A March day in the yard, garden, shed and greenhouse...in the sunshine.

Tomatoes and Peppers seeded

All the important pieces of the seeding puzzle

The seeds under the grow light and on the heat mat and 

my beloved Timmy's mug. Right size....and keeps it hot.

Shiro Plum in full bloom

The hoop plastic rinsed and drying out over the hoops

Allan washing the green algae off the deck glass

My crazy cymbidium still flowering. 

I got lots done in the yard, shed and greenhouse today. Filled the raised beds in the greenhouse with lettuce seeds. I am so excited about the prospect of home grown salads I'm giddy.

Three weeks in Hawaii and the whole garden exploded!! {in a good way}

Aunt Helen's narcissus and a hyacinth

Double primrose and another hyacinth

Kale in the hoop

The rhubarb my brother sent to me

Fallgold raspberries coming up

Rosemary which has now been unwrapped

Rhubarb

Perdita David Austin rose

Dwarf Japanese Plum

Meyer Lemon in distress. What is wrong with this tree?

 

A very healthy Meyer Lemon the first summer. 2012.

 

 

A nice healthy crop of lemons. The leaves seem to be starting to pale. This was over the winter of 2012/2013.

 

 

Meyer Lemon today

 

 

 

 

 

I think I have figured out why my Meyer Lemon is very pale and sickly this last year. I have poured on the Seaweed and that helped quite a bit. I've just returned home from Hawaii and the lemon and even the lime are in distress. I inspected and found tiny spider webs, so off to Dr Google I went. I sprinkled a soap solution on them to kill the now identified spider mites. In my reading I've come to the conclusion that it is a classic chicken and egg situation. I now believe that the plant is magnesium deficient and the mites have come in to feast on a weakened plant. Tomorrow I will give them a good dose of Dolomite Lime which contains magnesium. I also gave them some bone meal. I had already given them a good dose of seaweed.

 

I will update on the progress of this poor abused little tree!

 

Hawaiian Nobile type Dendrobiums...one of my passions.

I've just returned from a three week vacation in Kona Hawaii. It is such an unbelievably beautiful place. My vacation always includes trips to the garden centres at Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart. And of course the huge orchid selection at Costco. In garden centres you can get orchids for about $9.99-12.99 and lemons, avocados, palms and banana trees...and on and on. In Costco they have a huge selection of orchids. I'm getting excited again just thinking about it. As low as $6.99 per plant. My first trip to Hawaii we walked into the open lobby of our hotel and on the large round Koa table was a huge, low round bowl with about six Dendrobium orchid plants in full flower with pots hidden in the moss. They are a hawaiian orchid. So every time I see dendrobiums, I always think about doing that should I ever get a place there. A girl has to dream.

A second camera? No more missing garden pictures?

I seem to constantly require my camera. Which will invariably be either at my house, or in my store, whichever place I am NOT at that moment. I have missed shots of a work in progress in the garden as well as wanting to do an update of the store website....and no camera.

My old Panasonic Lumix came from Costco in Kona Hawaii. We have just returned from Hawaii and I'll be darned...the Panasonic Lumix was on sale for $169.00.

Now I have two. One at the store. One at home. I won't miss nearly as many of those "sitting on the edge of your seat" exciting garden photos. 

Is anyone familiar with Crimson Clover??

I have loved clover all of my life. I just spotted this in the Westcoast Seed catalogue under Cover Crops. I don't know if it would look really wonderful or God Awful. Maybe I could try a little test area in the he back yard. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Would still love to know how clover worked out for you though.

Finished tea towels in Hawaii !!

You may think I'm crazy but I felt like doing a bit of sewing on vacation. Here are the two completed tea towels