chapter in my life.