(*^&*&^% Squirrels!!!!!

So I was planning on showing you some nice pics of how the garden is coming along. The butterfly and Disney gingers were finally coming up. Above is a picture from last week when they were just peaking over the Ti plants. This week they were a good foot taller. Emphasis on "were."
This is what they looked like when I got home this evening. Chewed down. The Disney gingers, on the far sides of first picture were totally gone, not a leaf left. We weren't sure what was getting them until my husband saw a little squirrel shake one of the Ti plants. Then it took half a plant in its mouth and headed up the fence. His little buddy stood on top, a very tiny little squirrely middle finger held up just for us.

Hope you like Mexican food! I gotta spicy surprise waiting for you tonight, you bastards!

Bits of Joy in the Garden Tonight

A bug on a day lily in the butterfly garden.

The society garlic from earlier in the week. These are common flowers that you see on every roadway this time of year, but they are quickly becoming favorites.


And here is something very cool . . .
I won a bird feeder!!! I love it! Thank you, Shawna!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Society Garlic from this morning.

I posted this pic on my Facebook and a friend described society garlic:

It's got a more refined taste than Townie Garlic,
but is more expensive, and leaves when summer ends.

I'm a-goin' plant huntin'!

I went plant hunting today! Tried to avoid anything big box and visit my favorite mom & pop nurseries. They were packed! Must have been the beautiful weather. While have several favorites, I don't think you can beat Kenny's Place nursery. They just have the coolest plants there! Here is a run down of what I picked up:

2 day lilies (probably Stella D'Oro, but they weren't labeled)

1 angel wing begonia

1 Lily of the Nile

2 1 gallon pots of white butterfly ginger

1 Hedychium coccineum (orange 'Tara' Ginger)

1 Costus Barbatus

And all for about $35, I might add! The Tara was especially wanting to come home with me. It is literally busting out of its pot.

My daughter especially fell in love with the Costus Barbatus and the velvety undersides of its leaves. It begged to be touched. The plant has bright red inflorescence with yellow blooms.

Seeds and Weeds

I figured that I start off with a pretty flower, because the rest of this post ain't so pretty. This weekend, the story of my garden was seeds and weeds. Note self: While it might seem blatantly obvious what you planted in that pot, you will invariably forget. Below could be either salvia or cloeme. Will have to wait a few more weeks before I'll know for sure.

These I did manage to label - they're 4 o'clocks.

Note to self: Take care of small problems before they become big ones. The pool garden has gotten out of control. The worst are big nasty dandelions that have sharp serrated leaves that poke like thorns.

Fortunately I have some help, but she doesn't look too excited. She said that bucket smelled funny.

All About the Worms

Here is the new worm bin, in pristine condition. Won't look like this again!

Per the directions, I filled the bottom with wet coir and shredded newspaper, lint and old fruit. The worms came in the pink bag.

In go the worms!

This is a hint from the instruction book that I hadn't heard before. This bin has 5 trays. It recommends filling a top one with dry shredded newspaper will make it more difficult for fruit flies to get in. I'm only using these two trays right now. As the worms move through food, I'll add more. When I'm ready to harvest castings, the book recommends moving that bin to the top and exposing it to light for a few days. The worms will burrow down into the lower bins.
So, that's about it. I'll keep you updated on how it goes. (BTW, I have a lousy track record with keeping pets. It is a miracle my daughter has made it as long as she has in my care. So we'll see how this goes.)

Oh! Yes, yes! A Carrot!

So, I was telling a coworker about the worm bin and she goes "so, do you grow orgasmic vegetables?"

No, but I'm definitely considering it.

I HAVE WORMS!!!

Okay, I don't have the worms yet, but I have their house!! Today's my birthday and my lovely husband bought me a worm bin! Now all my dreams of being totally organic AND being Oscar the Grouch are coming true!!

Great Garden Day - Finally!

Above is my front garden today. I'm just loving having a bed with established plants at this time of year! I'm quite proud of myself for planning ahead. Next year I'll plant the snap dragons near the back and skip the pansies, which were disappointing. The petunias are doing well and are almost blindingly white. I might just add a bit of color, but I'm liking the all white too. I've got some vinca that intended to under-plant today. This seems to be the secret with the seasonal annuals. Didn't get to it today because I was preoccupied with other things. Today, at least in my yard, was the official start of spring. It was the first day I've had to enjoy the weather and get all dirty. I kept quite busy!

Finally, after planning for it for years, I've got a bamboo trellis! Okay, it is a bit "rustic," but it was free, collected from Freecycle member who had it growing in her yard. I replanted the shell ginger under it and added some pink impatiens. On the trellis I'll plant some passion vine and moonflowers.

In the corner, I took out the crinums, which I planted them in the sunnier bed by the shed. In the corner I put my butterfly gingers, ti plants I managed to over winter, and some lime green coleus. All of these should do well in the deep shade of this garden and is a huge pop of color. Most of my planting today was just moving one dead looking root from one hole to another, but in a few weeks the the effect should be very cool. I needed a great planting day.

Buddha-Man Rules

The ever observant Jake noted that I have a new Buddha-man in the garden, so I thought I'd post about him. A co-worker is marring a very religious man, so she was passing out her home decor that might indicate she thought about any other religion than his and I managed to score the Buddha-man. (Missed out on her Madonna-era rosary collection though . . . ) He has almost always been in the plan for the corner garden, even though he didn't exist in my life until just a few weeks ago. My personal life philosophy is a bit more Bacchus than Buddha, but I love the Buddha-men. They represent internal joy and happiness to me. They are a little reminder that true happiness can only be found within, and that we should take time to think about the natural world around us. But enough of the seriousness. Besides collecting them, I also collect weird little rules for them. I'm taking you deep into the bizarrely quirky brain of mine, so hang on:

1. I must call them Buddha-men. (I know this can be annoying, but I enjoy it, therefore it is a rule.)

2. Buddha-men must have something natural to contemplate. Personally, I think this is just common sense. I always have a flower, plant, rocks or even sticks in front of the Buddha-man for him to contemplate. It is perfectly acceptable for Buddha-men to to ponder all states of nature, including death, which is handy for the Buddha-men who reside inside my house.

3. I don't buy Buddha-men. They are always given to me, which is one of the reasons it took me so long to get this one. (I suppose I could have stolen one and it would have complied with this rule, but I'm too chicken, err I mean, moral to try it.)

4. Ok, I haven't admitted this before, but all my Buddha-men have names, preferably ones that make them sound a bit like vacuum cleaner sales men. The one by my bed, a kind of nerdy fellow, is Simon Buddha-man. The little pot-bellied one on my desk at work is Ralph Buddha-man. And the one above, since I didn't already have a name for him, shall be here forth know as Jake Buddha-man. :D (Love ya' Jake!)

The ultimate score: A frog Buddha-man. If anyone sees something this, let me know. I'd probably have to break rule #3 for it.