Joys to come

Yesterday I posted about the changes that are happening in my garden.  Not just my garden though as all over town trees have gone from the boring fall brown to wonderful spring green, pink, yellow, or white.

My Lilac tree in the front yard is much older than the one I posted about yesterday.  This is a picture of that lilac tree.  Leaves have filled out and the soon to be fragrant purple flowers can be seen growing.  I find it truly amazing how beautiful this tree is before it's even in bloom.

The weather man said it was supposed to be raining and thunderstorms today.  But instead of high of 70 it is 81 and sunny.  For some reason today I just don't have the energy to much of anything today.  Then I logged on the computer and this picture came up as my screen saver for the day....and it just reminds me of how hard the gardens work every day.

What a difference!

Spring is the season where everything is waking up from it's long winter's nap.  Every day there seems to be a new bud opening on the flowering trees.  Or maybe it is another bush finally showing signs of life.  Everything wakes at it's own pace.  Spring never seems to look the same from one day to the next.  Here are a few examples in my own yard.

On March 16th this is what one of my Dogwood Tree's looked like close up.

Today April 26th this is what it looks like.  Not a big difference but a noticeable one.

 On February 26th my Oregano in the Greenhouse looked like this.

As of April 24th it looks like this.  Almost a different plant.

 My little Lilac tree looked very dull on March 6th.

Ahhh but not on April 24th.  Lots of life is showing on this small little tree.

 March 12 the Forsythia bush showed very little signs of any kind of growth.

 A month later on April 14th the beginnings of it's signature yellow flowers started to show.

And 6 days later on April 20th the bush is now is full bloom.

 The 22nd of March showed signs of the Garlic Chives growing outside the greenhouse were alive and beginning to grow.

A month later on April 25th, it's almost time to harvest those Chives.

 Inside the house on March 24th a mixed plant pot was looking very good.

But a few short weeks later on April 11th that same mixed pot is beginning to look a little crowded.

April 26th brought big change to that same pot as the palm needed to be removed due to lack of room.

 March 25th showed that this Spider plant in water is growing roots.

Nearly a month later on April 24th that same spider plant has quite a bit more roots.

 Walking outside on April 14th showed the Peony bushes beginning their upward growth.

Almost 2 weeks later on April 26th showed that these guys mean business when it comes to growing.

Inside and out spring is changing the world around us every day.  Some days in far more subtle ways than others but it's there.  The spider plant growing may not look different from one day to the next but when it is growing in just plain old water you can see that not all the growth is above ground.  A few warm days and leave buds on trees begin to open.  One rainy day and you have to mow the grass.

As of next month I will have been truly gardening for 1 year.  In that one year of gardening I have learned a lot.  This spring I am very aware of what is happening around me.  I notice ever tree and flower around me as they change.  The wonders of Mother Nature are all around me.  

Take some time between now and the end of April to take a look back at pictures you took last month and this month of certain plants.  Write about it and post a link below.  Lets see what the difference is in your gardens from one day or month to the next.

I created a meme for this called Changing Gardens.  Not sure how often we will do it but I love looking back at pictures I took of certain things and looking at how they are now.  So maybe 4 times a year or once a season we can step back and take a look at what is Changing in our Gardens.

Earth Day 2011

All day today my lovely daughter reminded me that today is Earth Day.  Every time she went to throw something away she checked to see if it could be recycled or not.  I am glad that they are teaching things like Earth Day in school.  Over at The Sage Butterfly a Earth Day meme is going on and I was invited by DD over at The Sundial Garden to join.  I have been busy and wanted to do the post some justice so I waited.  So on with the post.

I have been asked to list at least 3 books that I have read that have inspired me to live green in some way.  This was very hard for me.  I read a lot.  But after being in the Navy I wanted to get back to my roots.  My Grandparents on both sides of my family grew vegetables in their yard growing up.  I loved going out there and helping my Grandfathers pick them or just simply check them.  But some inspiration has indeed come from books.

Garden Up! was one.  I can't remember who mentioned it in a blog post one day but it sounded interesting.  So I got it.  What wonderful idea's.  A book that shows you how to garden in a vertical way not just in rows. Although many idea's are a good ways off for me to even think about implementing it did get me thinking about what I can do to garden in more unique ways and maybe better ways.  Living walls.

Greenhouse Gardeners Companion has also inspired me and taught me a lot.  Granted this was after I got the greenhouse and started my gardening journey but regardless that book brought a whole new passion to my love of gardening.  Although last year I loved gardening in the greenhouse this year I am smarter about it and bringing the passion to the rest of the yard as well.

Nora Roberts wrote a Trilogy based on the Garden.  Although not a gardening book I read this trilogy many times and loved the way these 3 women came together from very different walks of life and helped each other.  Being a romance book each book one of the women fell in love.  The first brought the new nusery manager and the landscaper together.  The 2nd book brings the home and nursery owner and a detective together.  But my favorite was the last book.  A distant through marriage relative and the owners son fall in love.  But the best part was when he created a flower just for her.  Through propagation and hard work he combined two flowers to make a new one.

I know it may  not sound like much but just the thought that his love for the Earth and his girl could create a new beautiful flower is inspiring.  I may not create a new flower or plant but I do get to take a small seed and watch it grow into something wonderful.

Gardening doesn't have to be just for food.  It can be for beauty.  Feed the birds.  Feed your soul.  Earth day is a day to appreciate the natural environment around us.  A day to get inspired on how to preserve that environment.

Harvesting Edible Garden Tour - April 21, 2011 + Thriving Thursday = One busy lady

Thriving Thursday falls on Harvesting Edible Garden Tour this month so the Theme is Harvest.  I want to see what is harvesting in your gardens that is edible.  But since it is also Thriving Thursday show off why you are harvesting.  Get ready cause I had a lot this week.

 Parsley - This has been growing since August.  And it just keeps on going.  Thought about moving outside but why mess with it if it is still going so strong.  Poor stems keep getting crush by my sons Chair

Just look at that pile of stems.  I usually cut the stems of of the parsley and dry just the leaves.  They are so fragile.

 Lemon Balm - My herb.  Has grown quite a bit since coming to my house.  Although fits the category of Thriving didn't really need harvesting but since I was taking care of almost all the other herbs inside I added this one to the list.

Not a bad little pile of leaves.

Pesto Basil - One of my favorites.  I love pesto sauce and let me tell you this plant smells just like it.  I have used it when cooking chicken many times.  I love it.

They don't yield a lot of leaves unless you do a lot of little harvests.  But oh the smells in my kitchen at this point.

Lemon Thyme - After the pesto basil this smell just added to it.  My kitchen is making me hungry.  I love the way this herb looks.  Green leaves with a yellow tinted edging.  Makes it easy to see that it is the Lemon Thyme not Common.

Long and compact stems make harvesting interesting.  When I dry these I use a bad that has very very small holes as the leaves fall off very easily.  I actually lost a lot to the dirt in the harvesting process.

Oregano-Thyme.  Grows like Thyme has a bit of an Oregano smell to it.  A new herb to my garden this year.  Not sure yet of the taste but the smell is wonderful.  It isn't a strong Oregano smell like Common Oregano is.

As the harvest went on the difference between Thyme and Oregano smells was harder to find.  It does smell a bit like both.  Course after that Lemon Thyme and Pesto Basil it is dull smelling.

Rosemary - This is one of those herbs I have been trying to grow from seed but just can't seem to get past the first 2 sets of leaves.  So I bought this one.

Super easy to harvest and a very gentle and pleasant smell.

Marjoram - The variegated coloring of this herb is what drew me in.  This is much like the Rosemary in that it is another herb I keep trying to start from seed and don't get very far.

Didn't need a lot of trimming but got quite a bit more than expected.

English Thyme - Just plain old ordinary Thyme basically.  Every time I harvest I think I should smell Lemons as it looks just like it....other than the edges.

This guy is having a few issues in that it is loosing a lot of leaves to the dirt so it got a lot more harvested than needed to encourage new healthy growth.

Winter Savory - Not sure how much longer this guy will be around.  As there are 2 main types of Savory...winter and summer.  Not sure if that means they are only good for that season or if it is just the way they grow.  Winter Savory does seems to be a little thicker than Summer Savory.

Like the English Thyme this was starting to loose a lot of leaves.  Although it may be because of this season I cut a lot off to encourage new healthy growth.  Fingers crossed.

GBBD - From PA

After 5 weeks of hubby on night shift 12hours a day 6 days a week I have earned a Melissa vacation.  Starting this morning and until I return Sunday evening I am not Mommy, I am Aunti Melissa and Melissa.  I am visiting my best-friend/sister in Somerset, PA.  The mountain view and air is wonderful.  Anyways on to my Blooming post for today.

These beautiful and colorful flowers are called Schizanthus.

Pretty Viola.  Bold dark colors.

 My crocus.  I planted these last fall.  So pretty.

These are called Bellis.  This one is bi-colored.

Same type different color.

Petunia, this picture does not do them justice.  They are so incredibly beautiful.

This has to be my favorite flower this time around....next to the cactus thats next.  This is on my Polka-dot plant.  I didn't know they even flowered.

My Christmas Cactus...or at least thats what the label said.  I am thinking more of an Easter Cactus




So there is my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post.  Hop on over to May Dreams Gardens and find out what others are showing of this bloom day.