Good morning and Happy Nirvana Day and Susan B. Anthony Day!
February started out gloomy and gray but we have now started to dry out a bit and have had a few clear, cold and sunny days here in southern OR. I’m seeing a bit of the spring buds on trees and the forsythia and quince are popping out, almost startlingly, from tangles of blackberry vines and other unidentified bushes.
Just outside our apartment is a large tree that has a carpet of miner’s lettuce every spring too:
Also at the end of the driveway on the other side is some kind of viburnum/smoke bush ? as near as I can tell. When it does flower it is a coral/salmon pink. It is really interesting now too:
Heading down the street I see some neighbor house lawns that are showing some green shoots that may be crocii or more likely daffodils. I was respectful of privacy and did not take any pics but one has a large planting of lovely lamb’s ear, that looks desperately in need of tending.
At the end of a side street there is a stone retaining wall around the corner lot that is covered with rosemary. So much rosemary! I love walking by and just brushing a plant or two and inhaling the aroma!
Inside the apartment it’s nice and warm. Come on in to the kitchen:
This is the first plant I bought after we moved in here coming up on 8 years ago! I just keep trimming branches off when they start to bonk one of us in the head too much while at the sink. They get replanted or rooted in water in the jars on top of the fridge:
While the patio garden is still sleeping I am tending the indoor plants which struggle through these darker days as I lack good full sunlight inside. I do my best with a cheap metal stand that is placed in front of the patio glass slider door facing east.
I know many of you have keen eyes for spotting pooties but how about how many spider plant babies can you spot in the pic below?
This is the pink polka dot plant. It gets really leggy on me so I have just been pruning and transplanting. Have you ever seen one flower?
I didn’t even know they did until one day last winter I was watering them and there was a bright violet/purple flower hidden in the leaves! They fade fast!
The picture here shows a faded blossom on the tall stem in the bottom left. I didn’t even notice it until it had already faded:
I trim them and just stick the cuttings right into the soil near the parent plant. Some make it, some don’t. You can tell when it isn’t getting as much light by the lack of pink spots.
Outside there’s not much on the patio right now that’s growing. I have some plants overwintering that seem to be ok.
I am getting really anxious for the local farmer’s market to start back up near me. March! I am so lucky to live within walking distance so once things get going I can make it a habit to go every week and get good local veggie plants to fill up all the empty buckets on my patio. I would love to grow from seed but I just don’t have any room with the proper conditions for seedlings beyond a few herbs. I rely on good healthy local starts.
While it’s too early for any plants I’ve been eyeing some new planters and such at my neighborhood drugstore:
So that’s my garden right now! What’s up in your neck of the woods this morning?