Kia hora te manno
Kia whakapapa paumamu te moana
Kia tere te Karohirohi

May the calm be widespread
May the sea glisten like the greenstone
And may the glimmer of summer dance across your pathways

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Holy Mole!

This little gem of an Amaryllis has been sleeping in the basement during the winter, until it was brought upstairs on the 15th of March, re-potted and watered. I can hardly believe my eyes on how fast it is growing.

March 17th

March 18th

March 21st

March 22nd

Saturday, March 19, 2011

It seems I am hopeless when it comes to

over wintering geraniums, but it appears I have a green thumb when it comes to begonias.

Last year I bought this lovely Bonfire begonia and at the end of the season I decided to see if I would have any luck in over wintering it.

About three weeks ago I began giving the plant a very little water, then just last week I noticed a very tiny bud had appeared. The past few days the plant has grown at an astonishing rate.



As the Bonfire begonia is growing on one side of the pot, I have planted this yellow begonia on the opposite side so it won't look so lopsided.

I think several hanging pots of begonias will look lovely surrounding the shaded front entry into our house, so here is a photo of the packet of begonias I have chosen to grow in the second hanging pot.

I have had success in overwintering Amaryllis but that is a post for another day.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mother Nature was kind to me today

I have had to pick the times for gardening these past few weeks. If it wasn't raining it was too windy, and if the rain and wind weren't keeping me indoors, then the cold was. There have been a couple of occasions when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and I was able to get out into the veggie garden, dig in some fertilizer and plant some seeds.

Yesterday was a day of wind, rain, and 'lo and behold' a little sunshine. As soon as the sun came out, I grabbed up my packets of seed, a box of vegetable fertilizer, the gardening tools and prepared myself to get the job done.
I managed to get the seeds planted, did a little more cleanup, put all the tools away and went indoors for a nice hot cup of tea, when the skies opened, and down came the rain. Thank you Mother Nature for granting me a small window of clear weather, to get my chores done.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

This past week I have heard the mating songs of the robins and juncos, heralding the coming of Spring. Crocus are blooming and daffodils are very close to showing their pretty faces too. I just love this time of year with all the changes of rebirth.

Today I took this photo of kale, on the right and peas, left, which were planted February 10th. This is the first year I have planted so early in the season, and I thought if I sheltered the seeds under a row cover for protection from the elements, perhaps I would get a jump on the season, and I did.
I have been waiting to get beet and carrot seeds planted but the weather has not co-operated, maybe this weekend I can dodge the rain showers and get them in the ground.

Saturday, March 05, 2011

Yay! the sun came out, at least for a little while.

I have been waiting, it seems like for many weeks to get back out into the vegetable garden to plant more seeds. Finally, this afternoon the sun came to warm up the day to where it was very comfortable outdoors.
I took advantage of the lovely day to check on the kale and pea seeds I planted almost a month ago, and found they are starting to sprout, then I planted another row of peas, sugar snap this time, and some loose leaf lettuce seeds. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I plan on planting beets and radishes. Of course everything is snuggled under row covers for protection from the elements and birds.