April flowers soaked by May showers equal early fruits

May’s warmth arrived in April. The April rains have soaked the first week of May. It’s all so confusing, but the plants like it. The plums are ripening about three weeks earlier than they were least year. The first strawberries have set fruit about two weeks earlier. And a brand new pink columbine popped up […]

In which I whinge about the heat

It’s not even all that hot, and I’m not used to it. I had forgotten how unpleasant it is to drive home from a friend’s barbeque with your back glued to the car seat. Or when your hands are sweaty and sticky between the fingers so it feels like you ought to wash your hands […]

The mystery of the seed packets

It’s that time of year when I look over the racks of seeds in the store thinking, Ooh I want those. But don’t I already have some cleome seeds around somewhere? Even when I look through my collection of seeds at home, I still can’t shake that feeling. Today, not only this mystery but another […]

Bye, columbine

The last of my columbines are still attracting bees (this one is a Lasioglossum), but they are fading and raising up fistfuls of seed pods. They’ll be back. They’ve come back and spread with glee, ever since I planted a few seeds years ago. All I remember of the variety is that supposedly the dark […]

Fall sprouts

Okay, it’s after Thanksgiving, so the weather is officially allowed to snow. And even now, just when most of the garden is falling asleep, some seeds are still sprouting. Like this a columbine unfurling its first leaves. Good way to get a jump on the competition. You think?