Tomatoes

Speaking of beautiful food, here is last night's harvest. The first tomato came off our bushes the day before I returned from New Zealand. At first, they were a bit slow, but very quickly we had all we could eat with some to give away. The last several weeks, we picked one to two colanders a night. We skipped one night, and this was last night's pickings. We are going to have to do some more canning.

Spring News

We are "in the bloom" these days. So nice to see the flowers. We are particularly proud of our geraniums that we managed to keep over the winter and the azaleas that are blooming for the first time in several years. We can boast of tomatoes on our plants already, and the peppers have blooms on them. We've planted 38 pepper of varying types...I know, it's a bit overdone.

Timely Arrival

It is our habit to have morning coffee on the deck. We found this beauty waiting for us at the end of our deck on the first day of spring.

It's Started

The yearning...that feeling that saturates your body with hope and desire in the middle of January and grows stronger in February. The voices that say...it's coming! It's coming. As the temperatures hover in the 70's and wander into the 80's for a day or two, it might snow in Denver. Wonderful sunshine that the people of Seattle would envy pour into the windows almost every day. Only occasionally do we in San Antonio have to deal with winter in winter. So, here I am, in mid-February, getting things ready for spring.

So far we have had the cedar elms de-mossed and trimmed a bit to be more tidy. Cone flowers that were misplaced in the garden have been dug up and potted. The lawn has been aerated and spread with specially formulated Alamo grow compost from Gardenville. The garden areas have been spaded into big chunks then applied with that compost, and some have been tilled. Herbs are finding their way into my pots. Tomotoes purchased a couple weeks ago and uppotted, were put into the ground yesterday. That could be a bit optomistic, but I can cover if needed. Pavers have been purchase and stacked because a new walk is in the making.

Yes, it has started. Seems I'm taking a bit more ibuprofen these days.

Best Yet

After more than 30 years of trying to grow these tropical flowers, I am celebrating my best flower cluster yet. I pull these frangi panis out of the pots at the hint of the first freeze and replant after I think the last freeze has occurred.
This group appeared in June and some of the other plants got flowers before the leaves had come out. They must have been ready to bloom about the time I pulled them last fall.

I acquired a yellow one last year that is growing nicely, but has not yet bloomed. I got it from my friend Clevel. I gave her a cutting many years ago, and from that she created a multitude of these trees. She even branched off into the yellows and reds. She knows how to do things right...many things.

I once heard a man say, "Love is the only thing that the more you give away, the more you have. " Clevel has given away more love and kindness than just about anyone I know. She has made a difference for so many. She also makes the best chicken and dumplins in the world! She shares the recipe too.