Garlic is Growing Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!

What is that curly-q thing?! It is a garlic scape...edible and cool to look at. These neat looking scapes can be added to soups, stew, chopped for stir fries, added to salads or any creation you want. They also look great in bouquets. The shape just adds another dimension to a cluster of fresh picked flowers and always lends to someone wanting to know it is...

This is a single scape...don't you just love the shape!!!!!

My garlic was throwing lots of scapes this week....I cut them off so all the energy is allowed to go to the growing cloves. the varieties heavy with scapes is Music and german White. I do leave one on as an indicator. when the "indicator " points straight up toward the sky...time to dig the garlic. When scapes appear, no more fertilizer and slowly pull back on heavy watering. Keep pulling weeds as they can deplete a garden bed of the nutrition your plant stock deserves...why feed weeds?!

The garlic bed looking through the cucumber ladders.

Isn't this just a gem of a garlic bed! OHHHH LA LA....

Just another angle of the garlic....

If you decided to plant garlic last fall...you must be as anxious as I am to see what lies beneath the soil...

Elizabeth

Random Garden Shots

I could look at our garden all day long...but looking just doesn't get the work done. So clippers come out to deadhead, rakes to clean up debris, buckets of waste to the compost pile and the list goes on...but in the end this "work" really isn't work and being amongst the flowers is even better than just looking. it really is true if you do something you love, it really isn't work.

A look at the herb garden bed...chives, oregano, spearmint, peppermint, scented geraniums, several varieties of sage, tarragon, basil, parsley (flat and curly), dill, lots of thyme, cilantro and rosemary. The annual herbs are just starting to grow...they need some sunny hot days to flourish.
Tomatoes are budded and some are blooming. Just staked them so now they will really grow...tomatoes are vines after all...planted several new varieties this year...black russian, great white, lemon pear as well as old time favorites san marzano, delicious, green zebra, german striped and more...looking forward to this crop!

Angel keeping a watch over a corner of the garden.

A lovely agave in a turn of the century granite urn...the mate flanks the other side of the bench...as testament of all the rain we have been getting, little mushrooms grow under the pot.

Looking forward to more days in the garden and picking tomatoes...sooner rather than later!!!!!

Elizabeth

Peonies and Iris are the Stars of the Garden Now

Right now under the gray skies of New England peonies and iris reign supreme in the garden ...we have had so much rain and moisture the iris fill with water and don't last as long as usual or desired...the peonies get weighted down so supports are vital. The colors are gorgeous and it is a delight to walk amongst this beauties...

Pinks, purples and yellow are the colors du jour....

The foliage is thick and green this year.

Peonies and Siberian iris mix so well....

Deep pinks peonies are delightful...


How gorgeous are these peonies...

White Siberian iris are so delicate....

These Siberian iris are a delicate pale yellow...almost like butter...

Deep purple Siberian iris are my favorite...




These purple iris are also black...can you see the furry beards?

This iris is getting ready to unfurl...the color is actually almost a deep raspberry...the photo does not do it justice...


This iris has a pale pale pink top and the under petals are a delicious lavender....this is absolutely a wonderful variety and unusual variety.


This iris is a delight...stark white upper petals and lower petals are a blue...just beautiful...

Hope your gardens are doing well and producing wonderful feasts for your eyes...

Elizabeth

Winter Was Very Kind to Our Garden

WOW!!!!! Everywhere you look gardens, plantings, foliage, shrubs anything that has it's roots in the earth seems to have gotten quite a boost from this past winter's snow and cold...

Our garden is lush and verdant. I have never seen such huge garlic plants...some of the stalks look like leeks...the foliage is dense and green, buds are thick, colors are vibrant and fragrances are heady....Old North Wind and Jack Frost were laying the ground work for a fabulous treat to all things that grow.


Look at that garlic...looks like a bed of leeks!

Hanging pots are full and overflowing in the greenhouse...getting ready to go over to our island for a summer color boost...

Saint Francis must be very pleased with the results of this past winter's snow...we all know snow is poor man's fertilizer...

This gorgeous peony is a delightful...I could stare at it all day long!

Our hosta is HUGE...every single plant is at least twice as big as last year....Mother Nature has really treated us with a delightful gardening season...

It would seem gardens everywhere are thriving...hope you have the opportunity to visit some this spring...garden centers are full of wonderful plant stock, garden tours are everywhere...take the time to smell the roses, peonies, salvia, lilies and and and the list goes on...get off the cell phone, out of the chair, away from the TV and computer screen and touch nature...you'll be doing yourself a favor!!!!!

Elizabeth