Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ah, spring!

Spring has well and truly set in here at the Paco Command Center. The pear tree is full of fruit, the snapdragons reseeded and have blanketed one side of the driveway in a blaze of bright colors, and the roses are producing jumbo blooms.

I'm delighted that my dogwoods are doing so well. These things were just a foot high when I planted them four years ago.



These tulips gave me a powerful longing for a cold bottle of Orange Crush.



And here's a nice shot ahead of Memorial Day.



There's even a serpent here in paradise; however, it looks like a harmless black snake (maybe not so harmless to the chipmunks, though).



Hope you all are having a great weekend!

8 comments:

Steve Burri said...

You planted those dogwoods when they were about a foot high. They measure 4-3/4" right now.

RebeccaH said...

Paco Command Center looks lovely as ever, sir.

Here at Chez H, I have begun a small (very small) garden patch, but I'm late getting things in because of the recent two-month monsoon. Hopefully, though, the weather is beginning to dry and I will have plenty of squash, beans, eggplants, okra, tomatoes and hot peppers to store for the winter (no room for corn unless I churn up the back yard, and that's looking more and more necessary). Also, I hope to grow baby pumpkins and baby watermelons on trellises.

Otherwise, the perennials are coming up nicely. My climbing roses are giving the stone front its usual springtime uplift, and the clematis are doing the same for the front porch and the deck. The daffodils and crocuses were lovely, but didn't last as long due to being drowned out, but they'll come back next year. The white and purple daisies are beginning to bloom, and I expect to have a healthy crop of purple and yellow coneflowers, and multicolored day lilies this summer.

Marigolds are flourishing in the garden, of course, but we have no petunias this year (I noticed a few scraggly specimens at the nurseries, but this was a poor year for petunias for some reason). I will have flame nasturtiums in the bare spots, though, and snapdragons in the big pot between the two garage doors. And my herbs in various places in the flower beds look extremely healthy.

I consider all this mere practice for when Obama gets through with our economy. [/bitter]

Paco said...

Steve: You need to adjust your dogwood-meter. They're over 7 feet tall now (except for the one nearest the street; that one's a different variety, and it's around 6 feet tall).

Anonymous said...

We've been eating cukes and cherry tomatoes and zucchini for a little while now. Not going to last as long as "normal" due to very early very hot temps. Still mighty good. I may very well start a second wave this week, just because...well, you know what prices are like.

Unfortunately I've never been proficient at canning...will tomatoes go in the freezer, Rebecca? Sauced or stewed first, of course?

JeffS said...

Ah, lovely, Paco! Lovely.

Alas, I have a black thumb. That's why I focus on technology, so that I can trade for food in the post-Obama wastelands.

JorgXMcKie said...

Blacksnakes eat more fieldmice, rats [if available], and voles than anything. Good for keeping the population in check.

bruce said...

Wish we had harmless blacksnakes.

And Spring, instead of winter...

Hell, a bunch of Trichosaurus Vulpecula cross my roof every night!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trichosurus_vulpecula_1.jpg

Mean little beady eyes, nasty tempers to match, always quarreling and stealing stuff.

RebeccaH said...

Prairiecat, I make salsa out of my tomatoes and freeze that. I also freeze cherry tomatoes whole, soak them in vinegar when I thaw them out, and toss them into a salad.

I don't can either.