weekend update

Still too cold to plant the tomatoes, so I planted the coleus, sage, impatiens and sweet potato vines in the front door pot and the primroses and flame flowers I got at the Garden Fair out by the sidewalk. Lost some things waiting to transplant. I think the trays were too crowded in the tub — looked like damping off. Croaked: one of the coleus (I cut the top off and am trying to root it); both thyme plants; both Persian basil plants. Boo. Trying to get quick pix while it was raining, I ended up with only blurry cell phone pix. Double boo.



Some of the cottonwood twigs rooted (!?!), so I left them in.



Primrose out by the mailbox and sidewalk:





Flame flowers in the terracotta thingus with the hens+chicks by the mailbox:

what's blooming

May 2016 Bloom Day
Flax:



Arugula volunteers:



Claret cup hedgehog cactus:



Geranium richardsonii:



Geranium phaeum ‘Raven’:



Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris ‘William Guiness’):



Lilac:



Veronica, probably Turkish Speedwell (Veronica liwanensis):

2016 Garden Fair

Garden Fair! I headed out around 10:00, but it seemed less crowded than usual. Maybe because this spring has been all over the place, weather-wise and not a many people were feeling the urge to garden? Maybe because, although it was sunny and 60° out, it was also super windy, with lots of blowing dust. Either way, parking was quick and the crowds were light.

Picked up tomato plants from the Farministas ladies as usual (same prices as last year: $4 each, or 4 for $15). Only got one Sungold and one Robeson this year. I'm planning on only planting in the raised bed, in hopes of getting the wall/fence fixed this summer? Ran into my neighbor Marcy, her husband Steve was giving a talk! (Duh, it was right there on the Garden Fair graphic!) Also said hi to Douglas, she asked about Jim + Stacy + Bernice.

Headed past the food trucks to check out the vendors in the other building, picked up two flame flowers and three evening primroses for the front yard (along the sidewalk, I think, where it's sunniest). Checked out the vendors and displays in both buildings, then headed out. Quick stop on the way home at Plants of the Southwest for (ever) more grass seed and a packet of Dakota verbena seeds.




[click for larger]


[click for larger]

2016 arugula harvest #1

Thanks to the ever-fabulous Bev (who gifted me some of her perennial arugula plants), and to my laziness (letting the arugula go to seed), we have a nice colony in the yard. We've been enjoying arugula for about a month now, but there's no way we're going to be able to keep up, and it's starting to go to flower. Last year, once in June and once in July, I brought garbage bags full of arugula in to the office (I didn't blog about it then). I decided to bring back the Office Arugula Giveaway, in an attempt to not get so buried by it this year.

Step 1: Get up early and spend 15 minutes scalping arugula. Pick out as much other stuff as you can. (Seriously, there were a ton of snails in there.)







Step 2: Bring giant bag of arugula to the office and send out a mass email begging people to come'n'get it.





Step 3: Repeat until frost.