Lupine

My cousin called these the hand plants at my back door last weekend. I'm quite happy that all my 2 year old lupines seem to have survived the winter. They all also need to be re-potted or planted out soon. They don't seem to mind the chilly weather we've been having. As you can see for a bit I was wedging them in the cinder blocks.

Gardening

So last week it was 80° F, and this week it's 28° F, got to love New England weather. Week before last I planted out some peas, radishes and lettuce under cover. The peas started coming up quickly with the radishes and lettuce a bit slower to follow. That week of hot weather did help a little. I also planted some peas inside and put them out last week. They're further along just because they had the warmer start. This week I made some seed tapes with radishes, beets, carrots and lettuce, historically veggies I am awful about spacing correctly. I'm trying to wait until the test lettuce I just planted comes up before I make anymore.

Peppers are up in pots inside, as are a few eggplant. Tomatoes were planted Monday and should be up sometime next week. I have huge amounts of moving to do in the garden outside. I had lots of work to do last week that kept me from doing as much outside as I wanted to. The cement block outline for the pond is set up but still needs to be filled with dirt and have the liner installed and trimmed. Then everything has to be moved and a few of the lilies will probably have to be re-homed as the pond is shrinking a bit.

Hopefully, next week will be warmer and I can start my obsessive shifting. I want to make two long garden beds across the yard, and finish moving the pond to it's new location.

Seed Tape

Last night I went a little nuts gluing tiny seeds to pieces of newspaper. This morning I planted two of the lettuce strips out in the garden just to see how it works out. I glued carrots, beets, radishes and lettuce to the newspaper with flour paste. All are veggies I have problems with spacing in the garden. If the lettuce comes up well I'll try making some different shapes for planting in pots, or in staggered rows.

Pepper Seedlings

Two weeks back I started some sweet banana pepper seeds. Most came up and now I have to baby them for 8 more weeks. I started some eggplants at the same time and they look much the same. I planted four types of tomatoes, scallions, and basil this morning.

Happy Kitty

The windows are open, it's nice and warm, and someone is in the sun. All that makes for a happy cat.

Purple Crocus

The early bulbs are all making their show this week, with multicolored crocus leading the field. The iris from last week are still blooming, and their contemporaries in the yard should be up soon. The ones that bloomed last week are in a sunnier place and spent the winter in pots. Leaving them in pots was just so I won't have to move them in the great garden rework.

Spring is Arriving

Last week I planted some pea seeds inside, and this week since we're having a run of warm weather I planted the shoots outside. They were under cover for the first few days, but seem to be doing fine. I still have to rework 80% of the garden, but I'm trying not to worry about it.

More Iris

The sun did peek out for a few minutes yesterday. This photo shows the color a tiny bit better.

Dwarf Iris 'Katherine Hodgkin'

Dwarf Iris 'Katherine Hodgkin'

I noticed some of my iris came up yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, it will be sunny today so I can get some better pics. I'm quite happy that this variety came up true to other photos I've seen. I love the pale blue and yellow.

Hyacinth

I'm so excited that the mild winter doesn't appear to have upset the bulbs too much. I think they're coming up early, but not too bad. We did have a lot of strange frost heaves which has opened up the ground in several places in the yard. A few smaller crocus ended up on the top of the soil rather then down where I put them.

Hanging On

That first viola is hanging on quite well, It made it through some snow and was quite happy this weekend in the 78 degree weather. It was finally warm enough for me to haul out my good camera, so this pic is much better then the quick point and shoot attempt.

Spring is Coming or Yellow Crocus

It's supposed to be nice and warm all week. Hopefully, some other bulbs will make an appearance.

Cairn's Birdwind Butterfly

My mother's favorite. They have very pretty green stripes on a black background on the top of their wings, but they rarely sit still with the wings folded. This one's a male, the females aren't quite as nicely patterned.

Newest Cat Scratching Post

I must make a new one of these every year or so. Abby had destroyed last year's, and was eying other things in my bedroom as replacements. As you can see I went basic this time. It's a 2 x 4 with sisal rope wrapped around and stapled or glued as needed to keep it attached.

Please ignore the wires, I'm working on a way to hide them while making them accessible at the same time. The post is part of my redesigned desk. I removed some parts to make the desk bigger, then took leftover parts and added on to it to make it wider. I still need to figure out a real top for it, so at the moment it's different heights.

Emerald Swallowtail

My new favorite butterfly. This is the first one I've seen, and I've been to Magic Wings three times.

Butterfly

Even though I have the id sheet from Magic Wings I couldn't figure this guy out. I guess it traditionally rests with wings open? Maybe I'll just do a week of butterflies.

Malachite Butterfly

I only took 400 plus pics at Magic Wings. I guess I could just keep posting butterfly pictures until Spring actually arrives.

Glasswing Butterfly

I had a decadent Sunday hanging out in a nice warm greenhouse chasing butterflies. Too bad it takes almost two hours to get to and another 2 to get home from or I'd do it more often.

Snowy Dog Print

Thursday and Friday we finally got some snow here in Southern MA.