Aren't they beautiful? These are some hyacinths I planted last autumn in my new garden, and in my annual race to see what blooms first, they placed second after the scilla.
They are slightly more open in this photo from today. I placed a downspout trellis over them because some little creature likes digging here. Early on, something decided to taste one of the plants and never came back for another bite. Good! Apparently, their scent repels squirrels.
Here are a few more. I really hope
sees these after he admired some I had indoors in a post last month. They smell so sweet.
The lungwort was third to flower.
The periwinkle is fourth, beating the tulips and daffodils.
The few scilla in the backyard were first but I have a mass of them in the front yard and they're taking over!
After our cold winters, spring is such a cheery time. The daffodil will probably open this week.
My Plan
I had a small flowerbed and last autumn, I doubled its size. My plan is to mix flowers and vegetables in patches so it doesn't look like a vegetable garden. Between the trellises -- they won't be staying -- I have planted onions. To the left of the trellises, I planted a patch of peas in front of the chopstick. Yes, I have chopsticks as markers this year.
The bunching onions will be in a patch or two further left and I will have pole beans on trellises since I can't convince them they should really grow up the fence.
You can see the onions just starting to come up. Onions and peas can be planted very early; peas can even be planted in the autumn. Still, it felt weird to have a snowfall the day after I planted the onions, and a week later, another snowfall after I planted the peas!
I hope I don't have a problem with pests this year. Every time I go out to the garden, I have to bury the peas again. Something is digging them up but not eating them, so... digging them up by accident?
Chives. I cover my garden with leaves each autumn, and as beneficial insects sometimes hibernate in them, we are told not to remove them too early. That's the reason my garden looks like a mess!
The hostas appeared suddenly.
The squirrel planted this nice tulip for me.
I promised you an explosion of flowers. It seems that almost everything inside the house is flowering!
The hibiscus starts this time every year.
There is another bud.
This is the geranium colour that has been in my family since 1968-1970.
The orchids, of course. The flowers last so long.
My biggest surprise has been the fuchsia. It was doing really well when I brought it into the house for the winter, and for the first time, I had a good spot for one. I have never had a fuchsia survive the winter indoors, much less put on a display like this.
It is just covered with buds! I'm growing it in my coolest room in a window where I used to keep an African violet.
I'm pretty excited about my bunching onions too. This is the first time I have grown onions from seed.
These are zinnias and Mexican sunflowers. The seed is a year old so they didn't all germinate and I have replanted. My plan is to put them at the back of the garden along the fence with the vegetables in front. The Mexican sunflowers were a real hit with the butterflies last year and they complement the milkweed patch (not showing yet) at the far left of the bed for the Monarchs.
Today is May 4th (May the fourth be with you!) and 3 weeks away from planting season.
Images
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Enjoy!