The garden is my art studio, my science lab, my playground.
5/4/16:
My indoor plants are looking good these days. The maranta is twice the size of when I bought it in January. The big hanging Christmas cactus has decided to bloom this spring. I've had it for about 10 years, and it gets fertilizer once a month, but the bloom cycles have always seemed rather random. The lipstick plant has two flowers that are almost fully opened. All of these live near the skylights and south-facing windows.
In the terrarium, one of the branches of fern dried up, but the tradescantia is growing more leaves. I've removed a few "volunteers" that have shown up in the terrarium, they sorta resemble bean sprouts, with a translucent stem about 3 inches tall. I think these could've been present in either the potting soil or the moss.
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a larger version.
Christmas cactus blossom.
Flowering privet hedges.
Herb bundles.
Outdoors, I've got my new drought-tolerant plants potted, and hopefully situated in the proper amount of sunlight. Well draining soil is important for the salvia, lavender and others, so I've added good quality potting mix and a bit of compost to those pots. We shall see how accurate the water-wise description of these will be; the African daisies I've had for years can wilt easily, even though they're considered drought-tolerant.
The tall waxleaf privet hedges (Ligustrum japonicum 'Texanum') that grow along the south and north sides of the yard are covered in clusters of little white flowers. Every spring, I look forward to seeing the hundreds of blooms and inhaling the sweet fragrance. Bees love them; I have to be careful not to get in their way while trimming the roses that grow nearby.
My herbs are growing rapidly: rosemary and oregano in particular have really taken off this spring. While we add them to our cooking about once a week, there's more than we can put to use while fresh. So I'm starting to make little bundles of the branches and hanging them up to dry in the kitchen. It's convenient, decorative, and adds a nice scent to the air.
