March 17 garden

Apparently this newspaper blew out of the recycling bin and into the garden. Is someone trying to tell me something?



Red buckeye, Aesculus pavia, second year flowering.



Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis

Somebody please, tie my hands and steal my wallet

I can no longer be trusted anywhere near a seed rack or seed catalog. I don't know when to say when.

Fun with letters

Farmers Market, March 13th

Limeade from my favorite stand. Mmmm.

You might be a gardening geek, if ...

The Seed Edition.
My favorite is:

"You open any “junk” drawer in your house and find one or two or bunches of seed packets. Bonus points if you can look around where you are right now reading this post and see at least one seed packet."

May Dreams Gardens has got my number!

Houston, we have guano!

For a week now, I've been checking the white towel I put on the ground beneath the bathouse. Today I saw guano! I just went outside (7:15 p.m.) and shone the flashlight up into the house to confirm occupation. "My" bat is back! Added to historical data:

First occupation of the season
2010: March 12
2009: March 7
2008: April 12
2007: June 15 (house erected April 12)

I like to note which chambers the bat(s) occupy through the season. As is typical, the bat is now in the chamber closest to the house wall (south-facing brick wall, lots of radiant heat). There are four chambers total. When the weather starts to warm, I've observed the bat(s) shifting to the second or third chamber. My house is large enough to accommodate a nursery colony but it hasn't happened yet. :-( I think what I have every year is a bachelor bat. One year there were two bats for a brief time, but other than that I have Mr. Solo. I'll take what I can get.

Baby fruit bats

I am suffering from serious awwwww overload.





Explanation here and here.

It's a tomato! It's a carnival ride! It's both!

This groovy image is one of many that gardener and tomato guru Craig LeHoullier has scanned from vintage seed catalogs. Some lovely color covers in there too.

If you love tomatoes—I mean all kinds of tomatoes—you might dig Craig's Web site and blog. He is the co-host of Tomatopalooza, an heirloom tomato-tasting held in Raleigh, N.C., each July. I went in 2005 and can't believe I haven't made it back since. The date's not set yet for this year—watch Craig's blog for updates!

Welcome, spring 2010

Mahonia


Crocus


Sedum


Viola

LOLsquirrel

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Practical garden folk art?

see more Fail Blog

House wrens, brood two

These photos were taken Monday. For scale, that remaining egg is just slightly larger than one of those teeny gourmet jelly beans.

My first-ever hummingbird photo

Took this photo of a ruby-throated hummingbird a few weeks ago while visiting my in-laws in Ashe County, N.C.

Homegrown harvest

Left to right: Beet tops, chard, carrots ('Purple Haze'), yellow-stemmed and red-stemmed chard, eggplant ('Hansel')

Bye, bye birdies

Last day in the nest box. Come out, come out, says Mom.