Thursday, May 01, 2008

May Day Blues


Last fall, as I dug up the grass to create the garden along the fence, I discovered a few drifts of this plant growing amongst the sod. It looked familiar to me, though I couldn't identify it right off...and so far, I still have sorted that part out. (What's an identity, anyway, right?) I was pretty sure it was the same plant which I'd hosted a little bit of in the Eastham orchard garden, the one that provided the tiny blue flowers...and it appears on that score, at least, I was correct, for look what appeared to welcome the May!!

While I don't know it by name, there was enough of this plant that I was able to rescue four or five good-sized clumps of it, which I replanted in the foreground areas of the new border. I'll do some more research later on (like after I've been treated for what is becoming a rather annoying sinus infection), but in the meantime, if anyone else recognizes these tiny beauties, I would be glad for your thoughts. (I know they are NOT forget-me-nots, though...)

Meanwhile, although we had a frost warning last night/this morning, it was still time to graduate that first class of ten sunflower plants (at bigger than a foot each, it's hard to still think of them as seedlings) who've been growing by leaps and bounds on the window sill. So I cobbed together some little greenhouse types of things with some branches I trimmed to size, and these great plastic bags.

Today, the bags were mostly protection against the winds, which were a little brisk, and threatened to bend my sunflowers right to the ground...but I can also pile dirt around the bottom of the bags for the next time we're warned of cold temperatures. But hopefully, that is nearly done, and these sunflowers will be towering high above the garden before long.


It's hard to believe the grape hyacinths are already fading, their little blossoms shriveling up and turning to seed. They never last quite long enough, I think, which might be why I plant a few more of them every year.

I was sorry to learn today that the blog Cooper's Corridor has closed its doors. The reasons are a little more than I'd like to get into here (you can check out Joe.My.God columns of the last two days for the details). I am very sad to see Coop leaving our blog circle (hopefully temporarily), as I could always count on him to bring a smile, or some bit of inspiration. However, his reasons are understandable, and I wish he and his family all good things!

8 comments:

Butch said...

Someone has been busy in their gardens. ;-) Beautiful pictures as usual. Can't wait to see those sunflowers when they are 7-8 ft tall.

Sh@ney said...

You have some amazing colour and variety to your garden. It is almost magical! Love it!

Greg said...

Just you wait, Sh@ney...I'm not one of those poofs who likes a particular color scheme in the garden--I know from the rainbow that they'll ALL play well together!!

Joe Jubinville said...

Could they be violets? They look a bit like Patrick's violets...

Greg said...

Good thought, Joe, but the petals are all wrong, the overall flower about a quarter of the size of a violet, and the color more true blue. Thanks for playing, tho! ; )

Unknown said...

They do look to me like something from the violet family, particularly the way they unfurl.

Anonymous said...

I think your little blue flower may be perennial geranium. very pretty. love your blog.

Anonymous said...

The little blue flower is in my yard, too, a gift from my grandmother, who had great swaths of the stuff running down the hillside from her cabin. She called it "cats-eye". I keep forgetting to look up the real name.