Something a friend said on my blog kept nagging me. Sure, she doesn't like dirt under her fingernails, but surely she likes flowers. And then I finally remembered!
That's us in the White House flower shop. As in where they keep the flowers at THE White House. If you know her, you might be surprised to learn she was inside the bowels of the White House. Not to worry, it was during a previous adminstration.
We went to Toronto this weekend and in addition to the many museums we saw and restaurants we dined in, we visited some of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Partly due to the time of year and the absence of a drought, the flowers were in abundance everywhere you looked.
Yay! It looks like something might actually turn into an edible tomato! Not a very big tomato (I thought Better Boy was normal size) but at least it is MY tomato...
Dill
I read somewhere that you're supposed to fertilize a tomato plant at various stages - careful not to overdo it! One of these stages is "when the first tomatoes are the size of golf balls". Yes, every day I'm out there checking. And today was the day!
Apparently, the two are connected in ways I didn't imagine
thanks to Aparna for the video!
Wow! I can't believe it! After a horribly failed attempt last year, we may actually see tomatoes this year. There are lots of flowers on the plant just waiting for their turn to become full-fledged fruits. And now we have one little guy who has busted out. I couldn't be more proud!
I got bored with geraniums (and had trouble growing them) so this year I got a begonia. I vaguely remember my mom having these in her garden when I was younger. Or maybe it was on the window sill in the kitchen? Either way, it seemed like a nice plant for the pot so I went with it. It's been doing very well on our deck - doubling in size in just a few weeks! Not sure what the brutal summer sun will do to it but for now it's blooming.
Wow! It is in full bloom now! Just gorgeous!
Alas, shortly after I took this photo a certain cat ate the flower on the bottom. Everything else in the garden is doing well. A couple of petunias bloomed yesterday and the other flowers are slowly coming along - nothing quite as dramatic as the clematis but warmer days are just around the corner and I expect we'll have a very lush garden soon!
Despite the rainy gray day the clematis is bursting with color! And there are still many more buds just waiting to pop. So pretty!
Yeah! Finally, some warm weather! I spent the weekend getting the garden going. This year I opted for lots of flowing flowers that will spill over the edge of the boxes. Nothing too complicated.
(clockwise from top left: wave petunias, nemesia (and something else I can't remember), verbena, lobelia)
Still growing lots of herbs - the chives, tarragon, thyme, and oregano all came back. The basil survived indoors all winter but was a bit leggy - I pruned it which may hasten its demise - or I could be pleasantly surprised and eating more pesto than ever!
It's been ages since my last entry. A lot has happened since then - the tomatoes died a sad and cruel - and mysterious death. Must have been the crazy weather we had last summer - periods of extreme heat and flooding. Not exactly conducive to healthy flowers. The self-watering containers worked great - when it wasn't pouring buckets. The succulents did okay but suffered an attack of aphids. And something killed the petunias. On the upside, the basil grew like crazy!
And we got married - as you can imagine, the flowers were gorgeous!
Going through past blogs, I noticed that I have a strong connection between my pets and my plants. Nearly every entry makes mention of a cat, cat, and cat. 
I also had a wonderful dog who is now resting in peace at my mother's house. I thought Mom would be a good caretaker - she has planted lots of flowers on my dog's plot and likes to send me pictures of the blooms.
I love all of my children - flora and fauna.
Once the tulips bit the dust (it was all very tragic) I tossed them and moved the tomatoes in. So many varieties to choose from but I finally settled on Big Boy, "one of the greatest tomatoes of all time".
Honestly, I ch
ose it for the name.... since I hope they grow to the size of this "Big Boy". 20 lb. tomatoes! Woo hoo!
To liven things up a bit I also put a basil plant in the same pot. Should make for some tasty eating this summer!
Yeah! It's here! Although a few weeks after the "official" first day of spring, the true warmer days have arrived.
Those bulbs I planted back in October have burst forth with floppy green leaves and now we have an actual tulip! Patience has paid off. Now if we could only get the other ones to bloom...
Luckily there are flowers to tide me over until the heart of the summer - the pansies I planted a few weeks ago are flourishing. They look great and are keeping me busy until the su
mmer planting begins in May. So cheerful and very resilient.
I am thinking hard about what to put in my new self-watering hanging basket and self-watering flower boxes that I just ordered. Lots of overflowing bright colors will work great.
Next project - tomatoes!
It's early February and according to Punxatawney Phil we've got six more weeks of winter. We haven't really had winter but who knows - it's been known to snow in April.
Many of the herbs moved inside without much trouble. We are lucky to be eating fresh basil but alas, the rosemary didn't make it.
The shamrocks are still going strong and the geranium is doing quite well too.
Even with all this greenery inside I still long for spring...
With some lower temperatures FINALLY arriving to our area I'm thinking about the fall garden. My beautiful summer plants are still doing pretty well, although showing signs of brown leaves and smaller blooms. The petunias should last until the first frost (at the rate we're going that's probably December 1st!) but the others will bow out sooner. 
With that in mind I thought I would begin replacing the verbena, etc with hardy mums - "Fall's Fireworks" of many colors. Better yet, they're on sale these days - Whole Foods is selling them for something around $2.50 per pot! Pretty and cheap!
As for the herbs - I will move them inside for the winter and also dry some of them. The oregano is abundant as well as the sage and basil. The rosemary will do well in the kitchen window sill. The mint continues to rage out of control and is threatening to take over my neighbor's satellite dish - wonder what that will do for her reception? Perhaps she'll get the Food Network...
My previous post on accessorizing the garden got me thinking about garden-themed
accessories. I have a number of handbags with floral designs - the cat LOVES the red flower beaded bag from Cambodia - as well as jewelry, scarves, and the like. Maybe I chose these accessories because of a previously latent green thumb.
Recently, I receive
d a WONDERFUL gift from my sister (and sometime fellow gardener) - a handbag in the shape of a watering can! Oh the joy!
These garden accessories will bloom all year round :)
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