Happy National Pollinator Week!
Visit the Pollinator Partnership for more information on events in your state.
Monthly Archive for June, 2010
JMack found these on a walk we took in April.
Of course, I had to take a picture. I posted this picture on Twitter, earlier today, hoping that I would find out what it is. I haven’t heard anything, so I thought I would post it here as well. I’d like to know what kind of tree it is, and what the heck the pink growths are. Any help is appreciated.
Check out Black Swamp Girl’s blog for more information on Foliage Friday.
The good news? Both pots of mums are the same color (I inherited the second pot). The bad news? They’re already blooming.
There are apparently a lot of reasons why they may be blooming – early season bloomers, I didn’t pinch the stems back, too much light from the outdoor light.
I’m not going to complain because they are pretty, they are similar to the mums we had at our wedding ceremony (I still wish I’d had someone save me some of those), and they fit in with the burgundy/maroontwo color scheme that I seem to have going in the yard. I’ll take what I can get – confused or not. 
When I signed up for the Seed GROW Project, Renee’s Garden generously offered us seeds for the project and a special gift of a new kind of double Cosmos called ‘Bon Bon’. Renee’s Garden also offered Seed GROW participants the opportunity to try out additional seeds. I selected Alpine strawberries ‘Minionette’ as one of my additional seed packets.
Alpine strawberries (Fragaria vesca) have been on my wishlist for ages. I love strawberries, and I’ve always wanted to try growing them. Last year, I was offered a taste of an Alpine strawberry from a local gardener’s garden. I was amazed at how big the flavor of this tiny berry was, and I decided then and there that I must grow this plant.
I’m really happy with progress so far. The picture below was taken on Sunday, almost exactly two months after sowing the seeds. This particular plant is actually about three inches across – the largest of the four plants I currently have. Supposedly it is possible for the plant to bear fruit the first summer. I’ll be shocked if that happens this summer, but I’ll be happy whenever I get berries.
I’ve been bemoaning the lack of blossoms on my Spitfire Nasturtiums for the last month. The plants have been getting bigger, and the leaves are lovely. I now have about 7 plants that are going gangbusters, and I noticed another seedling coming up next to the stairs.
I haven’t noticed a specific trailing or climbing habit with these particular Nasturtiums, though they are purported to do so. To be honest, I don’t really mind. They are Nasturtiums, and they are one of my favorite plants, so who cares what they do!
Since a watched pot never boils, I decided to ignore the plants. I was rewarded on Thursday morning with this:
I found this bud on one of the plants near the stairs. The plants that are in the pot near our front door have yet to bloom, even though they were the first plants to sprout. I think the partial shade of the entryway is the limiting factor here. The plants near the stairs are in full sun.
There were more blooms yesterday and today, but we’re having “weather” so I haven’t been able to get out to photograph them. Hopefully there will be more soon!
I’m growing Nasturtium “Spitfire” for the GROW project. Thanks, to Renee’s Garden for the seeds.
I had a wonderful time snapping pictures on a walk this morning. I needed a break from work, and the National Mall is just a few blocks away. There is a little triangle park near the Mall, called Seaton Section Park (6th Street and Maryland Avenue SW) that was turned into a vegetable garden not a while ago. I think this might be one of the parks that the USDA volunteers are maintaining.
I had a great time talking with my co-workers about the different plants. One of my co-workers likes plants, but doesn’t really know what different ones look like, so it was nice to be able to share my knowledge with her. I also had a wonderful time snapping photos of the different plants on my iPhone.
Where do you take walks at work?
