From warm summer-like days for almost the entire month of March….
Back to 40 degrees and cold winds in April.
Mother Nature, I don’t mean to complain,
but isn’t this supposed to be the other way around?
Oh Warmth, Where Did You Go?
Tag Archives: spring
Thursday’s Things in a Row
It’s Springtime in the Garden so I thought some fresh Sumac leaves would fit the bill nicely!
Be sure to visit Pat! She’s got some great news!
Bokeh
(BO-KEH): refers to the quality of the blurring of the out-of-focus portion of an image,
With a reflex (= mirror) lenses, it’s a doughnut bokeh: The blurring consists of “donuts,” round, circular patterns that ad an interesting twist to the overall image.
Fiery, Wild and Lilac
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| fiery tulip |
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| wild species tulip |
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| Persian Lilac |
April Blooms from the Garden
Light and Shadow in the Garden
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| Vinca Minor |
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| Sweet Woodruff and Japanese Tree Lilac seedling |
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| Violets and Crocus |
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| Suki’s Rocks and Bishops Weed |
Cherry Blossoms
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| North Star Cherry in Flower |
Granny’s Garden
My grandmother has the most beautiful shade garden. This was early March, so not every thing was in full swing yet. She lived in North West Oregon, Near Portland. I got the opportunity to visit it one last time.
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| Azalea |
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| can you spot the kitty in the background? |
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| The trees are soooo tall here |
The Theme is moss here, actually it was everywhere, even on the street curbs.
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| there is rock hiding under all this moss |
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| For all my Midwestern friends, THIS is what a Rhododendron is supposed to look like! |
Green Babies
We’re getting there Sissy!
The unusual warm spell hitting the Midwest right now has everybody itching to get out and start working in the garden, but should we plant our tomatoes and peppers now? We could, but then we all know here in Chicagoland, it will get cold again (you’ve heard the saying “if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, it’ll change”? It’s true here. Especially in Spring).
Our last frost date is roughly around May 5th and we would have to keep a diligent eye on the thermometer and the Weather Channel so we can run out and throw buckets, plastic and the spare bed sheets over our tender little plants to protect them from frost. But that’s a lot of work and worry if you ask me. I used to do all that, planting my tomatoes as early as possible, closely watching the weather on TV every afternoon, then running out in the evening and covering everything up (yes, I’ve done the bed sheet thing many times) and then back out in the morning to uncover before the sun came up an cooked everything. But I had more energy then, and time. Now, older, lazier and a fuller schedule, I just wait until late April and early May to plant my tomatoes and peppers.
As for my little Organic Babies here, they won’t be planting out size until around then anyway. This early warm spell has caught most of us growers with our proverbial pants down. As I mentioned above, people are wanting to plant their gardens now, but unless you started your own tomato and pepper transplants early, most greenhouses and nurseries here aren’t quite ready (but we’ve all kicked into high gear now!).
I would though, start planting my lettuce, peas, onions and potatoes now, while the weather is nice and the soil is dry, for soon, this weekend actually, it will be back to more normal March temps (I peeked at the weather just now~ 60’s are forecasted for the weekend for us).
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| transplanting Kellog’s Breakfast tomatoes |
Happy Spring and Happy Gardening
from Lil’s Garden!
Get out and enjoy your day if you can!
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| pepper seeds |
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| organic tomato seedlings |
Lady Bugs Like Raspberry Jelly Too!
This little gal woke up from hibernation in my kitchen today,
so I served her breakfast on a yogurt lid and set her outside on my back porch table.
She was really hungry.
By the way, this is the best way to catch lady bugs in your house…
Happy Spring!
Thursday’s things in a Row…
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| the old ones |
Future projects sitting at an old garage in Jonesville, IL
Thursday’s things in a row starts here with Pat!
P.S. Happy March 1st!
Lil's Garden Tour 