Tuesday, April 14, 2009

This is the time of year to be outside!

I can hardly stand to be inside right now. The weather is pleasant and the bloodsucking mosquitoes are still scarce. I do tote my camera around most of the time, so maybe pictures will help explain why I'm not here much.

Here is the asparagus, beginning to get bushier.

The bearded iris are beginning to bloom. I don't know the name of any of mine, but I find their complexity very appealing.

A bud from one of my new roses, Perle d'Or

Another of my new roses, the very confusing Mlle. de Sombreuil, labeled incorrectly in the US as La Biche. If I've interpreted everything correctly, this is a tea rose that can be trained as a pillar. It was one of my $2 Chamblees clearance finds.

The lovely China rose, Old Blush. I planted 3 of these in 2007 and they've really taken off this year. There's something nice about knowing that people have been growing this rose since the 1700s.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Asparagus Lesson of the Week

Since Lorie is so fascinated by the asparagus in it's native environment (aka, "the ground"), I thought I would post a few pictures to enhance her experience. :) It's hard to get a good picture of it with all the green in the background, but let's see if this helps.

Here is a shot looking down the length of the row. Can't really see it, can you? It will become more "ferny" over the season, so later pictures will be better.
From Garden 2009

Here is Spork, helpfully holding the top end of one stalk of asparagus. Still pretty hard to see, but you can get an idea, since he is 6'2".
From Garden 2009

And here is Spork offering his services as Hand Model again, giving some scale to the photo. This particular variety, Jersey Knight, is very robust. Unlike the grocery store asparagus, these mondo spears are still crisp and tender.
From Garden 2009