Flip flop

Flip flip of the weather that is.... to nearly flip flop weather. So you saw all that snow on Tuesday... well 3 days later ***poof***, aside from a few patches here and there, it's gone. The weather was in the 50's today, sunny and spring like. And look what I found in my front yard when I came home from work this afternoon! My first crocus!

And it continues...

.... Winter that is. Scenes from my morning, noon hour and evening.....

Spring Revert Again...

Spring reverts to winter once again....
Woke up to snow again this morning. Not really accumulating here in the valley, but it looks like the mountains are being treated to another good dose of fresh white frosting. I love the snow more than most people, but am slightly aggravated by it today because Matt is driving up from college today. The only thing I dislike about him going to school in Durango, CO is that when the weather is bad I worry about his 7-8 hour drive through desolate desert and over mountain passes. And of course the weather is frequently bad at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break so I often get a little worrying in. Heck, his first year of school classes were canceled the week after Christmas break because nobody could get to Durango... all the passes into town were closed. We've learned to watch the weather and pick travel days accordingly, although today he has no choice because he has his last final this morning and an appointment here in Salt Lake tonight. But who really expects to have to worry about him driving over Soldier Summit in a snowstorm the last week of April??

Raindrops on roses...

...and primrose and lilies. I'm not sure we've ever had such a waterlogged June. I checked the NOAA weather site and found a page that said the month to date had 2.4 inches of rain while the average for the month of June is 0.6 inches. I bet those measurements were out at the airport, I'm sure up along the mountains where I live we've had much more. I'm sure I've dumped at least 4 inches of water out my wheelbarrow, which has been sitting in the yard awaiting my planting my deck planters. I've had a flat of plants waiting at least two weeks for a dry night to do do some planting.


Tonight was that night. The second day in a row without rain, I figured the soil in my pots was dry enough to work with, so tonight was planting night. Clearly I should have dumped the water out the wheelbarrow more frequently, because my back yard was teaming with mosquitoes. Or were they from my pond or my fire pit or somewhere else where water could pool? Regardless, I've never had so many squeeters in my yard - it actually made for an unpleasant planting night.

My Daisies

I admit it, my garden has too many daisys. This is a hard time for me, as I know I should dig a bunch out because they are crowding my other perennials, and I should be planting some annuals were the daisys are, but I can't bear to thin them out when they are flowering so divinely.

A cool thing about daisys that the non botanist may not know - each daisy flower is actually a an inflorescence, a cluster of flowers on a stem. Small yellow disc flowers in the middle, surrounded by ray flowers, each sporting a single long white petal. If you look close the disc flowers are arranged in very precise mathematical order. I've always wondered how many of these tiny flowers make up what we call a daisy flower, but I've sure been too lazy count them.

It's a jungle out there...

Where's the jungle? My yard! Two weeks ago when I went to cut the lawn for the first time this season I discovered my lawn mower was terminally ill. Not that this suprised me, as it was pretty ill last year, but the malfunctioning pull cord completely quit rewinding, making it impossible to start. So for the last 2 weeks the mower's been in the shop, and my lawn kept growing and growing. I'm sure my neighbors were a little confused about why I was spending so much time weeding ly flower beds but not bothering to cut the lawn.

Last night my neighbors little Shitzu came to visit, wading through my long, long grass like she was on a real jungle adventure. As fun as she was to watch, all I could think about was the looming disaster awaiting me when my mower was fixed.
Well, today I finally got the call that my mower was done. $121 later I have a mower that starts like it did when it was new. Good thing as it stalled in the thick grass many, many times. It took me over two hours to get the grass cut. It's normally a 45 minute job. I think my arms are going to be sore from pushing the damn thing and I turned my feet green, but at least I'm no longer competing for the trashy neighbor of the week award.

Spring again...

Yup, it's definitely spring in Utah. Did I tell you what I did on Monday? Sarah and I spent the afternoon up at the hot springs. I mostly soaked, she mostly sunbathed. Now today? Look at my poor daffofils. It snowed most of the day today, and more is expected tonight. I'm glad I like winter!

Signs of spring...

How do you like my daffodils? I know that thay are just daffodils, and everyone has daffodils, but this clump of daffodils is the best I've ever had in my garden. I've lived in my house since 1986, and have been planting flowers ever since. While I've had pretty good luck with my tulips, daffoils have not faired well in my garden. I plant some fall bulbs, get beautiful flowers in the spring, the following year there are fewer blooms, the next year even less, and they are usually single flowers. Eventually I plant some more, only to repeat the cycle of diminishing returns.

The gardens near my front door, where I've planted the most daffodil bulbs, sport two lonely blooms this year; one in my left garden, one in my right. I've guessed that daffodil bulbs must not be fond of our dry clay soil. But down towards the street, in the garden that flanks my driveway, is this beautiful cluster of daffodils.My first ever cluster! I think they are naturalizing, like daffodils are supposed to do. I have no idea what has made this one spot in my yard daffodil friendly, but I'm sure enjoying it. My best daffodils ever, and guess what... it is supposed to snow this week!

Mystery No More!

A good weekend in my watergarden! Last year I bought two waterlilys for my pond. My first, a lovely peach colored lily (Georgia Peach), the most expensive one at the water garden store (thanks to Sarah's good tastes) and the second, a much less expensive "mystery lily" (I shall call it Mystere). The mystery lily was purchased late in the season, and never bloomed last year, so until this weekend was still a mystery. Four of my mystery buds opened this weekend, reveal ind white flowers tinged with the palest shade of pink. I do hope Mystere proves to be such a fecundid bloomer for the rest of the summer!

Talkin' about the weather...

Yeah, yeah, talkin' 'bout the weather.... so boring, I know. But this spring has had the strangest weather I can remember. I think we have had a rain storm, or two or three every week. I have yet to turn my sprinklers on, quite unusual for this time of year. It has also been cool, more often than not. I normally have this "rule" that I don't wear long pants (unless I'm camping high in the mountains) between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Well, this year, unless I wore a skirt, I've worn pants to work every day since Memorial Day. I don't think I've ever done that before!

A question about this spring: has the wet weather increased flower, and thus pollen, production? Hmmm, I suppose I should ask my allergy prone friends. I'm not sure if it is because of the cool air, or if there is more pollen in the air, but this spring has been as olfactory delight. The air has been intoxicating, thick and fragrant. Mornings nave been especially lovely, I find myself standing in my yard, drinking in the air, thinking how wonderful it is just to stand there and breathe! A nice way to start the day.

It's a small word...

My one guilty pleasure in life is my daily morning stop at a small local coffee shop. Since I've been doing this for years now I've become friendly with the owner, the baristas, and many of the regular clientele. In a lot of ways the coffee shop is the equivalent of bar for us goody-goodies who don't drink alot and hang out in real bars. There's always someone to talk to, someone who'll listen to your problems and even offer up advice. I'm never sure which I'm more addicted to, the caffeine, the cream and sugar I put in my coffee, or my chatty early morning social life.

This morning I had one of my weird cosmic coincidences. One of my coffee buddies showed up when I did, so we sat and chatted for a few minutes. In the course of our discussion I mentioned something about 'back home", and she asked me where "home" was. I answered "Ohio", and she asked "Where?". "Cincinnati" I said and she got this quizzical look on her face, laughed, and said she was from Ohio too. I asked "Where?" and she said "Kind of north of Cincinnati, in Fairfield".... then I laughed. The subdivision where I grew up was litterally right across the road from Fairfield. I spent plenty of time hanging out in Fairfield. It also turns out that her father lives a half an hour away in Oxford, which is where my in-laws lived and where I went to school. Next time we chat I'll have to ask her if she hung out at the roller rink there, or the bowling alley, or if she or her friends ever drove their cars too fast over the hills on John Gray Road. Funny to find a Utah connection to my childhood 1400 miles away. The world shrinks once more...

Start singing Disney tunes now...

its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small world after all
its a small, small world........

(Don't you hate me?)

Rain, rain... welcome here!

Another rainy day here in Salt Lake City. Being a high desert, we don't get a lot of rain, so when it comes it is usually welcome. Especially in the spring, when my newly planted blooming babies need regular water. The combination of a couple of hot days and missed waterings can bring quick death to bedding plants. Saturday was my plant shopping day, Sunday my planting day, so I was thrilled to have a rainstorm on Monday. I have yet to have the "make my sprinkler system work day" (that better happen this weekend!) so I'm thrilled to have a rainstorm today. I thought I'd share a few garden pictures... my to be planted annuals, my now planted deck pots and pond, and in honor of the rain a few close up pictures of raindrops on my poppy buds. Weird huh? I just love taking macro shots. There's something about seeing things from a different perspective, and viewing details of pattern and texture so easily missed with the naked eye, that really appeals to me.

Spring..

Here a few of the pictures I took on my May day morning. A lovely little spring snow storm. It snowed on and off all day, but by the time I returned home from work the snow had all melted away. It has been decidedly more springlike the last two days. I was thrilled to to my first hummingbird of the season this week. The cool thing about the hummers is that you always hear them first, then you see them darting around the yard. Yesterday, Lazuli Buntings started visiting my yard. They are such a beautiful bird, I hope they stick around all summer. I also wish it was as easy to take pictures of my backyard birds as it is to snap shots of my flowers!

Happy May Day!

A snowy May Day here in Salt Lake City. I awoke to an inch or so of white fluff covering my yard this morning. Had to actually scrape ice from my windshield and use my wipers on the way to work this morning as it is still snowing like crazy. Big fluffy flakes meandering down from the sky! I did take some pictures of my lovely tulips blanketed in white; hopefully some will be post worthy when I get a chance to down load them. Speaking of tulips, I planted quite a few new ones last fall. Interesting new colors and varieties compared to the rather standard red and yellow onwe that make up most of my current blooms. I've been *patiently* waiting for my new ones to raise their heads, but todays snow has reminded me that I *think* I may have chosen later blooming varieties. More years than not I've awoken on a spring day to find my blooms buried in the snow, hopefully my late bloomers will prove to be good choices.

November Gardening Four....

...When to turn off the pond pump...

As I suspected, this would prove self evident. I was treated to another frozen wonderland this morning. Unfortunately, the water in my Skippy filter also froze and expanded, causing water to overflow and drain out of the pond. After loosing a couple of inches of water over the course of the morning I realized I'd better turn off the pump and replace it with a small water heater that should keep enough of the surface free of ice to allow the fish to breathe. I also did a little research and it turns out that running the pump will cause the water to mix and cool more than it would if left stationary so it's better for my fish if the water stops circulating.

I'm a little bummed not to have the fountain running. I had come to enjoy my morning ice sculptures. I'd almost like to find a tiny pump that wouldn't circulate much water that I could use to a spray just enough to make cool ice formations!

November gardening three...

...managing the water garden....
After all that nice weather we finally had a hard freeze last night. I've still been running my pond pump so I was treated to a lovely little ice sculpture this morning. I wonder How long into the winter I'll be able to run it before real freezing is a problem. I imagine that as long everything thaws during the day I can keep the water running. The birds love to frollick in the waterfall so I'd like to keep it running as long as possible. As a first year as water gardener its all a learning expereince!

Its nice that todays freeze came on holiday so I could actually be home to enjoy my little winter wonderland. Happy Thankgiving to me!!!! And a really big Happy Thanksgiving to everyone else too!!!!

More November gardening advice...

... remember to enjoy the last of your flowers!!! Can you believe I picked this bouquet of roses yesterday? With the exception of a few "Love" tea roses, all of these beautiful blooms came off of a wonderful floribunda bush I have in my front yard. I can't remember why I picked a white rose, as usually like more vibrant colors, but I'm glad I did. The bush is large and vigorous, it blooms numerous times a year, and when it does it is covered with clusters of flowers ranging from lily white to a gorgeous blush pink. The strange warm weather we've had this fall has brought out it's best; despite the fact that it mid November, this bush is covered in blooms and buds. What a treat it is to to be able to pick a November garden bouquet!!

November gardening advice...

...Apache Plume...

For all you gardeners...
I learned a new composting technique yesterday... gutter neglect composting. I have a birch tree that overhangs the gutter on the front of my house. In autumn the falling leaves land in the gutter, and being the often neglectful homeowner I am they have accumulated to the point of totally clogging my gutter. Every time it rains the gutter overflows, water pools around my foundation, and I have a small anxiety attack about my crawl space flooding, or ice dams forming in the winter and ruining my roof causing leaks in inside house. Then the sun comes out, my anxiety dissipates and I forget all about my gutters until the next deluge. This has been my routine for a few years, but yesterday, finally, I remembered that I really needed to clean out that gutter.

So I hauled out my ladder, and climbed up to peer in to my gutters, where I found two inches of the most lovely compost I have seen since I moved to Utah. It's dry here, so unless you are an attentive composter, it is hard to make compost. Since I rarely remember to water mine, my bin is mostly contains years worth of fully recognizable fruits and vegetables. But my in gutters, black gold! Home maintenance nightmare, gardeners bonanza. I grabbed my trowel dug out the muck and tossed it into my flower beds. My flowers are happy, and I'm glad to no longer have gutter anxiety.

The weirdest thing about this is that it THANKSGIVING week. Mid November and I am in shorts, a t-shirt and sandals cleaning wet muck out of my gutters. Normally I'd be hoping to be breaking out my skis this week. I'd heard recently that according some global warming research Utah had greatest temperature increase of any local on the planet. I think I believe it.

My next door neighbor, an avid gardener who was also out taking advantage of the unseasonably warmth, renamed the month Novaugust!

My pond again,,,,

Can you tell that I'm totally enamored with my water lily blossoms? I was thrilled when my latest bloom occurred on the weekend when I could enjoy it. I hope the next bud does the same.

My pond building came about because I really needed to do something about the eyesore my kids outgrown sandbox had become. Truth be told I was really, really sad to get rid of it. It was really important to me to build a nice sandbox for kids when they were tots. We had lots of great sand toys and tonka trucks. We added shells and coral that we found on our beach vacations. The kids and their friends had a lot of fun in it. It's funny, I'm not only one who is a little sentimental. I had dinner at my friends house the other night. We talked about my little pond, and upon realizing that the pond replaced the sandbox my friends 17 year old daughter sighed and said "But I played in that sandbox. I had a lot of fun in that sandbox." She was sad that it was gone. Then I told her about my sandbox shrine. In homage to my beloved sandbox and my kids childhood I took a very rusty old tonka trunk filled it with sand and seashells from the sandbox and placed it the garden next to the pond. My friends daughter, and my kids too, were really pleased about that. And I'm glad I decided to replace my kids play place with something beautiful, it takes a bit of my sentimental sadness away.

My new babies...

I bought a water lily and four $0.26 goldfish for my pond last weekend. I have since learned two things about ponds. First, when they advise you not to put your pond pump in the lowest part of your pond they are right. I came home the other night to a half empty pond. One of the water hyacinths I had floating in my filter bucket clogged the waterfall pipe, causing the pump to overflow the filter out onto my lawn! Fortunately, the fish seemed to survive having half a pond full of ice cold tap water added.

The second thing I've learned is that waterlilies, at least the "Georgia Peach" hardy lily I bought, opens mid morning and closes late afternoon. A lousy schedule for this working person! But yesterday I got home early enough to take a couple pretty pictures. I can't decide which shot I like better, so even though they are about the same here they are!

I guess I'll have to investigate "night blooming" water lilies. Hopefully there is a hardy one out there!